By Tiffany Ayuda

It’s a Tuesday afternoon and a young boy with golden blonde hair enters the Saltzman Community Center, clinging to his mother’s hand. His smile is wide, but although he is attentive to all he sees around him, he is practically oblivious to the bustle from Hempstead Turnpike.

This boy, along with a variety of individuals of all ages up to senior citizens, visits the Speech Language Hearing Clinic in order to take advantage of the special facilities where students are able to evaluate a patient’s hearing or run diagnostic tests in order to determine whether the person needs medical intervention or just simply a hearing aid, according to Rose N. Valvezan, an Audiologist at the clinic.

With the growing number of hearing disorders – from viral infections and genetic disorders, to exposure to loud noise and aging, experts say audiology and speech pathology are some of the most wanted careers in 2006.

“I got involved with this major because a boy who lived down the street from me is deaf and he taught me sign language,” sophomore speech-language-hearing major, Laura Cioffi, explained. “When I was younger I never understood why he didn’t hear most of what I was saying. So when he taught me American Sign Language I was happy that I had some way to talk to him. I loved the language and I still do to this day.”

Audiologists work with people who have hearing, balance and related ear problems. In order to practice they must have at least a master’s degree in audiology; however, the new standard requires most to obtain a clinical doctoral degree in order to examine individuals and identify symptoms of hearing loss and other auditory, balance and related neural problems.

Speech-language pathologists, also known as speech therapists, diagnose, treat and help in the prevention of speech, language, cognitive and communication disorders. They are required to have a master’s degree in speech-language pathology and often teach in schools.

The University’s undergraduate program for speech-language-hearing sciences includes 37 semester hours of course work and University requirements in liberal arts and sciences. The major course requirements in the undergraduate program include introductory work in audiology, hearing science, aural rehabilitation, phonetics, anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing, as well as, normal development of language, psycholinguistics, speech science and communication disorders.

There are approximately 100 undergraduate majors in speech-language-hearing sciences are able to gain a hands-on experience through clinical research in the University’s Saltzman Community Services Center. The clinic provides diagnostic, therapeutic, counseling and referral services for individuals with speech, language and communication disorders.

Dr. Doron Milstein, a professor of speech-language-hearing Services and alumnus of the University, says that his favorite part of his job is teaching students in this major.

“I want to make an impact on the future physician and make them realize it’s not always about the grades; it’s how you are going to be as a physician, and what you are going to do for your patient. “When you’re talking to parents about their child having a hearing disability, it’s important to be understanding, caring, and let them know that you are passionate about helping them. I will never know what it is like to have a hearing disability, but I have to understand what it is like.”

Most cases of hearing disorders are found in infants and newborns, these years are the most crucial years of development. As a physician, you must give the proper care and treatment immediately and seek the parents in aiding them. This may not necessarily be the easiest task.Cioffi’s experience with her neighbor who experienced 75 percent hearing loss made a major impact.

“When I graduate I hope that I’ll be able to work in a school and help children who have speech problems like I did [with my neighbor],” Cioffi stated. “Or I wouldn’t mind working in a school for the deaf and the hearing. If I did that then hopefully I’d help children find their voice and for those who didn’t want that I’d sign with them so I’d be able to communicate.”