Study Communication Sciences and Disorders at WWU! Gain hands-on experience and clinical training while helping individuals with communication disorders. Apply now!
Program Description One out of every six Americans has a communication disorder. Each one can be helped in some way by a speech-language pathologist, audiologist, or speech, language, and hearing scientist. Grounded in the latest scientific theories and research, Western's Communication Sciences and Disorder (CSD) students learn to assess and treat persons with communication disorders – from infants to the elderly. Students use state-of-the-art lab equipment and analysis procedures as they study sound, speech, language, and hearing. CSD includes two disciplines, speech-language pathology and audiology. The academic and clinical curriculum at the undergraduate level includes a wide range of courses and clinical practicum opportunities. Students study normal communication processes including language development, speech, acoustics, hearing science, anatomy and physiology, and disorder studies in language disorders, phonological disorders, and hearing disorders. Students also have the opportunity for observation through the on-campus hearing, speech-language, and aural rehabilitation clinics, which see more than 800 clients from the community. Communication Sciences and Disorders faculty are active in augmentative and alternative communication research, brain injury research, cochlear implant rehabilitation research, and scholarship of teaching and learning. The Communication Sciences and Disorders Department values service learning, offering clinical observations and services through the Western Washington University Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. Faculty train students in clinical preparation, present nationally and internationally, are involved with a variety of research topics, and lead a global service learning trip to Guatemala. Student internships and other service learning opportunities within the local and broader communities are encouraged.
