111\\n '\1\1\)) , \\In '\\I\m "\\m1 'lIn I mIn1 11111111111111111111111 \\\\\\\\\\ A young girl walked into the room with rcars welled up in her eyes. Her voice trembled, and she cried over her failed speech examinarion. Her rherapist comforred her and gave her words of encouragement to try and ease her disappointment. The girl came in the next day with a grin on her face and only words of appreciation for the support she received from her therapist. This young girl was one of many who came to the Commu– nication D isorders Speech Clinic for various needs. "I was just trying to encourage her," junior Tiarra Buins, studem clinician, said. "I felt really good. I felt like J helped her make some progress." The client went on to pass the tescs and receive (he help she needed. The speech clinic was one ofthe oldest in the state ofArkan~ sas, Dr. Dan Tullos, professor ofcommunication, said. Since the clinic's beginning, any person of any age, could receive therapy from the speech clinic at no cost. It was run by students of the communication disorders program who had previously mken a course in the field, and were supervised by professors who were members ofthe American Speech-Language Hearing Associarion. StudentS worked in the clinic as parr oftheir national requirements for the communication disorders program. "I think it's a good way to really get a feel for the major," senior Ashley Harrington, student clinician, said. "I also think that to get speech therapy our in the real world it is really expensive; it's like $50 or above an hour. That the people can come and get it for free, we feel really good about (hat." , ((I!)JlJ 11m Ploying 0gome, sophomore Rochel Cooper works with 0 speech clinic student in the Reynolds Center Sept. 15. The clinicions worked witnloco; "Iementary school students every Tuesday and Thursday. ·Russell K"k Harrington was one of me student clinicians working in the fall semester. Hatding was one ofa few undergraduate programs to have a clinic facility and was viewed as superior to many graduate school clinics, Harrington said. Approximately 20 of the students under the communication disorders program worked in the clinic eacl, semester, acquiring hands-on experience in the work of speech therapy, Tullos said. While many colleges had required little to no hours of patient~ comacr, H arding made it mandatory to have close to 100 hou rs, which made the students well sought after, Tullos said. While me experience ofthe clinic helped the studentS with their study ofcommunication disorders, the purpose ofthe service was to hdp those who had a speech problem. A wide range ofclients came into the clinic, from children working on sounds to adulrs with articulation. Each patient was assessed co determine whether or not they needed speech therapy, then their specific needs were identified. Younger clients played a variety ofgames to encourage them to relax while working on (rouble spocs. "Our goal is to create an environment where we can teach the child w say what they need to while keeping rhem inrerested," Tullos said. Speech disorders were not exclusive to a particular age group and were dealt with in a professional manner assuring confi– demiality. While studies of me subject evolved over the past 50 years, Tullos said, the principle ofhelping people remained the same. ·Alexo Johnston communication ~"".
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