Clinic Services
Communication Sciences & Disorders | Cody Marie Busch, M.S., CCC-SLP | buschc@uww.edu | (262) 472-1266
UW-W Center for Communicative Disorders
Graduate students have the opportunity to work with clients across the lifespan and with a variety of communicative disorders in the UW-Whitewater Center for Communicative Disorders (UWW-CCD). Located in the Roseman building in the middle of the UW-Whitewater campus, the UWW-CCD provides services to members of the community, faculty/staff, the UW-Whitewater Children’s Center, and students on campus. Besides the UWW-CCD, there are numerous opportunities for students to meet career interests and certification requirements in rural and urban off-campus practicum sites. These include various hospital, rehabilitation, acute care, and nursing home environments. Additionally, we partner with numerous Birth-3, PreK-12 placements, and specialty pediatric sites.
The UW-W Center for Communicative Disorders supports equitable treatment of clients. No individual shall be discriminated against based upon race or ethnicity, religion, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law. We provide all services in a manner consistent with the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Code of Ethics.
The clinic treatment programs start at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters; however, referrals are accepted throughout the year. Most sessions are scheduled one to two times per week, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. Scheduling is dependent on clinical training needs, course schedule, and hours of availability. The UWW-CCD maintains a schedule consistent with the university calendar. At this time, we do not offer services during the summer.
To request more information about our services, please contact the UW-W Center for Communicative Disorders at (262) 472-1301.
Aphasia Clinic
Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to language centers of the brain. As a result, individuals who were previously able to communicate through speaking, listening, reading, and writing become limited in their ability to do so. The most common cause of aphasia is stroke, but traumatic brain injury, brain tumor, and other sources of brain damage can also cause aphasia.
Research has proven that although much recovery happens immediately following a stroke, many people with aphasia continue to improve over a period of years and even decades. The focus of the aphasia clinic is to provide meaningful opportunities for socialization and functional use of compensatory communication strategies for generalization into activities of daily living.
Education and Training
Individual and group treatment sessions are scheduled throughout the academic year (fall and spring semesters). The group treatment model at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Center for Communicative Disorders (UWW-CCD) embraces a positive quality of life and promotes opportunities for social interaction. Our graduate students have been instrumental in contributing to significant changes in the ability of group members to communicate and to develop, regain, and enhance social relationships, and improve quality of life. Graduate students provide individualized therapy services addressing expressive and receptive language skills, written language, reading, and speech and are supervised on-site by a licensed speech-language pathologist.
Aphasia Clinic is scheduled on Mondays but additional treatment sessions are offered throughout the week.
For more information on our Aphasia Clinic please call us at 262-472-1266 or e-mail us at comdis@uww.edu.
TBI Clinic
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The severity of a TBI may range from “mild,” i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to “severe,” i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury.
Rate of improvement varies from person to person but research has proven that people with traumatic brain injuries can continue to gain more function for many years after the initial injury. The TBI clinic specifically focuses on functional use of compensatory strategies for cognitive/linguistic difficulties and to promote independence in activities of daily living.
Education and Training
Individual and group treatment sessions are scheduled throughout the academic year (fall and spring semesters). The group treatment model at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Center for Communicative Disorders (UWW-CCD) embraces a positive quality of life and promotes opportunities for functional use of compensatory strategies for generalization of skills into activities of daily living (ADL). Our graduate students provide individualized therapy services addressing memory, problem solving, attention, motor speech production, auditory comprehension, and reading comprehension. Graduate students are supervised on-site by a licensed speech-language pathologist.
Treatment sessions offered throughout the week depending on graduate student schedules and supervisor availability.
For more information call us at 262-472-1266 or e-mail us at comdis@uww.edu.
Pediatric Speech and Language Intervention
Diagnostic Services: Clients enrolled in the Center for Communicative Disorders (CCD) are eligible to receive a comprehensive assessment of their oral and written communication skills (i.e., speech, language, literacy, etc.) as part of their semester’s programming. The results of an assessment are used to determine a client’s profile of strengths and challenges and utilized as one source of information to drive intervention programming.
Individual & Small Group Therapy Sessions: Individual and small group speech, language, and literacy therapy sessions are scheduled for pediatric clients, ranging in age from approximately 18 months to approximately 18 years of age. Intervention can address: speech sound disorders (articulation), phonology, oral and written language, fluency, social skills, executive functioning, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In addition, the clinic can provide preventative and/or strategy based intervention for children and adolescents who are at risk of developing, or already have, academic difficulties in relation to their communication deficits.
Hearing Screenings: Graduate students from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater’s Center for Communicative Disorders conduct hearing screenings for children enrolled in public and private schools throughout southeastern Wisconsin, in collaboration with school professionals.
Education and Training
Individual and group treatment sessions are scheduled throughout the academic year (fall and spring semesters). Graduate students provide individualized therapy services and are supervised on-site by a licensed speech-language pathologist.
The Pediatric Speech and Language Clinic is scheduled throughout the week and is based on client/clinician/supervisor/room schedules.
For more information call us at 262-472-1266 or e-mail us at comdis@uww.edu.
Gender-Affirming Voice Services or Voice Affirming Services
The way a person sounds can play an important role in how they express themselves. Voice/communication training can be helpful when aspects of a person's voice and/or the way they speak do not match their gender identity or gender expression. Individuals seeking gender-affirming voice services or voice affirming services include those who identify as transgender, gender fluid, gender non-binary, gender diverse, gender nonconforming, or other gender identities. We engage in shared goal setting for individuals to safely and effectively use voice/communication aspects that align with their identity.
Education and Training
Graduate students provide individual sessions (scheduled throughout the academic year - fall and spring semesters) to individuals seeking assistance with voice. Individualized therapy services focus on pitch, intonation, resonance, rhythm, rate, volume, language, and nonverbal communication. Graduate students are supervised on-site by a licensed speech-language pathologist.
For more information call us at 262-472-1266 or e-mail us at comdis@uww.edu.
UW-Whitewater Children's Center
For over fifteen years, graduate students and staff from the Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMDIS) department have had the privilege of working with University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Children’s Center’s (CC) children, families, and staff to enhance the children’s communication and early literacy. Located directly across the hall from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Center for Communicative Disorders (UWW-CCD), the Children’s Center is a licensed full day, year round child care center that has been accredited by the National Association of Young Children since 1991. All programs offered to the Children’s Center are conducted by COMDIS graduate students under the supervision of a licensed speech pathologist.
For more information about the UW-Whitewater Children’s Center, please visit: http://www.uww.edu/childrenscenter
Education and Training
At the beginning of each school year, graduate students from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater’s Center for Communicative Disorders (UWW-CCD) conduct speech, language, and hearing screenings for children attending the 3- and 4-year old classrooms. Results of the screenings are shared with the child’s parent(s), guardian(s), and teacher.
Low cost individualized or small group intervention is offered targeting improved speech, language, and/or literacy skills. Both clinic- and classroom-based services are utilized in order to facilitate client success and carryover. In the case of clinic based services, student clinicians obtain permission to transport kids directly to and from the CC classrooms, making these services easily accessible.
Graduate students, under the supervision of a licensed speech pathologist, coordinate a free emergent literacy program in the context of the Children’s Center’s classrooms and/or a large clinic room. These small group programs are individualized for children between the ages of 2 and 4K, depending on teacher guidance, the results of pre-intervention assessment, and the principles of developmental appropriateness. Special early reader programs are offered for teacher-identified CC classroom members, who are ready for some more explicit instruction in sound/symbol association and written language. A small group social skills class, including identified children and their peer models, is periodically run in the UWW-CCD. Follow up, Classroom based services are utilized in order to facilitate carryover of the concepts learned during intervention.