Awards for Our Work

Author Paul Berger Honored at  Communication Awards at 
Kennedy Center Ceremony, 1999

Paul Berger received the “Communication Award for Individual Achievement,” at the 18th Annual Award Ceremony produced by the National Council on Communicative Disorders, September 7, 1999, shortly after the publication of his book, How to Conquer the World With One Hand…And An Attitude.

The Awards were sponsored by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the National Association for Hearing and Speech Action. The ceremony was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and co-hosted by local NBC 4 morning news anchor, Joe Krebs, and Amy Ecklund, star of the daytime TV drama, The Guiding Light.

Special presentations were made by Senator John Glenn and his wife. Jenny Craig, of weight loss fame, also received an award recognizing her struggle following an accident which left her unable to speak.

Paul, an avid supporter of the space program was thrilled to sit by Sen. Glenn during the program and get his autograph. He wrote: To Paul – with best regards.

Paul practiced for more than two months almost every day to deliver his three minute acceptance speech. His Toastmasters club helped him with a practice run a month before the event. Giving a speech in front of 500 people could make anyone nervous– imagine what it’s like when you have a severe speech problem like aphasia. Paul did such a good job, that the local Channel 4 news used a clip from his acceptance speech as part of their coverage of the Award Ceremony on the late news that evening, and the following morning.