Department of Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology and Deaf Studies

News

Faculty Presentation

On October 28, 2008, Dr. Judy Blackburn gave a 2-hour presentation to the Association of Baltimore City Speech-Language Pathologists (ABC-SLP) titled "The Impact of Family Violence on Reading and Language Skills in Children".

Towson University College of Graduate Studies Research Award

Marisa Turbish presented her graduate research project at the Ninth Annual Towson University Student Research Expo in April 2008. Her project was selected to receive the outstanding research award from the College of Graduate Studies. Ms. Turbish's project was titled "Pragmatic skills used in social communication and healthcare contexts: Precursors to health literacy." This project was completed as part of her graduate degree in speech-language pathology and was mentored by Dr. Eva Hester. Dr. Hester and Ms. Turbish have since submitted the project for publication in a professional journal.

New Textbook by Towson Audiology Faculty

Dr. Diana C. Emanuel just completed an exciting new textbook, Hearing Science, with her coauthor, Dr. Tomasz Letowski. This text is unique in its approach to teaching hearing science in that it includes a review of foundation skills (math and physics) before introducing the topics of acoustics, anatomy and physiology, and psychoacoustics, with additional advanced topics of audio systems and digital signal processing provided at the end of the book for more advanced coursework. The book is: Emanuel, D.C., & Letowski, T. (2009). Hearing Science. Baltimore, Md: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. Emanuel and Letowski also created on-line learning resources to help students to learn and professors to teach the subject more effectively.

Recent Faculty Publications

• Dr. Sharon Glennen guest edited a special edition of Perspectives on Communication Disorders in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations on international adoption. Dr. Glennen authored two articles in the issue, "Speech and Language in Children Adopted Internationally at Older Ages,"and "International Adoption Speech and Language Mythbusters."

• Dr. Peggy Korczak published her research article, "Speech Evoked Potentials: From the Laboratory to the Clinic" in the journal Ear and Hearing.

• Dr Sheryl Cooper coauthored an article in Annals of the Deaf titled "The Status of Sign Language Instruction in Institutions of Higher Education."

• A chapter titled "Room Acoustics for Listeners with Normal Hearing and Hearing Impairment" was coauthored by Drs. Brian Kreisman and Nicole Kreisman and appears in Audiology Treatment 2nd Ed.

• Dr. Jennifer Smart recently published "Rehabilitation of Adults with Auditory Processing Disorders and Normal Peripheral Hearing: Two Case Studies" in the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Audiology.

• Dr. Karen Fallon authored an article for Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication titled "AAC in the Schools: Current Issues and Future Directions."

• Dr. Karen Fallon guest edited the special issue of Seminars in Speech and Language titled "AAC from Preschool to High School." Her article "Augmentative and Alternative Communication & Literacy Teams: Facing the Challenges, Forging Ahead" appeared in the issue. Dr. Linda Sickman also wrote an article for the same issue titled "AAC and RTI: Strategies for Every Child in the Classroom."

• Dr. Paul Evitts published an article about his research titled "Listener's Perceptions of the Personality of Male, Alaryngeal Speakers" in Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology.

• Dr. Jody Cripps coauthored a chapter titled "Linguistic Accessibility and Deaf Children" in The Handbook of Educational Liguistics.

• Dr. Eva Hester wrote an article titled "Using Student Article Presentations for Evidence-Based Practice and Evidence-Based Education" in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Perspectives: Issues in HIgher Education. She also published an article on "Student Evaluations of Advising: Moving Beyond the Mean" in the College Teaching journal.

• Dr. Sharon Glennen's international adoption research article titled "Predicting Language Outcomes for Internationally Adopted Children" was published in the Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research.

Oticon International Audiology Summer Camp

Melanie King (AuD Class of 2010) was one of four students from the United States invited to the Oticon International Audiology Summer Camp at the Eriksholm Audiology Research Centre in Helsinger, Denmark from August 27-31, 2008. This audiology camp, which has been held on a regular basis since 1997, provides the opportunity for learning and professional camaraderie with students from around the world. The program focuses on many of the most current and intriguing aspects of hearing loss and treatment approaches. Melanie's work as a research assistant with Dr. Brian Kreisman in the Center for Amplification, Rehabilitation and Listening has been sponsored by a grant from Oticon for the past year.

Speech-Language Pathology Student Research

Speech-Language Pathology students presented their research at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention held in Boston, Massachusetts from November 15-17, 2007..

• Tziporah Leichter: "From Theory to Practice: Service Learning & Childhood Language Disorders" coauthored with Dr. Karen Fallon.

• Alexis Landsman: "Use of Repetitive Naming to Improve Recall in Primary Progressive Aphasia" coauthored with Ms. Iona Johnson.

• Marisa Turbish: "Pragmatic Skills Used by Older Adults in Social and Healthcare Contexts: Precursors to Health Literacy" coauthored with Dr. Eva Hester.

Audiology Student Research

Towson University undergraduates and Audiology doctoral students were well represented at the 2008 American Academy of Audiology Convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 10-12, 2008. The four students who presented were mentored by Dr. Brian Kreisman who coauthored the research.

• Melina Ecos (TU Class of 2008) presented a paper entitled "Spatial Resolution: Effects of Stimuli Angle on CRM Scores". She also presented at the NCUR 2008 Convention and the Towson University Student Research and Scholarship Expo.

• Trisha Bents (TU Class of 2008) presented a paper entitled "SQuaRE: Music Quality Ratings on an Interdisciplinary Scale". She was one of seven Towson University undergraduates to attend the convention.

• Jamie Weiner (Au.D. Class of 2008) presented a paper entitled "MP3 Players: Auditory Risk When the Music can be Overheard".

• Melanie King (AuD Class of 2010) presented a paper entitled "Pilot Investigation of a Binaural Broadband Hearing System".

Alumni Association Community Grant

Dr. Judy Blackburn was awarded a Towson University Alumni Association Community Grant for her work with the House of Ruth Domestic Violence Shelter. Dr. Blackburn established a clinical practicum program for graduate students who provide weekly reading instruction to children living at the shelter. Graduate students work with the children using research-based techniques to improve language and reading abilities. The reading project provides children the opportunity to develop essential reading skills that are critical for academic achievement. The project also provides a structure for consistent reading practice, as well as one-on-one attention to address individual reading problems. In addition, the program includes art projects and story telling that offer children the opportunity to deal with their own experiences. The grant will fund books for the children so they can work on reading skills between instructional sessions.

Towson Undergraduate Selected for ASHA Minority Leadership Program

Tiffany Taliaferro was one of five undergraduates selected to participate in the 2007 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) Minority Student Leadership Program. This annual program selects promising minority students from across the country and brings them to the annual ASHA Conference for intensive training and mentoring. Most participants are graduate students, relatively few undergraduate students are selected. Ms. Taliaferro's selection was a reflection of her strong academic abilities and leadership potential.

AuD Student Receives Starkey Scholarship

On August 10th, 2007, Towson University Audiology doctoral student Laura Toll was awarded one of ten $1,000 "Outstanding Student Clinician" scholarships from Starkey Labs.  Ms. Toll is a third year student in the program. 

American Academy of Audiology Jerger Award

Audiology doctoral student Cynthia DeMots won the Jerger Award for best student research poster session at the 2007 American Academy of Audiology Conference in Denver Colorado.  Her poster titled "Effects of Auditory Toughening in Rats" was co-authored with Dr. Margaret Jastreboff and fellow student Jamie Moran.  The poster was selected from over 200 entries. 

Audiology Foundation of America Scholarship

Mary Carson, Towson University Au.D. student, was awarded one of two national AFA scholarships. These scholarships are awarded to "the best and brightest" second year Audiology graduate students in the country.

Commencement May 2007

Kelly Wingate, B.S. SPPA and Shana Fogarty, M.S. SLP were selected as undergraduate and graduate Commencement Speakers for the College of Health Professions May 2007 ceremony. This was the first time both speakers were chosen from the same department.

Oticon Research Grant Awarded

Dr. Brian Kreisman received over $40,000 in grants this year from Oticon Hearing Aid Corporation to support his research programs. Dr. Kreisman is evaluating new hearing aid technologies for the company.

ASHA Legislative Council

Ms. Iona Johnson was elected one of three state representatives to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Legislative Council. This national council oversees all decisions of the professional organization.

American Academy of Audiology Publications Board

Dr. Brian Kreisman was named to the publications board of AAA. This national group publishes Audiology Today and the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology.

National Parkinson Foundation Training Project

Dr. Celia Bassich has been part of the Allied Health Team Training Project for the National Parkinson Foundation. As part of her work she traveled to Florida and Hawaii to train professionals in the latest methods of assessing and treating individuals with Parkinsons.

Department of Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology and Deaf Studies
Van Bokkelen Hall, Room 105
Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Phone: 410-704-4153
Fax: 410-704-4131
E-mail: kglorioso@towson.edu