Communication Disorders Building

We recently completed our visit of the Communication Disorders building.  Our tour guide, Richard Freyman is Amanda Griffin's supervisor (a prior UMass tour guide, and current provider of our Admission Information Sessions).  I'd like to talk a little about the program itself prior to discussing our tour.

The Communication Disorders program offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degree options.  At the undergraduate level, the program focuses on the normal processes of speech, hearing, language, and related functions.  Students can focus their concentrations on the speech and language pathology or audiology tracks, but will take courses in both.  I believe that the opportunities for undergraduate students to obtain hands-on experience on campus is what distinguishes our program from other institutions.

There are labs located in Arnold House, an item that we did not visit on our tour.  We did visit the Speech and Language Clinic, along with the Audiology Clinic in the Communication Disorders building.  The clinics are open to the public.  They provide services that can aid the offerings provided by local school systems.  Children can have remedial assistance for speech impairments through the services provided in the clinic.  You will notice in the next picture, there are multiple rooms setup, some with toys and board games.  In each room is a one-sided mirror, allowing for supervisors and classmates to observe sessions with clients and make notes.

The Communication Disorders department also has an Audiology clinic.  They provide hearing testing for clients (many times elderly patients) and can make recommendations for services.  This is another item that can be observed by students.  We learned that Hearing Aids can be ordered and fitted for clients through the clinic!