Category: Speech and Hearing Science

Alumni Spotlight—Megan-Brette Hamilton

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Jan. 05, 2022 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Alumni of the College of Applied Health Sciences have myriad career options thanks to the tremendous diversity of programs. We periodically will put the spotlight on an alum to find out what they’re doing now, what experiences they had and what AHS means to them. This week, we talk to Megan-Brette Hamilton, an SHS alum who is now an assistant professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Auburn University.

Q: Why did you pick SHS?

A: I remember writing my personal statement in 2011 and, as you do, you write the first part as a general statement and then address a specific school for the latter part. As I was writing the latter part of my personal statement for University of Illinois, I realized how much the school aligned with what I was looking for; reputation, professors, university campus setting. It helped that my aunt, someone who had been in the field for decades before me, encouraged me to choose UIUC, and that both of my parents earned degrees from UIUC. Finally, I got advice from a professor at another university to choose my program according to the person I was going to work with for four plus years. And then I found (former SHS Associate Dept. Head) Laura DeThorne. I emailed her, she and I had a phone conversation and I became excited about the work she was doing in her lab and the idea of learning from her. After that, I was convinced I needed to go to AHS/SHS. From day 1, Dr. DeThorne was a strong advocate for me and as a result I received the Graduate College Distinguished Fellowship Award. To be honest, not having to pay for school, that also helped me make my decision.

Q: Which professors had the most impact on you?

A: As I mentioned before, Dr. DeThorne was an advocate for me from day 1. She wasn’t just my advisor, she was someone who valued my clinical background and my prior experience. We eventually formed a very strong friendship and collegial relationship, and we still collaborate. I also was impacted by Dr. Julie Hengst. Not only was she a committee member of mine for 2 of my projects, but because she also had an extensive clinical career before academia, she was able to speak to me in a way that disarmed me about leaving a job where I was a master clinician to re-learning how to be a student. Dr. Robin L. Jarrett was also someone who has had a huge impact on me. I worked in her lab in a different department across campus. In order for me to be the kind of researcher I am today, I needed to learn other ways of doing research from her perspective. The field of CSD often uses quantitative methods and is predominantly White. Working with Dr. Jarrett helped me to learn about qualitative methods from a sociological perspective and understand academia from someone like me, a Black woman, who also was a full professor. Finally, working with Dr. Cynthia Johnson made a long-lasting impact on me. She was a constant source of encouragement as a growing researcher and I learned first-hand from her about how our field and academia had changed throughout the years.

Q: What course did you most enjoy?

A: You have to remember that I earned a degree that allowed/encouraged me to explore classes in other departments. The way I look at my journey at that stage of my life was to take what I knew about my field in the 17 years I’d been in it and then add to it other content areas to enhance the impact I wanted to have on the field of CSD. All that to say, Language, Identity, and the Politics of Schooling taught by Dr. Anne Haas Dyson in the College of Education was a course I really enjoyed. I loved this course because it brought together all of the areas I was passionate about, language, culture, education, and communication. It was a class that wasn’t afraid to talk about race and class and dialects. And it used qualitative methods:) It reminded me why I decided to return to school at the ripe old age of 34, lol.

Q: Did you enter AHS knowing your career path, or did AHS help you decide?

A: As I mentioned earlier, I entered into the PhD program at age 34, after having had a first career as a practicing speech-language pathologist. I entered the program knowing that I was going to have three outcomes; 1) I was going to learn about some amazing content areas that I’d never been privy to, 2) I was going to learn how to do research, and 3) I was going to earn my doctorate. After that, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. I think being in the program prepared me well for my next steps even though I wasn’t sure what they’d be exactly. I ended up going into academia and constantly call myself “the accidental professor,” lol. I also didn’t know where my research focus would end up when I first started. I originally entered the program to study language processing differences with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience and ended up studying cultural-linguistic diversity with a focus on African American English. To be honest, being in the program helped me see a gap in our field that I could fill, so that’s what I’ve been working on ever since.

Q: Did your AHS experience lead to your current job?

A: Yes. I earned a doctorate from a research-intensive university in a department where I was taught how to do research and provided opportunities to teach and supervise. The skills I acquired in the program, including opportunities across departments and disciplines, allowed me to confidently apply for a tenure-track assistant professor position; which is my current job.

Q: What was your favorite on-campus experience?

A: As a daily enjoyment, I really loved working with my PhD classmates. We were from all different backgrounds and studied so many different areas of communication. We learned so much from each other about life and our field. As a one-time kind of experience, I have to say that it was when I ended up working with a wonderful group of doctoral students from the College of Education and being awarded an internal grant. We used it to put on a 2-day workshop aimed at reimagining education for youth in and beyond the classroom. We brought in Drs. Geneva Smitherman, Ana Celia Zentella, H. Samy Alim, and David E. Kirkland. I loved being around all of those intellectual minds and inserting my communication sciences and disorders perspectives into their conversations of education and language.

Q: What does AHS mean to you?

A: I saw AHS as a place that provided me with opportunities to connect with a variety of people and to grow as a researcher and educator. As I said earlier, I originally entered the program to study language processing differences and ended up studying cultural-linguistic diversity. The beauty is that AHS was a place that allowed me to do either. As a result, I was able to become a researcher with a strong interdisciplinary focus who impacts clinical practice within the field of speech-language pathology and beyond.

Dr. Megan-Brette Hamilton is an assistant professor at Auburn University and an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist (SLP)/communication specialist. Prior to academia, Dr. Hamilton worked as an SLP for 10 years in New York City, the largest school district in the U.S., where most of her caseload consisted of African American and Hispanic children. Currently, her research focuses on the classroom/educational and clinical experiences of speakers of other dialects of English, with a particular focus on African American English-speaking children and adults. Her passion lies in exploring the intersection of culture, language/dialect, communication, and literacy. Dr. Hamilton’s work also focuses on the cultural-linguistic competence and perspectives of professionals and students working with culturally-linguistically diverse populations. Through her work, she engages with such professionals by educating them on the importance of recognizing and validating language variations, culture, and identity; thereby raising one’s cultural-linguistic competence. Dr. Hamilton is the host of the Honeybee Connection podcast, author of Successful Strategies for Classroom Communication, and owner of www.meganbrettehamilton.com where she blogs and provides resources. 

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Husain sees use of brain imaging as vital to studying hearing disorders

Oct. 18, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

The main objective is to establish an international center of excellence for hearing research that transforms the field by using artificial intelligence and Big Data to translate research into practical clinical solutions

Department of Speech and Hearing Science Professor Fatima Husain received $125,000 in seed grant funding from the Discovery Partners Institute for her proposal titled “Hearing Health Institute.”

Fatima Husain’s grant will allow for the collection of brain imaging data (Photo by Brian Stauffer)

The main objective for Husain’s proposal is to establish an international center of excellence for hearing research that transforms the field by using artificial intelligence and Big Data to translate research into practical clinical solutions.

“I think insufficient resources (are being) directed towards studying hearing disorders using brain imaging,” Husain said. “The idea, the crux of it (is), can we create a public repository of previously-collected brain imaging data of individuals with normal hearing and various hearing disorders Brain imaging can be very valuable but it is also expensive. It’s extremely insightful in a condition like tinnitus, which is a subjective disorder. It can be very helpful in figuring out the impact of hearing loss and aging and differentiating between the two.”

Husain’s team will develop AI and Big Data tools to address three main areas: (1) prediction of clinical outcomes to motivate early intervention, (2) biomarker development to accelerate development of new and effective treatments, and (3) developing patient-centered treatment strategies to restore healthy hearing especially targeting underserved communities.

The idea of Big Data comes in with the creation of the Hearing Health Institute, which will allow for the collection of brain imaging data from about 500 study participants with partner institutions such as Northwestern University and Washington University in St. Louis, Husain said. The team intends to expand the repository by bringing in other affiliate labs.

“We are not just focused on only the hearing aspect of it. We have acquired data from a number of questionnaires testing different things. Other labs may have a lot more of neuropsychological workup, for instance. This additional data is necessary to make sense of the brain images and to compare groups. The images by themselves are not very useful. The metadata about patient characteristics along with the brain imaging big data will allow us to accelerate translational research.”

Another focus for the Hearing Health Institute is to motivate early intervention, Husain said. According to one large-scale longitudinal study Husain cited, as you get hearing loss you seem to cognitively age earlier.

“The idea then, is can we mitigate this kind of cognitive impairment by giving early intervention? By giving amplification earlier, how does it help? (What) we want to do with HHI is to map changes in brain function across the lifespan as a result of hearing loss and include intervention studies where available.

“Like among 55-year-olds, for instance, they show people with hearing loss tend to be slower at doing certain tasks. And that’s because they can’t hear very well. These are individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss who do not wear hearing aids yet. They have slightly different emotional network engagement and other possible changes. So if we map this out a little better it will motivate, perhaps, early interventions.”

Husain’s project also wants to find a way to better serve underserved communities.

“We’re trying to have a sort of the summer internship program, if everything goes well, next summer. And, we are trying to see if college students from Chicago and Champaign-Urbana, from underrepresented groups who have expertise is STEM and get them interested in hearing health and neuroscience.”

“We also want to partner with corporations to devise cheap solutions for hearing health, such as, smart phone-based apps.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award honorees include SHS’ Andrea Paceley

Aug. 28, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Illinois recognized 16 staff, including SHS office manager Andrea Paceley

Andrea Paceley provides support to SHS’ graduate programs (Photo provided)

Sixteen civil service employees were recognized for exceptional performance by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign—eight this year and eight in 2020. For the second consecutive year, concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic precluded a banquet for employees honored with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award.

Each recipient receives $1,000 and a plaque. Recipients’ names also are engraved on a plaque displayed in the Illinois Human Resources Office. The names of past winners are online.

Permanent staff members with at least two years of service and retired employees in status appointments during the calendar year may be nominated for the award. A committee recommends finalists, who are then approved by Chancellor Robert Jones.

Experiences in managing pandemic-related issues came to the forefront in many of the nomination forms for 2021 recipients, including Andrea Paceley in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in the College of Applied Health Sciences.

Paceley, the office manager of SHS, provides support to the graduate program – including graduate admissions – and carries out general office duties.

“The pandemic required a pivot on how we conduct recruitment events, such as our open house for admitted students. Andrea worked closely with the Educational Policy Committee and director of graduate studies to transition to a virtual format,” wrote nominator Ian B. Mertes, an assistant professor of speech and hearing science. “This required a tremendous amount of effort on Andrea’s part to help develop materials, ensure that necessary information was obtained from faculty, interface with the prospective students, schedule the events and send invites, and follow-up with attendees.”

Paceley’s workstation in the front office makes her the department’s first point of contact. “Those who call, e-mail or stop in are greeted with a friendly personality and a willingness to assist. On the occasion when she does not know the answer, she tracks it down and responds quickly,” Mertes wrote. ”She also sends timely reminders to make sure tasks have been completed, keeping departmental operations running smoothly.”

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Exploring Extended High-Frequency Hearing

Aug. 10, 2021 | Anna Flanagan

If hearing above 8 kHz is not important, why is the human auditory system capable of hearing up to 20 kHz?

Brian Monson (Photo by Brian L. Stauffer)

Can you imagine having a conversation that included none of the following consonant sounds: s, sh, f, and ph? Known as voiceless fricatives, much of their energy occurs at the range of human hearing above 8 kilohertz (kHz), called extended high frequencies. In general, consonants tend to have more energy at the extended high frequencies than vowels. Yet conventional clinical hearing tests do not assess the performance of the auditory system above 8 kHz—which is above the highest notes on a piano—because of a longstanding assumption that hearing above 8 kHz is not important.

As Speech and Hearing Science Assistant Professor Brian Monson explains, the assumption took root during the development of the telephone about 100 years ago, when speech signals had to be compressed for transmission across wires. Early researchers simply cut out certain frequencies and asked people if they could still understand what was being said.

“Basically, they found that you didn’t need to hear frequencies above 3 or 4 kHz to have really good intelligibility,” he said, “and that got interpreted as ‘energy at higher frequencies is not important for speech.’”

For more than 10 years, Dr. Monson has been intrigued by and trying to answer the question, “If hearing above 8 kHz is not important, why is the human auditory system capable of hearing up to 20 kHz?” He recently received a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to continue his work in this area with a study titled “The ecological significance of extended high-frequency hearing in humans,” a study on which he will collaborate with researchers at the University of North Carolina and Boys Town National Research Hospital.

Extended high frequencies and noise

In this area of research, Dr. Monson’s basic hypothesis is that not only does extended high-frequency hearing have utility for humans, it plays a role in speech perception. His research group was one of the first to examine the value of extended high frequencies in the speech signal, and the first to demonstrate that extended high frequencies help listeners to determine whether speakers are facing them or turned away from them.

His research has scientific implications, of course, and expanding the state of knowledge in speech and hearing science means a great deal to Dr. Monson. There also is the potential for practical applications of his findings as well, for audiology testing, diagnosis, and intervention.

First of all, only testing below 8 kHz in the clinic does not measure the true function of the auditory system. Extended high-frequency hearing loss is the most common loss in humans because it occurs naturally with aging, with substantial loss occurring even by middle age. So if extended high frequencies are found to play a significant role in speech comprehension, everyone eventually will be affected and everyone will have undiagnosed, or hidden, hearing losses which are not detected by standard audiograms. To date, Dr. Monson and his colleagues have found a modest relationship between extended high frequencies and speech comprehension, but, importantly, it is in noisy environments that extended high frequencies are the most valuable.

“The number one complaint of hearing aid users, for many years, has been that they still have a hard time understanding speech in noisy situations,” Dr. Monson said. “Hearing aids do not represent extended high frequencies.”

Is the impact on speech comprehension large enough to justify taking on the challenge of developing new hearing aid technologies that restore extended high-frequency hearing? That is one of the questions that he hopes to address in the newly funded study. It will expand on a study published in 2019 that simulated a cocktail party but used only two background talkers. The new study will create an even more realistic noisy environment by using multiple talkers in different locations around a listener, as well as realistic reverberations that recreate how sound bounces around different room settings. It also will include a localization experiment to investigate whether extended high frequencies help listeners to determine where the talker of interest is located, with the assumption that this ultimately helps listeners to tune out other talkers.

While he would like his research to result in effective restorative technologies for individuals with extended high frequency hearing loss, Dr. Monson is excited that it already provides compelling evidence for assessing extended high-frequency hearing in the audiology clinic. In a 2020 paper in Hearing Research, he and others argued that implementation of extended high-frequency audiometry into clinical practice is relatively easy. Furthermore, measurements of hearing loss at extended high frequencies do predict speech perception ability in noise, suggesting such measures could be useful in identifying individuals at risk for listening difficulties in noisy situations. As he continues his research in this area, he hopes that continuing to present his findings through journals and conferences that target audiologists will positively impact clinical practice.

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External placements vital to students’ development

Aug. 03, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

All SHS students complete external internships, strengthening real-world skills and career pathways

All SHS students are required to take part in external placements, which are essentially internships with an external organization (Photo by Brian Stauffer)

Students in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in the College of Applied Health Sciences expect excellent instruction in the classroom. When they venture off campus, however, is when they get a better sense of the career paths they might choose.

All SHS students are required to take part in external placements, which are essentially internships with an external organization. For some students in the master’s program for Speech-Language Pathology, external placements might begin as early as their second semester, said Noa Hannah, director of the audiology and speech-language pathology clinic in SHS. On the audiology side, said Clinical Assistant Professor Sadie Braun, students are given external placements in the summer after their first year in the four-year program.

“I think that our external placements are really the first place that our students get a sense of what audiology is like in the real world,” Braun said. “I think that’s when a lot starts to gel between what they’re learning in their academic classes and what they’re doing in clinic—that starts to come together when they get to their external placements.”

Hannah, who joined the university in 2019 and became clinic director in 2020, agreed, calling external placements “pivotal.”

“They’re pivotal in their learning because there’s only so much we can teach within the clinic,” Hannah said. “Going out on these externals is about professionalism, but … it’s really about understanding different cultures—different cultures of schools, different cultures of hospitals, different supervisory styles than what we have here at the university. So it’s pivotal in their learning how to apply their skills to new patient populations as well as new environments.”

Braun said audiology students gain experience in environments that we just can’t simulate within the SHS clinic environment.

“For example, we send them to a hearing aid manufacturer to get experience with the manufacturer side of things, or to a private practice or a big hospital so they get to see different environments audiologists can practice in and figure out where they might want to start in their first job,” she said.

Hannah said external placements give students the opportunity to deal with different patient populations, such as patients with dementia or traumatic brain injuries, or patients who have had strokes.

Braun said the external placements also help students to increase their independence and competence in using their skills.

There are also benefits for the organizations, such as hospitals and clinics, in which the students are placed.

“I think a lot of professionals just appreciate having some input in shaping the future of our field,” Braun said. “And when we send our students who have more experience, like a third-year audiology student, sometimes they can utilize that student who can be more independent to get a little bit of extra work done themselves.”

Braun said the external placements can also be a job “pipeline,” as some students are hired right out of their fourth-year placements.

For some UIUC alumni, it is a chance to give back, Hannah said.

“I have heard that they want input into teaching the next generation and I think the other thing is, people like teaching. People like sharing their knowledge … a lot of professionals enjoy that part of their profession and maybe don’t get that opportunity as often as they would like. This is a way to give back to a program that’s helped them to be successful.”

Any organization that is willing to act as an external placement for students in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science is encouraged to email Noa Hannah.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Aronoff’s R01 grant aimed at maximizing binaural benefits

July 19, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Justin Aronoff’s study will provide insight into how the binaural auditory system combines signals from the two ears. (Photo provided)

Bilateral cochlear implants are used to provide hearing to both ears for deaf children and adults, as well as provide binaural hearing. But the benefits of bilateral implants can be hampered by poor integration of the devices’ left and right inputs. Thanks to an R01 grant, Department of Speech and Hearing Science associate professor Justin Aronoff has a plan to combat that.

Aronoff was awarded a $1.57 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders for his project “The contributions of interaurally correlated signals and interaurally symmetric place of stimulation for the binaural auditory system.” The proposed study will provide insight into how the binaural auditory system combines signals from the two ears and lay the groundwork for a shift in how and when clinicians program bilateral cochlear implant users’ devices to maximize binaural benefits.

Aronoff has just begun data collection, and recently gave a demonstration of some of the study’s testing, with research assistant Simin “Tina” Soleimanifar as the subject.

In Aronoff’s lab, Tina, who does not have a cochlear implant, sat next to a scope where she can see the signal that is coming out of a cochlear implant.

“The first thing that we need to do when we’re testing a cochlear implant patient is the same thing that you would do if you go into the (audiology) clinic,” Aronoff said. “And that’s basically setting what are the comfort and safety levels.”

As Aronoff explains, the simulations of cochlear implants are not really simulations of what it would sound like to cochlear implant users. “Most of them are just simulations of what it would sound like to only have 22 notes on your piano,” he said, “but everything has to be done on those 22 notes. That’s all you can hear. … (Renowned researcher) David Landsberger (said) listening with the cochlear implant is like playing the piano with a ping pong paddle.’ That you’re hitting a bunch of notes at once. And so if I turn off an electrode, that paddle gets a little wider for all the other notes. That’s the way to think about it.”

For Aronoff, the potential impact is deeply motivating. “Our ultimate aim is to improve speech perception in noise for cochlear implant users,” he said. “Being able to follow conversations in noisy environments is one of the biggest challenges they face, and we hope this technology can make a meaningful difference in their everyday lives.”

To understand what the signal from the cochlear implant actually is, you need to use a scope. Aronoff said the scope is connected to breakout boards, which allow him to tap the output from each electrode and put it on a scope and record it, to make sure the signal is what he thinks it is. Different devices have a different number of electrodes, Aronoff said. He was working with a cochlear device during this test run, which has 22 electrodes. During the test, he gradually increases the amount of stimulation until Tina can see something on the scope.

Aronoff compared the electrodes to shining a flashlight beam.

“As you walk away from a wall that you’re shining a flashlight beam on, the beam gets wider and wider. And these are fairly far away from the wall. What that means is if you have two flashlight beams right next to each other, they illuminate mostly the same spot on the wall. There’s a little difference on the edges, but they’re mostly overlapping. And that’s what’s happening as well with these electrodes. And so that’s why when you go from one electrode to the next, you’re stimulating most of the same neurons.”

One of the most important issues Aronoff hopes to tackle with this grant is about perception of interaural time differences (ITDs) and interaural level differences (ILDs), which limit the ability of bilateral cochlear implant users to localize sounds and understand speech in noisy environments.

“This is actually a big question of the grant,” he said. “We know for a pitch that it is very malleable. That over time whatever I tell you in your map, whichever electrodes get the same frequencies in the outside world will start sounding the same in terms of pitch. We don’t know if that’s true for ITDs and ILDs. That if the best electrodes paired together change over time or not. It definitely seems to be less malleable. We don’t know if it’s malleable at all. And that’s a big purpose of this grant, to see if that correlated input only affects the pitch that you hear, or if it’s affecting the entire auditory system.”

Another issue is that people who have two cochlear implants don’t always hear one coherent sound from the two ears. They will sometimes hear a left ear sound and a right ear sound, Aronoff said.

“If you’re listening over headphones and one of them is bad, the way to tell is you lift one up. You can’t be like, ‘Oh, I can hear it’s the left one that’s bad. You have to lift one up.’ That’s how well things fuse together into one perception. Now, for cochlear implant users, that’s often not the case. They often do not have things fusing together completely. And so that’s one thing that we look at. There’s big benefits to it.”

The benefit of having bilateral cochlear implants is more than just having a backup if one implant goes out, Aronoff said. They will allow you to hear better in noisy environments.

“If you’re listening to someone who’s across the table from you and there’s background noise, being able to spatially separate out where are the speakers from everyone else helps you. And having two ears gives you that ability. If you only have one ear, you cannot tell something’s coming from the left or the right. So two ears is really what you need. And most cochlear implant users can localize reasonably well. Not as good as normal hearing listeners, but reasonably well. So that’s a big benefit of having two ears as well. There’s other things in terms of when someone comes up on one side of you. If it’s on the side that doesn’t have a cochlear implant, you might not even know they’re talking to you. There’s a lot of benefits of having two instead of one.

Getting a good measure of fusion has been one of the more challenging aspects of the project, Aronoff said, since fusion is a central idea to the grant, and because everyone has a different idea of what fusion means.

“A lot of the other things are largely predicated on this idea that you hear it as a coherent sound,” he said. “You can’t localize a sound if it sounds like it’s coming from both ears. And so, yeah, fusion is very central to this grant. And so we have a lot of experiments where we are looking at that fusion and how different things affect it. “

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu. 

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SHS rising junior Mia Mangialardi discusses her internship

July 12, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Students in the College of Applied Health Sciences have the opportunity to do their internships in a variety of fields. Today, we speak with Mia Mangialardi, who is a rising junior in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, about her internship.

Q: What was your experience with The Autism Program?

A: The Autism Program is a resource for individuals with autism and their families to gain support through networks of people. I worked in the resource room twice a week and also took a zoom class once a week that trained me to become a Registered Behavior Technician. At the resource room I would assist teachers, social workers and parents with any questions they had and directed them to specific books, pamphlets and hand outs. I also created devices for students on the spectrum to use such as Picture Exchange Communication Systems, personalized schedules and social stories.

Q: How did you apply for the internship?

A: After receiving an email from my advisor about a potential internship opportunity, I filled out an application that included my resume and letters of recommendation and emailed it to The Autism Program.

Q: What did you learn from the internship?

A: Through the years I have done a lot of hands on work with students with special needs. This internship really allowed me to work behind the scenes and see how the resources that aid communication are made and the purpose behind them.

Q: What was your biggest takeaway from the experience?

A: My biggest take away from this experience is that there is so much to learn from people who have Autism and their support systems. I had the amazing opportunity to get to know my supervisors, fellow interns, and different visitors that came in and each and every one of them gave me valuable information that I will be able to use in my career path.

Q: Is this internship closely related to the field you are hoping to work in?

A: My major is Speech and Hearing Sciences with a concentration in Speech Language Pathology. I have always wanted to work with individuals on the spectrum and this internship definitely taught me so much more about how to help and work with these individuals.

Q: Would you like to share any other information that might be helpful for future SHS students?

A: I suggest to try and get as much experience in different fields as possible! Just because a research, job or internship opportunity isn’t exactly what you will be doing in the future does not mean that it will not be beneficial in a multitude of ways.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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SHS rising senior Jenna Pryor talks about her internship

July 06, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Students in the College of Applied Health Sciences have the opportunity to do their internships in a variety of fields. Today, we speak with Jenna Pryor, who is a rising senior in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, about her internship.

Q: What was your experience with The Autism Program? 

A: I had many different experiences with The Autism Program, which is why I enjoyed it so much! We had observation hours watching an RBT interact with one of their clients. I also had hands-on experience working in the resource room making projects, communicating with other interns/clients, meeting new people, restocking the resource room and so much more! There was some slight research, we had to watch around 40 hours of training videos, those videos presented a great deal of information and expanded my knowledge for the internship and in general.

Q: How did you apply for the internship?

A: I initially heard about the internship through email from my consular. In the email, the application was attached. The instructions stated to fill out the application and then email it to the woman who conducts the interviews, Anne Hall. Later on I had an interview and then got offered the internship!

Q: What did you learn from the internship?

A: There are so many things that I have learned from this internship. I learned how to use different tools such as a laminator, different computer softwares, navigating a library database, answering phone calls, and creating books/stories. I also learned more about professionalism. Being in a resource room and interacting with different clients, interns, and coworkers in that setting gave me a better idea of how to behave as a professional. I also learned how amazing it is to step out of your comfort zone. I am not the most creative person, but I created and designed many different stories. It was great to work on my weaknesses and complete certain tasks that I do not have much experience on.

Q: What was your biggest take away from the experience?

A: My biggest takeaway from this experience is to give you all into everything that you do. I love helping and assisting others, and I got to use this strength of mine for many situations in this internship. It is important to give your all because not only are students/teachers/peers/parents/etc. using the resources that you make for them, a lot of individuals and families are counting on them. I’ve ran into situations where parents feel lost and need a sense of direction for their child. A diagnosis of autism for a parent who has a child with autism or the individual who has autism can be very overwhelming. I feel that The Autism Program helps ease the stress for these families. It is important to go above and beyond for all who come to us for resources/help.

Q: Is this internship closely related to the field you are hoping to work in? 

A: Yes, this internship is closely related to the field I am hoping to work with. I am a speech and hearing science student with a speech-language pathology concentration. When I saw the RBT interact with the child during my observation sessions, this is a similar situation I could be experiencing in the future. Children who have autism also tend to see speech-language pathologists, it was great to learn more about autism. It will help me for my future career getting to know more about different disorders, as they could be my potential future clients.

Q: Would you like to share any other information that might be helpful for future SHS students?

A: If you have any opportunity to apply to an internship or get hands-on experience, do it! These are eye-opening experiences that help you expand your knowledge greatly. It also builds character and puts you in different situations. I have grown academically and emotionally from my first internship. These are experiences that you don’t get from your courses! Be sure to get to know your professors and utilize office hours. Building a relationship with your professors is very important. Professors love when students reach out for help or when students want to get to know them.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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SHS alum Anjali Forber-Pratt named director of NIDILRR

May 24, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Forber-Pratt’s research is focused on disability identity, inclusion, disability sport, and work related to disability activism

SHS alum Anjali Forber-Pratt named director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research

Anjali Forber-Pratt, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, has been named as director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).

Forber-Pratt, most recently an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, is an elite wheelchair racer, having won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. She also represented Team USA in London at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Her research is focused on disability identity, inclusion, disability sport, and work related to disability activism. Forber-Pratt holds a B.S. in Speech and Hearing Sciences, an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology, and a Ph.D. in Human Resource Development, all from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A two-time Paralympian and medalist in the sport of wheelchair racing, Dr. Forber-Pratt has dedicated her life to helping others recognize their potential. Globally, she is involved with disability advocacy efforts related to access to employment, education and sports. She was honored with the inaugural American Psychological Association Citizen Psychologist Award for Advancing Disability as a Human Rights and Social Justice Issue Award in 2020 and was recognized by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as a 2018 Emerging Scholar. In 2013, she was awarded the American Association of People with Disabilities’ prestigious Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award, given to emerging leaders within the national disability community. Also in 2013, she was named a Champion of Change by the White House and had an opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion with President Obama about disability policy issues.

“I am extremely honored and humbled by this appointment as well as the opportunity to serve our country,” Forber-Pratt said in a statement. “From my U of I days, I distinctly remember being explicitly taught that we had an obligation as alums to make the world a better place and to be ambassadors, especially for the broader disability community. Dr. Timothy Nugent taught us that, and my coach Adam Bleakney and others reinforced that every day—it was always more than just our athletic journey or just our academic journey. Many of us have found our own unique ways to embody that—I believe serving as Director of the National Institute of Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research is one way that I will continue to try to serve the broader disability community and educate others. I believe my collective training—with two degrees in Speech & Hearing Sciences as well as my PhD in education that taught me the analytic research skills—it truly is the combination of these degrees and U of I experiences and my own lived experiences as a proud disabled alum that position me well to transition into this role.”

Forber-Pratt served as principal investigator for research projects covering a range of disability issues, including training of special education teachers, experiences of students with disabilities at every education level, and identity development. She has authored 33 peer-reviewed journal articles and is the author or co-author of a number of textbook chapters.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Paceley receives award for excellence in graduate contacts

May 21, 2024 |

Andrea Paceley is ‘indispensable,’ according to nominators. (Photo by Jerry Thompson)

The Graduate College in February announced that Andrea Paceley (Office Manager, Speech and Hearing Science) was named a winner of the 2024 Graduate College Excellence Award for Graduate Contacts. The award is given annually as part of the Graduate College’s Annual Workshop for Directors of Graduate Study and Graduate Contacts. It recognizes staff members whose service has exceeded expectations in enhancing graduate students’ experiences and has positively impacted their graduate program or department’s operations.

Paceley has served as the Office Manager in Speech and Hearing Science for more than eight years. Nominators named her an “indispensable” part of the department for her streamlining of processes, commitment to transparency and “contagious cheerfulness.” One nominator said that Andrea “has demonstrated sustained excellence in support of our graduate programs, students, and faculty.” A graduate student in Speech and Hearing Science added that “her skills, kindness, and ability to navigate challenges with grace set her apart as a truly exceptional graduate secretary.”

Graduate Contacts are essential to the success of our graduate students. They welcome students into our campus community, provide valuable support through both the good and challenging times, and celebrate students’ accomplishments. The care and compassion that Graduate Contacts demonstrate every day are an invaluable contribution to the university and its community of students, faculty, and staff. The Graduate College extends its thanks to all of our Graduate Contacts for their work in our campus community.

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College of Applied Health Sciences