Strong showing by Gallaudet and the Clerc Center at national conference

Gallaudet brought strong representation to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Conference in Washington, DC last month. ASHA is one of the nation’s most important professional development and networking events for speech-language pathologists; audiologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; assistants; and students.

Speech Language Pathology (SLP) faculty attendees included Drs. Farha Hussain and Martha Tyrone, and presenters Dr. Rakesh Veerabhadrappa and Dr. James McCann G- ’01. Three SLP clinical educators, Melissa Choy-Yuen G ’18, Mary Virginia Griffin, and Erica Short attended.

Linguistics Professor Dr. Deborah Chen Pichler delivered presentations on her research on early language access and exposure to ASL in DHH children. Faculty from the Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences PhD program, Drs. Kara Hawthorne and Karen Garrido-Nag G-’97 both made presentations. From Audiology, Dr. Shubhaganga Dhrruvakumar presented four posters, and Dr. Ishara Ramkissoon moderated a discussion of ASHA’s minority student leadership program, MSLP. Ramkissoon is also Editor-in-Chief of ASHA’s Perspectives Journal (Perspectives of ASHA’s Special Interest Groups) and chaired the Group 3 meeting; her group published the award-wining article for 2026.

Over 15 Master of Science SLP students were in attendance, including a student presenter, Alyssa Marino. Many SLP alumni returned to DC for the convention and visited their alma mater, including presenters Veronica Cristiano, G ’19, Megan Harris, G ’23, Veronica Rosenthal, G’16, and non-presenting author Lauren Tuppen, G ’20. 

PhD student Sarah Sparks served on a panel, sharing her experiences and insights as an audiologist with hearing loss.

Gallaudet’s Audiology Clinical Doctoral Degree (AuD) program sent a strong contingent to ASHA this year, including students Milena Torres-Brastina, Jaden Conrad, Kaitlyn Marnien, and Abby Motley. Several AuD program students attended the conference on a travel award sponsored by ASHA: Hannah Allen, Tiana Dixon, Heather Mattschull, Kady Patterson, Courtney Roberts, Jenna Snyder, and Isa Yacub.

Dr. Chiz Tamaki supported Yacub and Conrad’s presentations on their well-attended posters on the work happening in her Vestibular and Balance Lab.

The SLP program delivered two presentations in ASL, a rare occurrence at ASHA. McCann and Rosenthal presented a bilingual session, “Language Sample Analysis with Signing Deaf Children: Strategies and Practice,” which received a special designation as “Centennial Session” by ASHA’s program planning committee. McCann also presented “Examining Signed Language Challenges of Early and Late Exposed ASL Signing Deaf Children,” with collaborators in ASL.

Dr. Leah Geer, G-’10, ’24, from Early Intervention Studies (EIS) specifically attended ASHA to recruit students for Gallaudet’s EIS Certificate, which complements clinicians’ SLP and/or audiology degrees. Both certificate and MA pathways offer specialized training in working with deaf children aged 0-3 and their families.

The Clerc Center and the Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL) South initiative attendees included Stacy Abrams, ’99, Dakota Dubose, and Lynette Mattiacci, ’02.

Partnering with Language First, they hosted a booth to spotlight The Clerc Center and the REAL Project’s resources for families and professionals, including offerings from Gallaudet University Press, the Bilingual Stories Bookshelf app, and accompanying books. The REAL Project also sponsored a networking event for conference participants to learn more about its work.

Congrats to faculty, staff, students, and alumni representing Gallaudet and the Clerc Center at ASHA! 

Gallaudet’s Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences (HSLS) programs offer robust doctorate, masters, and post-baccalaureate degrees and learning opportunities while Early Intervention Studies prepares students for fulfilling careers working with young children and their families. Discover how the REAL project is working to eliminate language deprivation.