Interview with Davene Fahy M.A. SLP-CCC/A, Speech Language Pathologist and Author
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CHARLIE Who Couldn't Say His NameLimerock Books, Thomaston, MaineISBN 0-9746589-0-1Beck:Good Morning Davene. Thanks for your time this morning.Fahy:Hi Doug. Thanks for sharing your morning with me.Beck:Davene, before we discuss your new book, I'd like to tell the readers a little about you. I know y
CHARLIE Who Couldn't Say His Name
Limerock Books, Thomaston, Maine
ISBN 0-9746589-0-1
Beck:Good Morning Davene. Thanks for your time this morning.
Fahy:Hi Doug. Thanks for sharing your morning with me.
Beck:Davene, before we discuss your new book, I'd like to tell the readers a little about you. I know you're a Speech Language Pathologist and you've been in practice over 40 years...where did you get your master's?
Fahy:I earned my master's in Speech Language Pathology from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Beck:And after that, where did you practice?
Fahy:I stared my career at St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia and then I worked with people with special needs at the Bancroft School in New Jersey, and I guess I was there for about ten years. The Bancroft School had a camp in Maine every summer, and I just loved it, so I moved to Maine in 1972 and I've been living and working here ever since.
Beck:And beyond Speech Pathology, you also worked directly in Special Ed?
Fahy:Yes. When I first arrived in Maine, I became a special education director, and I worked in a few different school districts in Maine, and I've also worked as a speech language pathologist in Maine.
Beck:Very good. And then one day, in the recent past, I believe in 2004, you wrote the book titled CHARLIE - Who Couldn't Say His Name. Would you please tell me about that...what inspired you?
Fahy:The book came out in 2004. My inspiration was very simple and very straightforward. In all the years I worked with children in speech language pathology and in special education, I had never seen a book about a child with a speech problem. There are books about children with special needs, and various physical disabilities, but not about a child with an articulation problem. And so I thought it would be beneficial for the children, and for the teachers and parents, too. So one day I decided it would be great for children with articulation problems to know that they're not alone. Charlie is actually a composite character, made up of so many of the children I have worked with.
Beck:Very nice...and so you wrote the book to help children understand their articulation problems, and for them to learn that they can overcome the problem? Is the book targeted towards a particular speech problem?
Fahy:No, the book is really for any child with almost any speech problem, many of the same issues apply across their experiences. And so although Charlie has articulation problems, the book has wider application. The message of the book is...if you have a speech problem, you're not alone, there is help available, and you will get better with time and practice.
Beck:That's fabulous. Have you received feedback from the moms and dads out there?
Fahy:Yes, and the feedback always makes it worthwhile. There was a note I received from a grandmother, who told about her grand-daughter who brought the book to class to help explain how the grand-daughter felt, and what she experienced. The classmates were finally able to understand what the grand-daughter went through in her daily life, and it made it easier for all the children to understand how she felt. So the grandmother told me it made all the difference in the world.
Beck:That is very nice. Any feedback from children?
Fahy:Yes, and it was very touching. I was reading the book to a group of children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. The children were very attentive, and in particular, there was one boy, about four years old. He raised his hand at the end of the story and he said "Would you please read the book again?"
Beck:That really is nice. Are you working on another book?
Fahy:Yes...I am writing another book, also based on a composite character, and this next book is based on a young boy with Asperger's Syndrome.
Beck:That's great. A book on Asperger's would indeed be timely and topical. Any idea when it will be released?
Fahy:Not really...perhaps late in 2006, or early in 2007.
Beck:Thanks so much for your time today. I think the book is a very nice and easy read for children, and I think it really does serve the purpose of helping them understand there is help, and they will get better. I encourage the readers to get a copy and to have it on hand, perhaps even in the waiting room for the parents and children to review when they're coming into the office for speech therapy.
Fahy:Thanks Doug.
Beck:My pleasure.
------------------------------
CHARLIE Who Couldn't Say His Name
Limerock Books, Thomaston, Maine
ISBN 0-9746589-0-1
Web site: www.mainemediawomen.org/charlie.htm
Limerock Books, Thomaston, Maine
ISBN 0-9746589-0-1
Beck:Good Morning Davene. Thanks for your time this morning.
Fahy:Hi Doug. Thanks for sharing your morning with me.
Beck:Davene, before we discuss your new book, I'd like to tell the readers a little about you. I know you're a Speech Language Pathologist and you've been in practice over 40 years...where did you get your master's?
Fahy:I earned my master's in Speech Language Pathology from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Beck:And after that, where did you practice?
Fahy:I stared my career at St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia and then I worked with people with special needs at the Bancroft School in New Jersey, and I guess I was there for about ten years. The Bancroft School had a camp in Maine every summer, and I just loved it, so I moved to Maine in 1972 and I've been living and working here ever since.
Beck:And beyond Speech Pathology, you also worked directly in Special Ed?
Fahy:Yes. When I first arrived in Maine, I became a special education director, and I worked in a few different school districts in Maine, and I've also worked as a speech language pathologist in Maine.
Beck:Very good. And then one day, in the recent past, I believe in 2004, you wrote the book titled CHARLIE - Who Couldn't Say His Name. Would you please tell me about that...what inspired you?
Fahy:The book came out in 2004. My inspiration was very simple and very straightforward. In all the years I worked with children in speech language pathology and in special education, I had never seen a book about a child with a speech problem. There are books about children with special needs, and various physical disabilities, but not about a child with an articulation problem. And so I thought it would be beneficial for the children, and for the teachers and parents, too. So one day I decided it would be great for children with articulation problems to know that they're not alone. Charlie is actually a composite character, made up of so many of the children I have worked with.
Beck:Very nice...and so you wrote the book to help children understand their articulation problems, and for them to learn that they can overcome the problem? Is the book targeted towards a particular speech problem?
Fahy:No, the book is really for any child with almost any speech problem, many of the same issues apply across their experiences. And so although Charlie has articulation problems, the book has wider application. The message of the book is...if you have a speech problem, you're not alone, there is help available, and you will get better with time and practice.
Beck:That's fabulous. Have you received feedback from the moms and dads out there?
Fahy:Yes, and the feedback always makes it worthwhile. There was a note I received from a grandmother, who told about her grand-daughter who brought the book to class to help explain how the grand-daughter felt, and what she experienced. The classmates were finally able to understand what the grand-daughter went through in her daily life, and it made it easier for all the children to understand how she felt. So the grandmother told me it made all the difference in the world.
Beck:That is very nice. Any feedback from children?
Fahy:Yes, and it was very touching. I was reading the book to a group of children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. The children were very attentive, and in particular, there was one boy, about four years old. He raised his hand at the end of the story and he said "Would you please read the book again?"
Beck:That really is nice. Are you working on another book?
Fahy:Yes...I am writing another book, also based on a composite character, and this next book is based on a young boy with Asperger's Syndrome.
Beck:That's great. A book on Asperger's would indeed be timely and topical. Any idea when it will be released?
Fahy:Not really...perhaps late in 2006, or early in 2007.
Beck:Thanks so much for your time today. I think the book is a very nice and easy read for children, and I think it really does serve the purpose of helping them understand there is help, and they will get better. I encourage the readers to get a copy and to have it on hand, perhaps even in the waiting room for the parents and children to review when they're coming into the office for speech therapy.
Fahy:Thanks Doug.
Beck:My pleasure.
------------------------------
CHARLIE Who Couldn't Say His Name
Limerock Books, Thomaston, Maine
ISBN 0-9746589-0-1
Web site: www.mainemediawomen.org/charlie.htm