The University of Toledo Graduate Studies Consortium for Listening and Spoken Language recently hosted a day camp for area high school students with hearing loss in the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic on Main Campus.
The camp featured America’s Pride, an award-winning local teen group, and Dr. Lisa Kovach, UT associate professor of educational psychology and national expert on bullying.
Students made their own drums and performed with the Northern Spirits Drum Circle, and they toured the UT campus and participated in discussions to help prepare for employment.
“The talk on bullying showed students how to report to an adult without seeming like a tattletale,” said Adam Barnes, a second year speech-language pathology student. “Students had the chance to see that they do not have to settle career-wise because of their hearing loss. The event opened their mind to other possibilities.”
The camp was made possible by a U.S. Department of Education Personnel Development Grant to train UT speech-language pathology students to work with teens with hearing loss.
“We want to help them with transition planning, how to self-advocate and show them services provided by our office in addition to the campus tour,” said Dr. Lori Pakulski, UT professor of speech-language pathology.
In addition to Barnes, students who make up the UT Graduate Studies Consortium for Listening and Spoken Language are Mary Dunn, Ryan Rummel, Emily Russell and Leslie Starr.
