The Daily Bulletin Archive

For more than 50 years, the Buffalo State College Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic has served thousands of students and clients alike. A learning lab for graduate students enrolled in the college’s speech-language pathology program, the clinic provides low-cost services to individuals of all ages from the community who suffer from a variety of communication disorders.

Under the supervision of the Speech-Language Pathology Department’s fully certified clinical faculty, graduate students receive invaluable hands-on experience through the clinic. All supervisors are licensed by New York State and hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

“The graduate program trains our students to expertly serve individuals with communication, hearing, and swallowing disorders,” said Constance Dean Qualls, professor and department chair. “The educational process involves both in- and out-of-class work, as well as clinical practicum experiences. The clinic is an integral part of the department as it provides our students with solid foundations for understanding how to assess and treat persons who have communication disorders.”

Open to the community, the clinic conducted more than 100 initial evaluations during the 2007–2008 year and treated nearly 200 clients in total. According to the clinic’s director, Karen Bailey-Jones, a majority of clients are referred to the clinic from local agencies when a child fails to qualify for services or an adult client’s insurance expires. The clinic charges a nominal registration fee for the evaluation and treatment of articulation and phonological disorders, aphasia, voice disorders, language impairments, hearing disorders, traumatic brain injury, and fluency disorders. Appointments are typically scheduled from noon to 7:00 p.m. to accommodate graduate students’ course schedules.

“In addition to treating members of the community with developmental or neurogenic disorders, we regularly assist professors, teachers, singers, lawyers, and even clergy who can lose their voice on a regular basis,” Bailey-Jones said. “The clinic also serves international students with accent reduction and offers intensive specialty clinics for stutterers and children with language-literacy difficulties.” The clinic also has contractual agreements with Bornhava Preschool, Elmwood Franklin School, and Aspire to provide on-site services.

Originally housed in a single room in Ketchum Hall in 1956, the clinic has steadily evolved, moving to its new facility in Caudell Hall in 2000. The nine-room state-of-the-art clinic will receive another boost this fall with the installation of a new digital video system, which will greatly enhance both the clinical and educational experiences for clients and students. The system was made possible by a $120,000 grant from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation last spring.

“Our supervisors will be able to digitally record all sessions, allowing us to develop ways to enhance the session for both student clinicians and clients,” said Bailey-Jones. “The system will allow us to quickly isolate segments of a session that are teachable moments and export those to PowerPoint for classroom presentations or to share one on one with clients.”

“The Speech-Language Pathology Department has gained a local and national reputation for providing an exceptional education to our graduate students,” Qualls added. “As a part of that, we receive many accolades for the clinical education of our graduate students. We are very proud of the clinic and how it continues to thrive, as evidenced by the support that we acquire for our clinic operations.”

In addition to serving the practicum needs of the graduate program, the clinic also provides undergraduate speech-language pathology students with a firsthand look at the profession, Qualls said.

“The department has a great group of faculty members that make us who we are,” Qualls said. “The academic and clinic faculty work very closely and in tandem to ensure that we provide the highest quality education for our students.”

For more information or to make an appointment, call theSpeech-Language-Hearing Clinic at 878-3530 or e-mailBailey-Jones.