Communication Sciences and Disorders
Clinical Practicum Experiences
Clinical
experiences in CSD were designed to enable
students to complete their clinical practice
at off-campus facilities affiliated with Rockhurst
University. With over 90 clinical
affiliations, there are ample opportunities
for students to obtain experience with culturally
and linguistically diverse populations while
serving both pediatric and adult clients.
Pediatric
sites include urban, suburban and rural school districts,
preschools serving children with special needs, a children's
hospital, an auditory-oral program for children with
hearing loss, home-based services for families with
infants and toddlers, private practices, outpatient
pediatric facilities, and a public health department.
Students have access to a wide variety of childhood
communication disorders including problems of language,
articulation/phonology, pre-literacy, fluency, voice,
resonance, hearing, swallowing and social aspects of
communication. Students also work with children in th areas of pre-literacy, literacy and writing.
Clinical sites serving the adult population
include acute care hospitals, rehabilitation
hospitals, rehabilitation outpatient centers,
voice disorders clinics, and skilled nursing
facilities. Within these facilities,
students have the opportunity to obtain clinical
experience with patients who have a variety
of disorders including aphasia, apraxia, dysarthria,
cognitive-communication disorders, dysphagia, right hemisphere dysfunction, and
voice disorders among others. Students
may work with patients who have traumatic brain
injuries and cerebrovascular injuries such
as strokes. Patients who have neurogenic
disorders such as Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's, and dementia
are served by the speech-language pathologists
in these facilities and are therefore part
of the students' clinical experiences. Several
of the sites provide access to assistive technology
used for augmentative communication with a
variety of patients.
For more information about
clinical opportunities at Rockhurst, please contact
our Clinical Instructor Lynn Drazinski. |
