Grant from Bank of America helps provide much-needed services

Fort Worth, TX

12/3/2009

By: Danielle Balzer, Schieffer School of Journalism

Bank of America gave TCU’s Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic their third grant, this one amounting to $15,000. According to their website, the Bank of America is “committed to creating meaningful change in the communities.” Through this support, the grant helps provide therapy for individuals who otherwise might not be able to afford the clinic’s services.

The Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic is part of the Communication Sciences and Disorders department. Different services the clinic offers are 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 website, the general public would pay $50 an hour, while there are different rates for TCU students and faculty. Therefore a normal patient who attended once a week for an entire year would end up paying $2,500, though many patients need less time or more time. The grant would pay for over five patients to have a year of therapy.

The 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 the use of audiology equipment. According to their website, a patient may be referred by many different health professionals or through self-referral.

The sessions at the Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic averages about one-third of the cost in the DFW marketplace, said Dr. Chris Watts, director of the Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic and chair of the Communication Sciences and Disorders department. Watts said, “The Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic is not just a great learning experience for TCU students, but also a big help to the community.”

The grant money is used to help reduce the cost of therapy sessions even further for patients who have trouble even affording the low TCU prices. This helps TCU to 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 grant money also helps serve the community in addition to helping patients get financial help for therapy. According to Watts, there is a nationwide shortage of speech-language pathologists. By keeping the clinic running, students are able to train and get their degrees. Seventy percent of this program’s graduate students stay in Texas after graduation and 50 percent stay in the DFW area. Therefore, the clinic helps keep speech-language pathologists in the area.

The funds that are generated through the clinic pay the faculty. And the self-supported clinic could not run without its clinical staff. Watts said the clinic’s budget is based on the amount of funds they will generate, and without the grant from Bank of America, they would not be able to afford seeing those patients who need more financial support.