What Every Speech-Language Pathologist/Audiologist Should Know About Service-Learning

As part of the innovative What Every Speech-Language Pathologist/Audiologist Should Know series, this primer shows students how to conduct and complete a successful service-learning project using a proven step-by-step approach.

Using examples of service-learning projects and "how-to" strategies throughout, What Every Speech-Language Pathologist/Audiologist Should Know about Service-Learning breaks the service-learning project down into manageable segments, including the process of selecting a site, specifying duties, and completing the project. Sample procedures, tools, forms, and contracts model how to conduct successful service-learning projects and the text is filled with critical supports for faculty, supervising clinicians and students.

Jennifer Kent-Walsh, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, S-LP(C), is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Central Florida (UCF). In addition to conducting research and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and language disorders, Dr. Kent-Walsh is the Director of the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) Atlantic Region Assistive Technology Demonstration Center at UCF. Dr. Kent-Walsh and her research collaborator, Cathy Binger, Ph.D., conduct research relating to the development and evaluation of interventions to improve language and communication outcomes for children with developmental disabilities who use AAC. In 2010, Dr. Kent-Walsh and Dr. Binger published a primer on AAC entitled What Every Speech-Language Pathologist/Audiologist should know about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (Allyn & Bacon, 2010). Dr. Kent-Walsh also conducts research to evaluate outcomes of service-learning in communication sciences and disorders and has received a number of awards for her research in both service-learning and AAC.