Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences - UT Austin

10/28/2026

October is AAC Awareness Month! According to ashaweb, more than 2 million people use AAC — here’s Clinical Assistant Professor Candace Hayden explaining what it’s all about! 🧡

10/22/2026

10/21/2026

October is National Audiology Awareness Month, but here at SLHS, we celebrate all year long! Swipe for some highlights of audiology activities and how our students serve their communities — thank you for your hard work, Longhorns! 🤘🧡

10/20/2026

What starts here changes the world! Assistant Professor Jacie McHaney received a funding award from NIH’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Professor McHaney’s 3-year project will study using behavioral, neurophysiological and computational methods to determine how much EHF hearing contributes to speech perception and listening effort across the life of adults. Her research is titled “The Role of Extended High Frequencies (EHF) on Speech Perception Challenges in Aging.” 🔉

Congratulations, Dr. McHaney! 🤘

10/16/2026

Congratulations are in order! Associate Professor Stephanie Grasso was awarded a grant from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to continue her important research.

Professor Grasso’s project addresses clinical and cultural gaps for Hispanic families whose members have speech or language loss as a result of Alzheimer’s and related disorders. Her project is called “Voices of Care in Progressive Aphasia: Focus Group Themes on Culture, Language, Identity, and Caregiver Support.”

If you see Professor Grasso in the hallways, be sure to congratulate her. We are so proud! 🥳

10/13/2026

When you work at a speech and hearing clinic, your work is slightly... non-traditional. 😄 It may look like we’re just playing, but all our activities are important! 🧡

10/12/2026

The Forty Acres is home to the best and the brightest! Congratulations to associate professor Dr. Rosemary A. Lester-Smith and her co-authors on their published study in Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements.

Their article “Perceptual and acoustical features of dysarthria in essential tremor: An observational study that expands the cerebellar features of essential tremor” breaks down the speech characteristics of dysarthria in essential tremor.

Congratulations, Dr. Lester-Smith! We cannot wait to see what you accomplish next. 🤘

10/09/2026

Horns up! Dr. Laura Friedman (CCC-SLP) is shedding light on an often overlooked community of young women with Fragile X syndrome, or FXS. 🤘

The National Fragile X Foundation recently awarded Dr. Friedman the Junior Investigator Award, which recognizes emerging professionals doing important research in the field. Dr. Friedman presented her research at their international conference in July!

Her project, "Mental Health Symptoms, Medication, and Service Use Among Young Women with Fragile X Syndrome," is essential for creating real, evidence-based change for those affected by FXS. Congratulations, Dr. Friedman, and hook ‘em!

📚 Learn more about FXS and Dr. Friedman’s research here: https://fragilex.org/nfxf-programs/congratulations-2026-jr-investigators-awardees/

07/15/2026

Earlier this summer, our audiology students helped protect the hearing of professional musicians, sound engineers & technicians, and more by creating custom hearing protection for them! 👂

In the audiology clinic, students examined ears, administered hearing tests and captured earmold impressions. The impressions were then scanned with a 3D earmold scanner, which converted the physical earmolds into digital scans.

The custom hearing protection will help these professionals protect their hearing while on the job. 🤘