Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences Archive — Page 1 of 5

July 8, 2026

Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute collaboration with General Motors fuels patient recovery with driving simulator

A driver rehabilitation program initiated by occupational therapists now encompasses multiple disciplines. Speech-language pathologists explain how these groups came together — and how a donation from partners at General Motors has steered the program in the right direction.

May 11, 2026

Camp TALKS offers connection to children who stutter

Camp TALKS, a week-long day camp held at Vanderbilt University from June 1-5, is geared towards children and teens between 8-16 and run by the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt. The deadline to sign up is May 30.

January 21, 2026

New study finds that deaf children with cochlear implants read well, despite weak speech sound processing

Vanderbilt Health researchers report that many prelingually deaf children who use cochlear implants achieve age-typical language and reading comprehension.

December 10, 2025

Sit, stay, heal: Meet the facility dogs of Vanderbilt Health 

More than a pet project, facility dogs can lower patient blood pressure, reduce pain perception, ease loneliness and fear and offer an important form of medicine — connection.

August 28, 2025

Jennifer Pack, a mother and a real estate agent, wanted to better hear the voices of her children and her clients; how VUMC research audiologist Jonathan Neukam helped that happen

“My preconceived idea was that cochlear implants are for deaf people, and I didn’t understand that they’re also for hearing-impaired people.”

May 29, 2025

Melissa Duff named chair of Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences

She is nationally recognized for her research to understand and improve long-term outcomes of individuals with acquired brain injury.