Lynn to be honoured by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Posted: September 20, 2007 | News Bites Home

Kansas City (09/20/2007) American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) will present a 2007 Media Award to "For Better or For Worse" cartoonist Lynn Johnston on Friday, Nov. 16, during the Association’s 2007 Convention in Boston.

Johnston is being honored for creating a character in her comic strip afflicted with Aphasia, a disorder that results from damage to the brain’s language center. The condition, which may produce difficulty in speaking, listening, reading or hearing, is often the result of a stroke or traumatic brain injury. In the plotline, based on Johnston’s own family, the grandfather suffers a stroke. Johnston shares with readers the man’s difficulties, as well as those of his caregiver and other family members, as he struggles to regain his speech.

Since beginning the strip in 1978, “For Better or for Worse� has drawn from Johnston’s family experiences, garnering a loyal following of countless readers in over 2000 newspapers in the United States and in Canada. Johnston’s work has garnered multiple honors and awards, including the prestigious “Oscar of the comics industry� Reuben Award and induction into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2003.

ASHA, located in Rockville, Maryland, is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 127,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists in the United States and internationally. For more information on speech, language, and hearing disorders, consumers can log on to the ASHA website, www.asha.org.