Speech and language disorders affect a person’s ability to talk, understand, read and write. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, between six and eight million Americans have some form of language impairment. Symptoms can include sound errors, repetitions of sounds or words, and even total loss of speech for effective communication.
At NSU’s Speech-Language and Communication Disorders Clinic, evaluations and treatment sessions are available for children and adults who have problems communicating due to language impairments, such as difficulty articulating speech sounds, problems with the way their voices sound, stuttering and understanding how to use language in everyday social situations.
Located on Griffin Road, this clinic was designed to offer services to the South Florida community. It also allows NSU students who are earning degrees in speech-language and communications disorders to earn vital clinical hours.
Clinic Director Barbara Zucker said, “The idea to open the clinic was because students needed to learn how to perform clinical skills and children and adults in the community needed good, research-based, effective speech and language therapy skills. It has been a very positive experience for all.”
The students and faculty of the clinic are working on research related to supporting families with young children who have been diagnosed with autism. The study follows the children’s development as their language and interaction skills improve.
“Sometimes people have these delays and disorders due to having had a stroke or other injuries, or because they are born with disorders such as autism. Research in our clinic changes often but there are new ideas and projects starting all the time,” said Zucker.
Erin Beasley, clinical supervisor and program instructor, said that treatments are focused on the patient and their needs.
“We do speech and language therapy, depending on the patients, and sessions are driven by [the patients’] needs and goals,” said Beasley.
Depending on the severity of a patient’s speech or language disorder, his or her weekly sessions can be either 30 minutes or an hour. All sessions are individual, not in groups.
Evaluations and treatments sessions are conducted by graduate student clinicians and are directly supervised by faculty members who are certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and have had many years’ experience in the field.
The Speech-Language and Communication Disorders Clinic, which is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., is located at 6100 Griffin Road. For more information or to set up an appointment, call 954-262-7726.
