Summer 2005

Offering Sound Assistance

GW Speech and Hearing Center Improves the Lives of Washington Area Residents with Communicative Disorders

By Matt Lindsay

Edward Colbert had become tired, depressed, and isolated. A stuttering problem, which had never been formally diagnosed or treated, was controlling his life. Now in his fifties, Colbert decided it was time to seek therapy and try to turn his life around.

Pediatricians and kindergarten teachers repeatedly told Beth Millemann that her son, Max, had articulation issues. She had simply grown accustomed to his speech, but when Millemann heard from professionals in the medical and educational fields that Max was difficult to understand she realized something had to be done.
Jim and Cara Voth’s son, Alexander, was born profoundly deaf. The Voths, who are not hearing impaired, opted to have one-year-old Alexander undergo a relatively new procedure called a cochlear implant, surgically attaching an electronic hearing device to the bone behind the ear, allowing profoundly deaf people to experience speech-range of hearing. It was a difficult decision for the family, and more work lies ahead.

These are the stories of just three of the more than 42 million Americans who have communication disorders, according to figures from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Put differently, one person out of seven in the United States has a problem speaking, understanding, or hearing. As those who suffer from hearing loss or a speech/language disorder would attest, the ability to communicate effectively is not something that should be taken for granted.
“People do not realize how common speech and hearing problems are and the variety of disorders we see in this field,” said Michael Bamdad, director of The George Washington University Speech and Hearing Center.

GW’s Speech and Hearing Center provides a full range of speech, language, and hearing services for individuals with communicative disorders and serves as an educational training facility for undergraduate and graduate students in the GW Department of Speech and Hearing Science, chaired by Geralyn Schulz, associate professor of speech and hearing science. The center has been serving clients since 1946 and currently works with approximately 1,500 clients in the Washington metro region.

Colbert, Millemann and her son, and the Voths and their son all sought out GW’s Speech and Hearing Center for therapy.

Colbert, a Maryland resident, began visiting the center’s fluency clinic in the summer of 2003. Shelley Brundage, assistant professor of speech and hearing science, and graduate clinicians targeted the roots of Colbert’s stuttering and provided him with speech modification exercises and techniques to improve his communication confidence and ability. He was discharged in the fall of 2004 and applauds the center and its staff for their knowledge, persistence, and encouragement.

“The major differences between my first visit and where I am today can be summed up in one word… free,” said Colbert. “Stuttering had become a sort of bondage that I allowed to limit my activities, friendships, and relationships, even within my own family. Today, I am much more at ease when talking to others. I am now better prepared to control my stuttering, rather than have it control me.”
Millemann and her son had bounced around to several different speech therapists before their first visit to the center in September 2003, when Max was five years old. During weekly sessions Max worked with Catherine Coleman, clinical instructor of speech and hearing science, and student speech therapists, or as he called them his “word doctors.” The center staff also provided Millemann with “homework” that she and Max could do at home to complement the sessions. By March 2005 Max was able to discontinue treatment.

“It is like night and day in terms of his understandability,” beamed Millemann. “The experience from beginning to end was absolutely outstanding. The clinicians were 100 percent engaged in my son. They came in with the attitude that if you work hard, you can do it, which really helped Max. Every session they worked with him in new and creative ways, and worked together with our family as a team.”

Perhaps the highest praise that Millemann can pay to the GW Speech and Hearing Center is that she has recommended the center to several friends whose children have articulation issues and to the school Max attends in Washington, DC.
A referral from Gayla Hutsell, chief programs officer at Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and an adjunct professor of speech and hearing science at GW, brought the Voth family to the Speech and Hearing Center. Hutsell stressed the importance of stimulating Alexander’s auditory nerves early on, which can make cochlear implants more effective. After Alexander’s cochlear implant surgery, Hutsull and GW graduate students have worked with the family at the Voth’s Virginia home and at the center, using a relatively new, verbal-based approach called auditory-verbal therapy.

“We have goals, and they have helped us meet those goals,” said Cara Voth. “It was refreshing to work with the students and good to know that we are training somebody to do therapy and help with other families.”

“They have helped us learn how to work with Alexander and use the hearing that he has,” added Jim Voth. “We feel a personal touch at the clinic. Most of the therapists know us, at the front desk they know us and say hello. We really appreciate that.”

These clients exemplify the breadth of experiences available to student clinicians at the center. People of all ages and conditions, including those who have suffered strokes and brain injuries, have undergone sex changes, want to do away with an accent, want to improve presentation skills, and children with speech and hearing problems have passed through the center’s doors.

“Every speech and hearing department has a clinic, but what is unique about GW’s clinic is its size and diversity. We have nine subclinics that focus on nine different areas of disorders,” said Bamdad. “Speech and hearing departments have to send students into the world with academic and clinical experience. We offer our students more time working with patients and more diversity of patients than the average clinic, so they are in a better position when they hit the competitive market for internships, externships, and eventually jobs.”

Graduate students in GW’s Department of Speech and Hearing Science receive a master’s degree in speech-language pathology after they pass a comprehensive examination administered by GW and a national exam. They must complete a one-year fellowship to become certified speech-language pathologists.

For several months, the GW Speech and Hearing Center has been working out of a new facility on the ground floor of the Hall of Government on 21st and G streets. A grand opening of the new facility was held June 3. The center is open to GW students, faculty, and staff, as well as all members of the greater Washington, D.C. community. For more information about the GW Speech and Hearing Center, visit www.gwu.edu/~sphr/center.html or call 994-7360.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu