Speech and Hearing Clinic

The Speech and Hearing Clinic is one of several UAMS College of Health Professions clinics. The clinic is located in the Education South Building. The clinic is part of the UAMS College of Health Professions audiology and speech pathology academic program, which is accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Council on Academic Accreditation. All services at the clinic are provided by graduate students under the direct supervision of ASHA-certified faculty.

The clinic provides speech, language, literacy, hearing, and balance evaluations tailored to individual needs. A wide array of diagnostic equipment and materials makes it possible to evaluate communication problems experienced by clients of any age, from infants to adults. Based on evaluation results, student clinicians work with clients, parents and families to develop appropriate, functional treatment plans. In addition to diagnostic services, clients may receive speech, language and audiological rehabilitation on an individual or group basis. Hearing aid and assistive listening device selection, fitting, and follow-up services are also provided.

Questions about billing and fees for services can be directed to the clinic office manager at 501-320-7300.

Individual Clinic Programs

Hearing Programs

Diagnostic Services: A full range of audiological diagnostic services is available. Evaluations are offered for children and adults suspected of having hearing and balance difficulties, including tinnitus (ringing in the ears), auditory processing disorders, and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials.

Hearing Aid Services: Complete hearing aid services are available. A wide range of hearing instruments, hearing aid care supplies, and amplification accessories may be purchased through the clinic. Individual listening needs and personal preferences are taken into consideration when selecting amplification systems. Patients and their significant others receive a thorough orientation in the use of their hearing instruments. Instruction is provided in the care and maintenance of the equipment, as well as the use of hearing instruments with other electronic devices, such as telephones, or televisions. Follow-up hearing aid checks, reprogramming, and repairs are available for all clients who purchase their hearing instruments through the UAMS Speech and Hearing Clinic. Hearing aid adjustments and repairs are also available for clients who have purchased hearing instruments from other clinics.

Audiologic Rehabilitation: Individualized instruction is available to enhance the communication skills of persons with hearing impairments. Instruction focuses on maximizing the use of remaining hearing through amplification and/or assistive listening devices, auditory training, using visual cues (speech reading and gestures), and utilizing communication repair strategies. Sessions can be scheduled on an individual basis for either short or long-term rehabilitation, and are geared to each individual’s specific communication needs.

Speech and Language Programs

Diagnostic Services: A full range of diagnostic speech, language, and literacy services are available for persons of any age with disorders in the following areas: articulation, receptive and expressive language, cognition, fluency, voice and resonance, swallowing, pragmatic language, and hearing. Evaluations provide useful, specific information, especially to parents and caregivers who are uncertain whether or not their family member has a communication, literacy, or language learning problem. Adults who are concerned about their own speech or language skills also find the evaluations helpful and informative. Following the evaluation, results and recommendations are explained and discussed.

Individual Therapy Sessions: Individual speech, language, and literacy therapy sessions are scheduled for clients of all ages. The UAMS Speech and Hearing Clinic is open for individual therapy sessions Monday through Thursday while academic classes are in session. Since the UAMS academic calendar is followed, there are breaks from therapy between semesters and for certain holidays.

Group Therapy Services

Preschool Language Enrichment Program: The Preschool Language Enrichment Program is a transdisciplinary preschool program for children ages 3-5 years with speech and language delays. Recently, an early intervention class, Baby Birds, was added for ages 18 months to 3 years. In addition to students from the speech pathology and audiology programs, students from special education, social work, nursing, nutrition, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology may participate. Preschool Language Enrichment Program and Baby Birds groups meet two mornings per week during the fall and spring semesters. Activities are designed to develop personal-social, cognitive, and fine and gross motor skills, in addition to communication and pre-literacy skills.

Pragmatics Groups: These groups stress the appropriate use of language in social interactions. Groups are divided by age and the children who attend work on such skills as good listening, turn-taking, topic maintenance, problem-solving, discourse management, and other conversational rules and nonverbal behaviors.

Aphasia Group: This group is composed of adults who have aphasia, motor speech disorders, or other speech and language problems caused by stroke, brain surgery, or neuromuscular diseases. The therapy is designed to help clients become more functional communicators in a supportive group therapy environment and in their daily activities. All communication modalities are targeted in the group activities.

The TLC Gender Affirming Communication Group: The TLC group is for transgender and nonbinary people who want to seek help in modifying their voice and communication to better express their true gender. Clients will often have goals to raise or lower the pitch of their voice, change how they use pitch and loudness to communicate (intonation), change the resonance of their voice, and change their nonverbal communication (body language). Additionally, the clients are taught how to take care of their voice and use it safely. Each client is paired with a graduate student clinician, who will perform an initial voice assessment and then work with the client in setting their communication goals. The sessions are supervised by a certified Speech-Language Pathologist and a mentor from the trans community. The mentors are also a resource for clients to discuss issues related to being transgender and nonbinary.

The TLC group meets weekly in the evenings for a two-hour block of time. That block of time includes a support group, individual therapy, and group voice therapy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the TLC group is meeting online. For more information, contact the Director of the TLC Group, Gregory Robinson, Ph.D. (they/he), at gcrobinson@uams.edu.

Clinic Supervision

Supervision of all student clinicians is provided by full-time departmental faculty and part-time adjunct faculty, all of whom hold the Arkansas Board of Examiners license in either speech-language pathology or audiology and the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in speech pathology and/or audiology. Client services are provided either by graduate students. The faculty members work closely with the student clinicians to ensure clients are receiving the best in quality care.