Hearing, Speech and Language Studies History & Accomplishments

Since 1937, Ohio University's Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences (HSLS) program has served as a model for best practices in universities across the U.S. and abroad.

These include the Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences Undergraduate Research Club, the OHIO Respite Volunteer Program, and the Hearing, Speech and Language Clinic. The program has a long-standing reputation for providing quality services to people of all ages in nine counties in southern Ohio, one of the most severely medically underserved regions in the state.

Program Highlights

  • Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences at OHIO are in the top 8 percent of undergraduate programs in the U.S., according to the latest Gourman Report. The school is ranked first in the state of Ohio - the state with more programs in the field than any other state except New York.
  • U.S. News and World Report list both the MA and AuD programs in the top 50 graduate programs in their disciplines.
  • Unlike most university-based clinics, ours operates as a clinical business enterprise in multiple sites.
  • Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences faculty members are known internationally for their research and clinical expertise. Current funding sources include the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, and several private companies and foundations.
  • Ph.D. students also have ongoing success with research awards (including current awards from the NIH, the ASHF, the American Auditory Society, and several other industry organizations).

History

Ohio University’s studies in Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences date to 1937, when it was part of the School of Dramatic Art and Speech in the College of Fine Arts. Students majored in correction and interpretation, preparing to work with children and adults with communication disorders. A graduate program was added in 1950, followed by a doctoral program in 1957 — Ohio University’s second such offering. By the mid-1960s, the speech and drama programs had been split into separate entities, with the School of Hearing and Speech Sciences housed in various locations around campus: Kantner Hall, then Ewing Hall, then Lindley Hall.

The School of Hearing and Speech Sciences was one of the founding members of the newly created College of Health and Human Services in 1979. When the constituent schools of the college moved into the renovated Grover Center in 2001, the school added “Language” to its name. During the academic restructuring that created the College of Health Sciences and Professions in 2010, the school was renamed Communication Sciences and Disorders and joined with Physical Therapy to form the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences.

Effective June 2022, our unit name has now returned to Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences.