The Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic is part of the Communication Sciences and Disorders department at TCU. Services the clinic offers include therapy sessions for a group or individual, evaluations and consultations. For example, a child with a stuttering problem or a language delay could go to therapy sessions.
According to the clinic’s Web site, the general public is charged $50 an hour. Therefore a normal patient who attends once a week for an entire year would end up paying $2,500 (although many patients need more time or less). The grant will pay for more than five patients to have a year of therapy.
Upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students help to run the therapy sessions, and a faculty member, who is either a certified speech-language pathologist or audiologist, supervises all sessions. The sessions include a personalized program as well of use of audiology equipment. A patient may be referred by a health professional or through self-referral.
The sessions at the Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic average about one-third of the cost of other clinics in the DFW marketplace, said Dr. Chris Watts, director of the clinic and chair of the Communication Sciences and Disorders department. “The Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic is not just a great learning experience for TCU students, but also a big help to the community,” he adds.
Grant money is used to help reduce the cost of therapy sessions even further for patients who have challenges affording the already low TCU prices. This helps TCU serve those who otherwise would not be able to get help. The clinic is so popular it has a waiting list of more than one year.
The funds that are generated through the clinic pay the faculty. And the self-supported clinic could not run without its clinical staff. Dr. Watts said the clinic’s budget is based on the amount of funds it will generate. Without the grant from Bank of America, the clinic would not be able to afford to see patients who need more financial support.
In addition to helping patients get financial help for therapy, the grant money also helps serve the community. According to Dr. Watts, there is a nationwide shortage of speech-language pathologists. Seventy percent of the program’s graduate students stay in Texas after graduation and 50 percent stay in the DFW area. Therefore, the clinic helps to fulfill area needs.
