Martha Taylor Sarno
Honors of the Academy of Neurological Communicative Disorders and Sciences, 2009
The members of the 2009 Honors Committee, Joan Arvedson, Gail Ramsberger, Kristie Spencer, and Jack Thomas join me in recognizing an individual whose enormous impact on the field of aphasiology has been recognized world-wide, both within and outside the profession. She is a meticulous researcher, an outstanding clinician, a respected teacher and an advocate for people with aphasia and their families. In fact, she was a pioneer in advocating for individuals with aphasia and their families and developed valuable resources to educate communities about aphasia. Our honoree’s tireless devotion to helping individuals with aphasia gains a rightful voice in the area of disability and her commitment to improving the daily lives of persons with aphasia and their families is without equal.
- The 2009 ANCDS recipient of the honors of the Association has such a distinguished and distinctive career that it is difficult not to identify her immediately. In light of her myriad contributions to the study of aphasia, it is difficult to single out her most outstanding accomplishment. To summarize, this 2009 honoree has been a member of ANCDS since its inception and is Board Certified
- Was the first speech-language pathologist in a comprehensive rehabilitation setting
- Designed the first measure of functional communication in aphasia
- Has conducted innumerable research studies in aphasia and made abundant contributions to the aphasia literature in areas such as measurement of functional communication, investigations of the post-acute challenges of living with aphasia, and psychosocial and ethical-moral issues in the treatment of individuals with aphasia
- Was a founding member of the Academy of Aphasia and served on their Board of Governors
- Was the founder of the National Aphasia Association and served as its president for 14 years
- Served on the Task Force to Study Ethics in Rehabilitation Medicine at the Hastings Institute of Society Ethics and Life Science
- Received numerous honors including the Doctor of Medicine honoris causa from the School of Medicine at the University of Goteborg in Sweden; Frank Kleffner Clinical Career Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, Honors of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and the Gold Key Award of the American Congress of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
- Served as Director of the Speech-Language Pathology Department at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine from 1950 to 2009 and
- Continues to pursue her research in clinical aphasiology
Our honor’s recipient is a consummate professional and has given a life-time of extraordinary, continuous and dedicated leadership to our field. She has been a role model for many of us and has set a standard to which many of us aspire, but few achieve. We are so proud and pleased to present the 2009 Honors of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences to our esteemed colleague, Martha Taylor Sarno.