Skilled grads in demand for jobs

"Our communication disorders faculty function much differently than others," says Jozi De Leon, '85, interim head of NMSU's Department of Special Education/Communication Disorders. In addition to teaching and research, she explains, professors provide hours of individualized hands-on training and closely supervise student clinicians. Communication Disorders Program Director Hortencia Kayser, '86, notes that students in the graduate program must complete 350 hours of clinical training. "What drives us is that we know our students have to graduate with a certain number of clock hours. So we have to create the opportunities for them to do so."

Department head Jozi De Leon checks equipment used in hearing tests. Photo by Michael Kiernan

Those opportunities include working at the NMSU Speech and Hearing Center, for southern New Mexico school districts and agencies, and in medical settings. They also travel in a van, donated by the Sertoma club, to conduct statewide evaluations.

Professor Emeritus Edgar Garrett, who created the Communication Disorders Program in 1964, recalls that it was one of the first in the country to demand that students become computer literate.

The innovative program allows working professionals to complete a master's degree in three summers. One of 10 bilingual programs in the country, it turns out grads who are offered jobs throughout the United States.

In order to stretch limited resources while providing speech-language pathologists for New Mexico's public schools, a unique arrangement was implemented: districts contribute funds, earmarked for additional instructors, in exchange for graduate admission "slots" for qualified paraprofessionals.

Speech and hearing center
is community resource

As 2-year-old Dylan Black romps around a small room, plays with a toy truck and stacks blocks, he pauses periodically to blow bubbles with his new friend, Meena Banatwala.

A communication disorders graduate student, Banatwala helps her young client express himself verbally through play.

Loretta Black, '94, monitors her son's progress through a mirrored window. A registered nurse, Black feared repeated ear infections caused a delay in Dylan's speech. She brought the toddler to NMSU's Speech and Hearing Center for an evaluation and early intervention.

Photos by Michael Kiernan

Dylan Black, above, likes blowing bubbles and playing with a truck with graduate student Meena Banatwala at the NMSU Speech and Hearing Center. He isn't so sure about letting her put a tympanometer in his ear though. So first Banatwala puts the device in her own ear to show him it doesn't hurt a bit.

"If parents have a concern, they are probably right," says Lou Ann Krienke, a graduate student who became interested in communication disorders after she brought her own daughter to the center for testing and successful therapy.

Dylan is among 37 southern New Mexico residents - from infants to senior citizens - who currently take advantage of the clinicÕs services. Clients include youngsters with Attention Deficit Disorder and stroke victims. Individualized therapy in English and/or Spanish is developed by faculty members, who closely supervise student clinicians. The clinic provides rehabilitation services and other services at schools and community centers at reduced costs.

Kids call him 'Mr. Speech'

Students at Berino Elementary School and Gadsden Middle School may have trouble pronouncing his name, but Abel Covarrubias, '95, '98, doesnÕt mind that they call him "Mr. Speech," especially when they trail after him asking when they'll get to meet with him next. "I share many of the same experiences with these kids, so I can bond with them," says the speech-language pathologist, who was raised in rural Arrey, N.M., by parents from Mexico. Coming from a large, close-knit family that stressed the value of an education, Covarrubias understands the importance of involving the family in the process. "I love doing therapy, but I really love educating parents. I see that as the key to the kids' success."

Abel Covarrubias loves working with kids.

Describing his years at NMSU as a "really positive experience," Covarrubias says he was introduced to research through the College of Agriculture and Home Economics while pursuing a bachelor's degree in biology. His plans to go to medical school changed, however, when he took his first course in communication disorders.

Covarrubias appreciates the clinical experience he received in the graduate program, which prepared him for his career. "Dr. (Hortencia) Kayser opens a lot of avenues," he notes. "She's a mentor, but so are all of the professors."

He hopes one day to obtain his doctorate and join the department, after these kids who call him "Mr. Speech" learn to fully express themselves.

Research, services improve quality of life

Imagine your world slowly disintegrating as Parkinson's Disease ravages your body. In addition to the uncontrollable tremors that characterize the disease, you can no longer talk. "And once the ability to communicate is lost, these people are really shut off from the world," says Linda Leeper, associate professor of communication disorders and past president of the New Mexico Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Leeper is adapting a new technique - one she calls "practically miraculous" - that can extend communication for years. She hopes to share her research results with area neurologists. Leeper also has produced a series of brochures with colleagues Hortencia Kayser and Michele Steffens. The bilingual material, covering subjects from ear infections to speech and language development, alerts parents to possible risks for their children.

Faculty members Linda Leeper, left, and Hortencia Kayser.

Jozi De Leon, interim head of the special education/communication disorders department, praises Leeper for her research. De Leon acknowledges the expertise and commitment faculty members bring to the program, adding that community service is a high priority.