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Communication Disorders Graduate Students Earn LSVT Certification
This January, 26 speech-language pathology (SLP) students in the department of communication disorders completed the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) Loud Training and Certification course. LSVT LOUD is an effective, evidence-based speech treatment for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurological conditions. The treatment helps people “recalibrate” their perceptions so they know how loud or soft they sound to others.
Lisa Sommers, clinical associate professor and clinic director of the Center for Language, Speech and Hearing in the department of communication disorders, led the three-day training along with SLP clinical educator Michael Starr. For the past six years Sommers has coordinated the annual LSVT LOUD Training and Certification, long considered the “gold standard treatment” to members of the community who deal with the daily challenges of PD.
In the training, Sommers shares clinical stories and examples from her many years of clinical practice using the LSVT LOUD approach. After the training, students take a certification test and have the opportunity to work with individuals diagnosed with PD who volunteer their time to be pretend patients for the students.
“This year was quite a challenge,” says Sommers. “I had to completely change the training to make it entirely virtual, all the way down to getting mock patients from the PD community to join us on Zoom for teletherapy. Nevertheless, this was the biggest group we’ve trained yet”!
Adds Sommers, “I’m proud that we continue to contribute significantly to the number of LSVT LOUD certified clinicians in our region, which is in such great need of health care professionals with expertise in Parkinson’s Disease.”