Past Events

Tiffany Chavers Edgar, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
62 Goodnight Hall
November 4, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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Approximately seven million individuals in the United States are diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability. Many of these individuals do not develop functional speech and remain non-speaking or minimally speaking throughout their life span. As a result, these individuals face significant deficits in social-communication domains, activities of daily living, and adaptive behavior. Minimally-speaking individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) are under-served and under-researched. My research aims to address this critical gap in the knowledge base by conducting methodological rigorous and clinically relevant studies in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and IDDs. This talk will highlight my findings related to the unique language and cognitive profiles of individuals with IDDs and the efficacy of AAC interventions targeting social communication for minimally speaking individuals with IDDs.

October 30, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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Funding & Recognition of Excellence

62 Goodnight Hall
October 28, 2024 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

We invite all students of color within the department (undergraduate, Master’s, AuD, and PhD) to attend. Light snacks will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your own snacks as well. The flyer for …

Chenelle Walker, M.A., CCC-SLP
62 Goodnight Hall
October 28, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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Within the United States, many African Americans (AAs) switch between African American English (AAE) and Standard American English (SAE) depending on context. While prior research has focused on the impact of linguistic differences between AAE and SAE on literacy performance in children, there is limited understanding of how the two dialects are processed by adults who speak AAE. One hundred adults identifying as Black or African American (M=32 years; 50 males), and characterized by variable levels of exposure to AAE, were recruited through the online experimental platform Prolific. Participants completed an auditory moving window task to investigate how they processed sentences produced in AAE and SAE. Results suggest that bidialectal adults are equally agile at processing both dialects, but that switches between dialects carry costs. Most importantly, bidialectal exposure may facilitate processing of both dialects.

Michael Roberts, Ph.D.
Waisman Center
October 25, 2024 @ 8:30 am - 9:30 am
Learn more about the Hearing and Donuts Seminar Series

The inferior colliculus (IC) is the midbrain hub of the central auditory system and an important site for computations related to speech processing and sound localization. With more than five times as many neurons as the lower auditory brainstem, the computational potential of the IC is immense, but the cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying computations in the IC have remained largely unknown. Using a multifaceted approach, we have discovered several of the first molecularly identifiable neuron types in the IC. In addition, the ability to identify and manipulate specific IC neuron types using genetic tools has enabled us to uncover several new mechanisms for how local IC circuits shape the processing of ascending auditory inputs. This seminar will address the challenge of identifying neuron types in the IC and our most recent discoveries of candidate markers for neuron types. It will then focus on several mechanisms that contribute to circuit operations in the IC, with an emphasis on the prevalence of feedforward and recurrent connections. Together, the results will provide new insights into the varied ways that IC circuits shape auditory processing.

October 23, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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Courses, applications, and how to space CS&D requirements

Jenni Wu, M.S., CCC-SLP
62 Goodnight Hall
October 21, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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While radiation therapy (RT) is an effective oncologic treatment for persons with head and neck cancer (HNC), it frequently results in decreased salivary flow rate and swallowing dysfunction (dysphagia) post-treatment, significantly impacting quality of life. In addition to salivary flow rate, alterations in other salivary characteristics (rheology and pH) can lead to poor oral health but these changes and their impact on swallowing have not been examined following RT. My research is looking at the changes in salivary characteristics, oral health, and swallowing function post-RT. Additionally, my research also is seeking to better understand the relationship between saliva and swallowing in head and neck cancer.

Waisman Center
October 18, 2024 @ 8:30 am - 9:30 am
Learn more about the Hearing and Donuts Seminar Series

TBA

October 16, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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You applied, now what? Comparing Your Options

62 Goodnight Hall
October 15, 2024 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Dolores is a 2017 American documentary on the life of Chicana labor union activist Dolores Huerta. Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century—and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change. Directed by Peter Bratt.