The Worcester State academic department that trains speech, language, and hearing therapists has undergone a transformation, adopting a new name that better reflects the breadth and scope of its work: the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. The change more fully communicates the diverse skills and career paths available to students.
The change was made because the previous name, Communication Sciences and Disorders, was confusing and didn’t accurately represent the field, said department chair Kristina Curro. “The old name was confusing because people didn’t really understand what a ‘communication disorder’ was,” Curro said. “The new name is more descriptive and more clearly indicates the areas the program covers – speech, language, and hearing.”
The department name now aligns itself with the Speech-Language-Hearing Center within the department. The center offers clinical services to the community under the department’s umbrella. Aligning the names of each will minimize confusion, Curro said.
“The old name also caused confusion with the Communication Department at Worcester State which deals with topics such as media and public relations, rather than the human communication abilities that this program focuses on,” Curro said, “The new name helps differentiate the two.”
The new name also better aligns with the with both the national and state associations, including the program’s accrediting body, the Council on Academic Accreditation, said Linda S. Larrivee, dean of the School of Science, Technology, and Health. Having the department name match the professional association name, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, helps make it clearer what the program is about, she said.
“The older name is one that reflects an older interpretation of the field,” Larrivee said. “The new name, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, better defines the purpose of the programs and the field.”
The new name will better describe the department’s offerings and hopefully pique some interest among prospective students because it more clearly communicates the breadth of the field, Curro said. “The field is not limited to just clinical roles, but graduates can apply their knowledge and skills in a variety of settings beyond traditional speech-language pathology and audiology. For example, students may be interested in working for a textbook publisher, using their knowledge of speech, language, and hearing to manage and market materials.”
Other careers beyond clinical work that graduates can pursue include working in public schools, either providing direct services to students or becoming special education teachers, social media manager, working in higher education or disability services offices on college campuses, becoming physician assistants, and in human resources at large companies.
Top photo: Professor Kristina Curro teaches CD 940, Evaluation and Diagnostics in Speech Language Pathology.
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