Communication Sciences and Disorders Center for Research Ready When Campus Reopens

On March 2, 2020, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new Center for Research. But students and faculty eager to use the center would have to wait because the campus closed for the remainder of the spring semester due to COVID-19. Now the center is ready to welcome students and faculty when Adelphi’s campus reopens, whenever that may be.

“The CSD Center for Research is the realization of a vision that started over three years ago, with a focus on research excellence, community impact and interprofessional practice and education,” said Dana Battaglia, PhD, associate professor and chair of Adelphi’s Communication and Science Disorders Department, at the lab’s ribbon cutting. “It is the location where faculty and students, together, can advance the profession and ultimately best serve individuals with communication disorders across the life span.”

Located in the lower level of Linen Hall, the center comprises six renovated, upgraded labs:

• The Neurocognition of Communication Disorders Lab specializes in conducting experiments that examine the neural underpinning of the multisensory integration in relation to linguistic and cognitive processing in healthy aging and aging-related disorders.
• The Voice and Quality of Life Lab will investigate clinically based research questions focused on the human voice and how voice disorders can impact individuals’ physical, psychological and social functioning.
• The Speech Science Lab, together with the Voice and Quality of Life Lab, contains a new sound booth that is installed for more precise research and appropriate research. These labs include hardware and software that can be used to assess speech acoustics, aerodynamics and articulatory contacts.
• The Language Observation and Analysis Lab will focus on examining the nature of word associations in typical and clinical populations.
• The Augmentative/Alternative Communication Lab will provide evaluations and consultations for individuals with severe communication impairments.
• The Telepractice Practicum and Research Suite will provide an alternative method of reaching clients for speech-language and audiology services in aphasia, fluency, articulation, accent modification, hearing impairments and language disorders.

This new space will also be used for different courses relating to lab research. Undergraduate and graduate student volunteers are most welcome. If interested, please contact Ryan Priefer.

The Communications Science and Disorders program, part of Adelphi’s College of Education and Health Sciences, offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in the field. In addition, the program provides speech, hearing and language services to members of the community.