Meeting of Members
Each meeting consists of a practical and a business part and usually takes place on 2 weekend-days. The content of the meetings is co-designed and organized by the members. Thus, in addition to fixed agenda items, there is the opportunity to present cases and questions.
Within the training to become an F.O.T.T.® Instructor, the meetings offer a platform for case-presentations and workshops as well as their discussion among colleagues.
Exchanging ideas and networking with colleagues from different fields of work and disciplines, even across national borders, always offers new perspectives and ideas that can be incorporated into one's own therapeutic action.
A summary of the contents and impressions of some meetings can be found below.
1st Meeting 2014 in Burgau
This year’s first meeting on April 5th and 6th 2014 at the Burgau Therapy Centre took place under the heading 'Exchange, face and jaw'.
The focus was on theoretical aspects and practical handling.
Many thanks to all members who helped organize and shape this meeting.
2nd Meeting 2014 in Bremen
The meeting at Klinikum Bremen-Ost on November 22nd and 23rd 2014 was joined by 16 members from Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.
The programme was versatile and ranged from case presentations and workshops to a lecture on mobile neurological rehabilitation in Bremen held by chief physician Dr. Siegert.
New studies from Denmark were presented and there was a report about Kay Coombes being awarded honorary membership in the German Association of Speech and Language Therapists.
The programme was rounded off by a city tour focusing on the history of Bremen. A successful meeting at the end of the year.
1st Meeting 2017 in Burgau
13 members attended the first meeting of the Förderverein F.O.T.T. e.V. on February 11th and 12th 2017 in the Burgau Therapy Centre.
'Tracheostomy placeholders' were discussed and there was an interactive workshop on the topic 'stability - mobility' in F.O.T.T.®.
2nd Meeting 2017 in Berlin
During the second meeting on November 25th and 26th 2017 the focus was on studies and research on swallowing.
1st Meeting 2019 in Berlin
The meeting took place on May 18th and 19th 2019 in Berlin and offered a wide-ranging programme.
- The Swiss Quality Circle Peripheral Facial Palsy was presented by Heike Sticher and Karin Gampp Lehmann
- Dysphagia update: Dr. Rainer Seidl presented new studies from 2018
- The development of a swallowing prothesis with RehaIngest (Dr. Rainer Seidl)
- Instrumental aids were presented and discussed
- Vital Stim (Annette Kjaersgaard)
- Phagenyx (Claudia Gratz and Malte Jädicke)
- RehaIngest (Dr. Rainer Seidl)
2nd Meeting 2022 in Markgröningen
On November 19th 2022 a small group of members of the Förderverein F.O.T.T. e.V. met at the State Center for Special Education and Counseling with boarding school and special focus on physical and motor development (August-Hermann-Werner-Schule) in Markgröningen (federal state Baden-Württemberg, Germany).
We dealt with the different forms of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) at the school and experienced them in practice. So everyone was greeted with words that were accompanied by sign-language. Then an individual timetable was created for the day using Metacom symbols.
Muffins were baked following a picture-recipe or the verbal instructions of a step-by-step communicator.
We experienced immediate reactions to the operation of a button, for example, when operating the food processor with a Power Link and when driving with an electronic roller board.
A lecture on the development of communication and a case-presentation of a student example complemented the practical experiences.
There were intensive discussions and lively exchange about the special forms of communication used in the participant’s working field.
A heartfelt thank you goes to the school management of the August-Hermann-Werner-Schule, who made it possible for us to meet in their rooms.
2nd Meeting 2023 in Neresheim
On November 4th and 5th 2023, the Förderverein F.O.T.T. e.V. held its second meeting this year at SHR Specialist Hospital in Neresheim.
On Saturday, interested guests were welcome at the Open Meeting.
The case presentation by Hendrik Gleichmar on the topic 'Facilitation of the ventral trunk and neck muscles in modified elbow support to improve the stability of the cervical spine' introduced us to his therapeutic work.
The following workshop took place in the hospital’s therapy-rooms and made it possible to experiment with self-perception and trying out movement sequences when working with a partner. It was so inspiring that the lunch break was shortened.
In the afternoon Nadanja Jeremic and Annett Pötzsch gave a tour of the rehab-center and the intensive care unit’s rooms.
After a presentation by Doris Krasser (LiN trainer) on the basics of LiN postitioning (= positioning in neutral position), the theory was immediately put into practice. Doris Krasser gave very helpful practical support to optimize positioning and movement transitions.
Many thanks to her for the informative and inspiring lecture and workshop.
On Sunday we planned our current website-articles and the face-to-face meeting in Berlin on October 26th and 27th 2024. 'Breathing and Swallowing' will be the topic for the October-meeting.
Our next meeting and the AGM are already fixed (online on February 3rd 2024). We are planning to invite dentist Dr. Elmar Ludwig from Ulm to hold a lecture.
The Förderverein F.O.T.T. e.V. would like to thank the SRH Specialist Hospital Neresheim for making our meeting in the clinic’s rooms possible and to Nadanja Jeremic and Annett Pötzsch for the perfect organization and the warm welcome.
2nd Meeting 2024 in Berlin
At the end of October, around 30 S.I.G. members, colleagues from Berlin and a self-help representative met for a top-class program and professional exchange.
Additional participants were connected via Zoom.
News, interesting facts and other relevant content were exchanged in 'the marketplace'. There was a lot to discuss.
- Silke Kalkhof, F.O.T.T.®-Instructor and respiratory therapist, Grünheide, informed about breathing therapy and breathing trainers for weaning support.
- Signe Janum Eskildsen, PHD, occupational therapist, presented her PHD studies via Zoom from Copenhagen: Dysphagia, Decannulation and rehabilitation in patients with tracheostomy following acquired brain injury – an exploration of key factors in neurorehabilitation.
- ENT-Chief physician Prof. Dr. Rainer Seidl reported on studies conducted at the University of Düsseldorf: Breathing-swallowing coordination in newborns and premature babies (Nicole Hübl, Düsseldorf / Rainer Seidl, Berlin) and Long-term measurement of breathing-swallowing coordination in healthy, dysphagic and tracheotomized patients.
- Klara Paszkiet (Aachen) presented her speech therapy master's thesis: Long-term study of swallowing in healthy volunteers: A combined electromyography and bioimpedance measurement over 24 hours.
- On Sunday, Dr. Eliane Lüthi-Müller reported on applications of capsaicin (via aerosol as well as systemic).
Ricki Nusser-Müller-Busch received the certificate of S.I.G. honorary membership on Saturday evening. This was celebrated lively, including a 'swallowing-self-experience' involving a delicious Arabic buffet!
