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We are located on the beautiful and historic
Mississippi University
for Women campus at the corner of 9th
Street South and 6th Avenue South.
What can you do if you suspect
a speech, language, or hearing problem?
The MUW Speech and Hearing Center provides a wide range of services
to all ages - infants through elderly. A thorough evaluation by a speech-language
pathologist or audiologist is needed to determine a person's communication
strengths and needs. After an evaluation, the speech-language pathologist
or audiologist will be able to provide an analysis of the information gathered
in the evaluation and plan of treatment when therapy is indicated.
What is a speech-language pathologist?
A speech-language pathologist is a professional educated in the
study of human communication, its development, and its disorders, who is
certified by ASHA and licensed in the state. By evaluating the speech and
language skills of children and adults, the speech-language pathologist determines
if communication problems exist and decides that best way to treat these
problems.
What is an audiologist?
An audiologist is a professional educated in the study of normal
and impaired hearing who is certified by ASHA and licensed in the state.
The audiologist determines if a person has a hearing impairment, the type
of impairment, and how the individual can make the best use of remaining
hearing. If a person will benefit from using a hearing aid or other listening
device, the audiologist can assist with the selections, fitting, and purchase
of the most appropriate aid as well as with training to help the individual
use the aid effectively.
What are speech, language, and/or
hearing disorders?
Speech and language disorders affect the way people talk and understand.
These disorders may range from simple sound substitutions to not being
able to use speech and/or language at all.
Hearing disorders affect the way people hear sound. This may range
from hearing speech sounds faintly or in a distorted way to profound deafness.
What causes communication disorders?
Speech and Language: Some causes of speech and language
disorders are related to hearing loss, cerebral palsy, and other neurological
disorders, severe head injury, stroke, viral diseases, mental handicap,
certain drugs, physical impairments such as cleft lip or palate, and vocal
abuse or misuse. Frequently, however, the cause is unknown.
Hearing: Some causes of hearing loss are chronic
ear infections, heredity, birth defects, health problems at birth, certain
drugs, head injury, viral or bacterial infection, exposure to loud noise,
aging, and tumors.
What are common speech, language,
or hearing disorders?
Speech disorders
Articulation Disorders: difficulties with the way
speech sounds are formed and strung together usually by substituting one
sound for another, omitting a sound, or distorting a sound.
Fluency Disorders: interruptions in the rhythm of
speech characterized by hesitation, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds,
syllables, words, or phrases.
Voice Disorders: inappropriate pitch (too high,
too low, never changing, or interrupted by breaks), loudness (too loud or
too soft), or quality (harsh, hoarse, breathy, or nasal).
Language Disorders
Delayed acquisition of language: a delay in the
development of vocabulary and grammar necessary for expressing and understanding
thoughts and ideas.
Aphasia: the loss of speech and language abilities
resulting from a stroke or head injury.
Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease: a gradual loss
of speech and language abilities resulting from aging, multiple strokes,
or brain tumor.
Hearing Disorders
Conductive hearing loss: sound is not conducted
efficiently through the out and/or middle ear causing speech and other sound
to be heard less clearly or to sound muffled.
Sensorineural hearing loss: caused by damage in
the inner ear or nerve pathways to the brain. Certain sounds are heard
less distinctly than others causing distortion and reduced understanding
of speech. While this kind of hearing loss is usually not medically correctable,
people with sensorineural hearing loss can often be helped by using a hearing
aid or other amplification device.
Mixed hearing loss: a combination of conductive
and sensorineural hearing loss.
The MUW Speech and Hearing Center is accredited by
the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and offers the following:
- Speech and Languages Services - evaluations
and individual and/or group therapy for children and adults
- Audiological Services - Evaluations hearing
aid consultations and maintenance
- Both Speech/Language and Audiologic consultation to
clients, parents, professionals, and school districts
For more information, contact the
MUW Speech and Hearing Center at
662-329-7270 (fax 662-329-7460)
Mississippi University for Women does
not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, color, religion, disability,
or national origin.
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