Providing Therapy Abroad

CSDO travels to Puerto Rico over break

From Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) to the Instituto Ponceño Síndrome Dome, the Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSDO) graduate students are making an international change.

“It was a once in a lifetime experience to say the least. It was one of those moments where as a student clinician that we will forever cherish in our hearts, going into our professional careers, holding onto those memories, and how it shaped our perspectives on how we holistically treat our clients in the future,” Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSDO) graduate student Eunceece Olbes said.

During the winter intercession 11 CSDO graduate students participated in a study abroad program in Puerto Rico.

This trip included helping adults with Down syndrome, listening to workshops and experiencing cultural differences.

One of the first things the group did was go to a workshop led by Speech-Language Pathologist (SPL) Prof. Rebeca Rivera-Rivera who is a Puerto Rico native who lectured about “Speech and Language Services for the Dual Language Student.”

“We had a lecture on how to identify bilingual individuals, how to assess them, and then how to treat them. And this individual had over 30 years of experience working with bilingual individuals, specifically from this area, but in other areas, too. So, she’s able to share her knowledge, her experience, what she’s learned, techniques, assessment tools, and different developmental tools in order to train or teach these new students about something that she’s got a lot of experience about,” CSDO Clinic Director and Assistant Professor of Practice Lydia Hernandez-Perez said.

Along with the bilingual workshops, graduate students also had the opportunity to listen to another SPL who dealt with individuals with voice issues and gain experience in that area of work.

The trip wasn’t just about workshops, though. The graduate students then began to start their treatments with the adults with Down syndrome.

“I also had a chance to see our students work at a center that works with people who have down syndrome. And it’s so great seeing our students work with those clients and see how comfortable our students were. As a professor in CSDO we love to see our students in those situations. They weren’t just helping the adults with speech. They were also helping them do different things like cultural things, viewing art and bake,” Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program Dr. Eric Swartz said. 

This trip was also about experiencing new things like a “Bio Bay Tour,” during which the graduate students had the chance to explore and swim with bioluminescent microscopic organisms.

This was a time for graduate students also to experience work and assist patients in a foreign environment, which is something Swartz was proud of his students accomplishing.

“It shows us that our students can be flexible and help our clients and can be successful with either school or even outside of schools,” Swartz said.

CSDO isn’t the only department going on study abroad trips like this, however for more information see our Senior Reporter Karla Munoz’s story on where to sign up and how to apply on page 2.