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| * Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences |
March 28, 2008
Sounds good: Purdue audiology, speech programs top nation
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
In the survey released Friday (March 28), the accredited master's degree program in speech-language pathology tied for second nationally, up from third in 2004. The accredited doctor of audiology (Au.D.) degree program is tied for ninth.
"Purdue's speech-language pathology program has a rich history, and it continues to excel in learning, discovery and engagement in the 21st century," said Robert Novak, professor and head of the Department of Speech, Languages and Hearing Sciences, which is part of the College of Liberal Arts. "The audiology program remains in the top 10, because of the successes of our growing cadre of outstanding faculty and our students, and the fact that it is offered jointly with the IU School of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in Indianapolis.
"We are very proud of these rankings, which can only improve with the availability of such new facilities as the Purdue InnerVision West MRI Center."
The programs are well-known for interdisciplinary research and clinical education in many areas, including child language development, psychoacoustic/electrophysiological/single-unit neurophysiological auditory processing, neurolinguistics and language processing, stuttering, neurophysiological bases of speech motor control, respiratory and laryngeal function in normal and disordered speech, linguistics of American Sign Language, experimental cross-linguistic phonetics, speech perception in persons with normal hearing, hearing loss, and users of cochlear implants and hearing aids, aural rehabilitation, and infant speech and language development.
The University of Iowa's speech-language pathology program ranks first, and Vanderbilt University is first in audiology.
The magazine ranks graduate programs in health science fields based on survey responses from deans, program directors, department heads and faculty of accredited graduate programs in health sciences.
The Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences is one of 11 departments within the College of Liberal Arts.
Purdue's speech pathology program began in 1935 to assist students who had speech problems. In 1948 the first doctoral degree was awarded. Purdue's programs were among the first in the country to achieve accreditation in speech pathology and audiology from Educational Standards Board, now known as the Council for Academic Accreditation, of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
There are more than 30 academic and clinical faculty members housed in the department today, with 105 graduate students and 235 undergraduate students pursuing degrees through the department. More than 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students enroll each year in the department's classes. The department has a current total extramural funding portfolio of more than $12 million.
In 2002 Purdue, in conjunction with the Indiana University School of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in Indianapolis, became the first Big Ten university to offer a doctor of audiology (Au.D.) degree program designed and conducted jointly by a university audiology program and a school of medicine department of otolaryngology. The accredited doctor of audiology program graduated its first class in May 2007.
The M.D. Steer Audiology and Speech-Language Clinics, which support the clinical education, applied clinical research and community engagement missions of the department, are home to a variety of professional diagnostic and rehabilitative services, such as delivery of hearing aids and assistive listening devices in a family-centered aural program, serving as a confirmation diagnostic site for the state's universal newborn hearing screening and intervention program, as well as providing group or individual therapy for children and adults with speech, language and hearing disorders such as specific language impairments, neurocognitive disorders, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, stuttering and autism spectrum disorders. The clinics are a fee-for-service provider, with more than 2,000 patients visiting in 2006-07. A referral is not required for access to these services. All of the students in the accredited clinical programs gain necessary clinical experience while working with patients seen as the M.D. Steer clinics under the direct supervision of their clinical faculty mentors.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Robert Novak, (765) 494-1534, novakr@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Photo Caption:
Karen Iler Kirk, a Purdue professor of speech and hearing sciences (at right), and Carlos Colón, president of the Megagrooves LLC video production company, are getting ready to record Kim Chamberlain, a second-year audiology graduate student, for Kirk's research project in September 2007. She is working on a five-year study to develop a new technique to diagnose hearing loss in a way that more accurately reflects real-world situations. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2007/kirk-hearingloss.jpg
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