Prof. Charles Larson has lofty aspirations.
“Our goal is to understand human communication … so that we can, in the future, prevent communication disorders,” said Larson, chairman of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.
To achieve this, the department, which is part of the School of Communication, utilizes clinics that aim to understand and treat disabilities associated with speech, language, hearing and learning.
The four teaching clinics in the department are Speech and Language; Audiology Services; Voice, Speech and Language Service and Swallowing Center; and the Learning Center. Northwestern students, mostly at the graduate level, provide the majority of clinical services while working in conjunction with certified clinicians.
“We train our students on how to provide therapy to the clients,” Larson said.
Patients are treated for an array of disorders, including dyslexia, stuttering, and problems relating to swallowing and aphasia, which is a broad categorization for communication disorders caused by brain injury.
The clinics, which are located in the Frances Searle Building, except for the Chicago campus’ Service and Swallowing Center, cover a wide range of disorders. The clinics treat patients from Evanston and the Chicago area, but some also travel to NU from other states and countries, said Kathy Harper, co-director of the Learning Center.
“We’ve been leaders in this profession for such a long time that they prefer coming here,” Larson said.
The most well-known of the disorders the clinic focuses on is dyslexia, a reading disorder related to problems with the brain’s ability to process sound and language rules, Harper said. The other clinics focus in on different aspects of communication.
The Speech and Language Clinic deals with stuttering, problems of articulation, fluency and even has therapy techniques geared toward accent modification. The Learning Center treats children who aren’t performing on level with their peers. The Audiology Services Clinic treats people with hearing problems, and the Voice, Speech and Language Service and Swallowing Center treats disorders associated with the muscles involved in producing speech and swallowing.
The clinics also work with people who are looking to enhance their proficiency in communication. Local broadcasters have come in to fine-tune their linguistic abilities, said Paula McGuire, a speech and language pathologist and director of the Speech and Language Clinic.
“(Some broadcasters) are finding that their voice isn’t staying strong through a whole work day, and they want to sharpen their skills,” she said.
NU students are encouraged to come to the clinic if they want to treat their own communication disorders, and they can receive diagnostic and treatment services for half price, McGuire said.
McGuire is in charge of the master’s program in Speech and Language Pathology, which includes about 115 students who see about 200 clients per week, she said.
Students must spend 400 hours evaluating and treating clients in addition to performing a one-year clinical fellowship to become speech and language pathologists.
Students also take classes taught by researchers within the department, which is ranked the third-best graduate program in speech and language pathology nationally by U.S. News & World Report.
“Probably one of the greatest strengths of the department is that we integrate hearing, speech, language, and learning, and most other (communication) departments don’t,” Larson said.
A large number of students who pursue a major in Human Communication Sciences at the undergraduate level have plans to attend medical school. The combination of regular “pre-med” classes along with hands-on experience in treating patients, attracts many students, Larson said. While graduate students and trained professionals staff most of the clinics, undergraduate students also have the opportunity to work in the clinics their senior year.
Reach Kyle Berlin at [email protected].
