Andrea Ruelling, (she/her) MA, R.SLP, CCC-SLP

About

Education

MA – Speech & Hearing Sciences – Washington State University – 2004

BGS – University of North Dakota – 2002

BA – Psychology & Linguistics – University of Winnipeg – 2001

Background Information

After receiving her BA (Psychology & Linguistics) from the University of Winnipeg, Andrea completed post-baccalaureate training at the University of North Dakota. From there, she attended Washington State University, where she received her MA in Speech and Hearing Sciences, with a thesis focusing on adult users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and issues that surround success and abandonment of these devices.

She has worked in several settings including; inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital; the Intensive Aphasia Rehab program (InteRACT), at Dalhousie University; as part of an interdisciplinary community-based rehab team; and her own private practice. She joined the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in April 2014. 

Professional Interests

Andrea's clinical area of interest is working with adults with neurogenic communication disorders, primarily caused by stroke or brain injury. She is a founding member of the Alberta Aphasia Camp, and remains the co-coordinator for the camp. She is also the co-founder of the Corbett Aphasia Rehabilitation and Education (CARE) program, an aphasia centre providing programming to people with aphasia. She is highly interested in the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA), client-centred care, and providing both course-based and clinical experiential learning opportunities for her students. She is an affiliate of Aphasia Access. 

Awards

Rehabilitation Medicine Students Association - Excellence in Teaching (2022)

Innovative Teaching Award - Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (2021)

Top 40 Under 40, Avenue Magazine, Edmonton, AB (2017)

Rehabilitation Medicine Students Association - Excellence in Teaching (2015)

Research

Research

Kim, E. S., Mauriks, K., Wilson, C., Auch, L., Koo, H., Swensrude, D., Laccett, J., Ruelling, A. (2023). Barriers and facilitators to communication accessibility as perceived by people with aphasia. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 76-90.

Kim, E., Ruelling, A., Werther, K., King, S. (2019). Taking the classroom to camp: The facilitators’ role in creating an impactful interprofessional experiential learning opportunity. Journal of Interprofessional Care, December 2019 (1-8).

Kim, E. S., Ruelling, A., Garcia, J. R., & Kajner, R. (2017). A pilot study examining the impact of aphasia camp participation on quality of life for people with aphasia. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 24(2), 107-113.

Scholarly presentations (selection)

Ruelling, A., Kim, E. (2022, June). CARE During COVID: Lessons Learned from the First Year of a Virtual Aphasia Centre. Poster Presentation at the International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference (IARC). Philadelphia, PA.

Ruelling, A., Kim, E. (2021, November). So you want to start a (virtual) aphasia centre. Oral presentation at 2021 American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Conference. Washington, DC.

Ruelling, A., Kim, E., Sather, T., Hoepner, J., Clark, M., Knutson, M (2019, March). More than a get-away. The Aphasia Camp experience. Round Table presentation. Aphasia Access Leadership Summit 2019. Baltimore, MD.

Ruelling, A., Kim, E. (2019, March). Experiential learning and the LPAA: A guide for facilitators. Round Table presentation. Aphasia Access Leadership Summit 2019. Baltimore, MD.

George, S., Komarnicki, L., Weishaupt, A., Ruelling, A., Werther, K., Kim, E. (2018, October). Examining interdisciplinary competencies from volunteering at Alberta Aphasia Camp. Poster presentation at 2018 Qualitative Health Research Conference. Halifax, NS.

King, S., Werther, K., Ruelling, A., Kim, E. (2018, September). Creating an impactful interprofessional experiential learning opportunity: A case study. Oral presentation at 2018 All Together Better Health IX (ATBH IX) Conference. Auckland, NZ. 

Kim, E., Ruelling, A., Werther, K., King, S. (2018, May). Experiential Learning and Student Empowerment: A case study from Alberta Aphasia Camp. Oral presentation at 2018 Festival of Teaching and Learning (FoTL) Conference. Edmonton, AB.   

Fox, L., Clark, M. B., Hoepner, J., Key-DeLyria, S., Kim, E., Ruelling, A. & Sather, T. (2016, November). Utility of the camp environment as a service delivery model: Lessons learned from aphasia camps. Seminar presented at 2016 American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Conference. Philadelphia, PA.

Kim, E. S., Ruelling, A. & Kajner, R. (2015, March). Alberta Aphasia Camp: Examining engagement and social participation outcomes. Poster presented at the inaugural Aphasia Access Leadership Summit. Boston, MA.

Teaching

Course instructor

CSD 509 – Motor Speech Disorders

CSD 570 (elective) - Alberta Aphasia Camp

Guest Lecturer

CSD 520 – Adult Language Disorders 

Clinical Educator

CSD 524A / B – Introduction to Clinical Practicum I / II

CSD 525 – Introduction to Clinical Practicum III

CSD 532 - Advanced Clinical Practicum I

CSD 533 - Advanced Clinical Practicum II

CSD 540/541 - Advanced Clinical Practicum III / IV

CSD 509 - Motor Speech Disorders

Study of dysarthria and dyspraxia (congenital and acquired) including the nature of their underlying neuropathologies, methods of instrumental and perceptual assessment, and systematic instrumental and behavioral management strategies. Prerequisites: CSD 502 or equivalent and CSD 505, 507, 511. Prerequisite or corequisite: CSD 520. (Restricted to MScSLP students only.) Not open to students with credit in SPA 509.

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