New Speech Pathology Lab Offers Free Screenings to NYU Community
By Timothy Farrell
In late August, the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development left its cramped, cluttered office at 719 Broadway for a sleek, newly-designed 10,000 square-foot space a few blocks away that could be mistaken for the office of a downtown advertising firm or dot-com.
The walls of the reception area are adorned with an undulating “sound wave” pattern, the perfect décor for a department whose research focuses on sound and speech.
But most importantly, the new office effectively doubles the amount of space for faculty offices, research labs, therapy rooms, and student areas.
“When Gensler, the architect, asked us what we wanted for the department, I told them that our students are the heart and soul of the department,” says Celia Stewart, professor and department chair. “I wanted it to be as student-centered as possible.”
Although the department offers no classroom space, the office buzzes with activity. In addition to housing faculty and administrative offices, the department—which trains students for work as speech-language pathologists and audiologists in hospitals, schools, rehabilitation centers, and other clinical settings—offers research and teaching labs with state-of-the-art equipment.
Students do research using the latest equipment, including a new audiology booth for conducting hearing tests. Testing and data collection rooms for children and adults with communicative disorders are outfitted with digital cameras so students can analyze one-on-one sessions between subjects and researchers. Faculty work, which includes research on facial motor development, spoken language production in children, neurolinguistics, voice disorders, and more, will also benefit from the new lab space.
Members of the NYU community and their families are invited to visit the department for free hearing and speech screenings.
“We offer free screenings for everyone, especially those who use their voice professionally, such as teachers, lawyers, doctors, actors, and singers,” said Stewart. “The initial screening is free, and there is a nominal fee for evaluations and therapy appointments.”
The clinic treats adults and children with hearing, speech, and language problems, such as stuttering, voice and articulation disorders, as well as aphasia. Clinicians treat children with autism and learning disabilities, as well as adults with neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and MS. Students gain additional clinical experience through a partnership with the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Center on the Upper East Side, which has a facility for treating patients with Huntington’s disease, a degenerative nerve disease that causes acute cognitive and physical impairment.
Stewart says she is looking to increase the number of patients the clinic treats each year as well as the types of services it offers. Last year, graduate students logged more than 2,500 hours treating patients. Now, with more therapy rooms, they will be able to assess and treat even more individuals. Members of the NYU community who are interested in receiving a free hearing or speech screening can call 212-998-5230.
