Distinguished faculty, esteemed colleagues, families and friends, I am thrilled to join you today in pride and celebration as we come together to honor the accomplishments of the graduates here in front of us. And to the graduates of the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, class of 2018, let me begin with: congratulations! It … Continue reading May 2018 HESP Commencement Address
An auditory illusion has recently gone viral - the recording can be heard either as "yanny" or "laurel". A number of people have explained the acoustics behind it - but what does this mean for how we actually hear? (Author's note: to make this more accessible for laypeople, I have oversimplified; for those of … Continue reading Yanny vs. Laurel- an explanation of auditory illusions
One of the primary reasons that led me to pursue a PhD was the experience I felt of “flying blind” as a clinician. Perhaps you can identify: equipped with my shiny certificate of clinical competence, I enthusiastically dove into the literature in an endless search for information that could help improve my patients’ lives. Unfortunately, … Continue reading Binomials as a case for collaboration
What is Tinnitus? Tinnitus, the perception of sound without an external source, affects approximately sixty million Americans. These individuals report various sounds including ringing, buzzing, whistling, chirping, hissing, humming, roaring, or even shrieking. Tinnitus can be perceived to be steady or pulsatile, in one ear or both, constant or intermittent, and from within the head … Continue reading Tinnitus: Cause, Concern, and Treatment
For those who were interested in Lucy Erickson's three-part series on Distractions in the Classroom, here is a related piece written for the Association of Psychological Science. Competing for Attention
Concussions can be pretty uncomfortable injuries. Your head hurts. Your body often hurts. Sometimes you’re very sensitive to light and sound. Often, people who have had a concussion feel “foggy” or “fuzzy” for the first few weeks, when they are aware that something about the way they’re thinking is just not quite right. As recommendations … Continue reading Naming a Sheep after Concussion:When Milliseconds Matter
In conversation, people often adjust the way they speak based on the people to whom they are talking. We can see this phenomenon most clearly when people talk to babies or animals and inadvertently switch over to a more high-pitched, sing- song tone of voice. This is an example of an adjustment made to improve … Continue reading Accidental mimicry: The effect of phonetic convergence
Healthcare delivery is transitioning towards a more collaborative model of service provision, commonly referred to as Interprofessional Practice (IPP). This term is used frequently, but what does it mean and how is it applicable to the fields of Speech-language Pathology and Audiology? IPP was first referenced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and refers to … Continue reading Teaching Students to Collaborate Across Disciplines
There is a large and continually growing need for qualified bilingual speech-language pathologists in the United States. Given the roughly 400 languages spoken in the United States (Ryan, 2013), it is not surprising that there is a great demand for speech and language services in languages other than English. Bilingual speech-language pathologists account for less … Continue reading Clinical Education for Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologists
For many people with hearing loss, even those who wear assistive technology such as hearing aids or cochlear implants, daily communication can be quite challenging, often exhausting, and at times present safety concerns. Smartphone technology has offered new ways and opportunities to ease communication for people with hearing loss. In fact, a smartphone itself can … Continue reading Smartphone Apps for People with Hearing Loss
