Date of Award

Spring 5-3-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Speech Pathology and Audiology

Department

Speech and Hearing

First Advisor

Pershey, Monica

Second Advisor

Jennings, Emily

Third Advisor

Milliken, Barbara

Subject Headings

Speech therapy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify whether public and private colleges or universities across the United States have procedures to assist student veterans who are facing academic challenges secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) or acquired brain injury (ABI). This study aimed to identify whether personnel in college and university veterans services offices, offices of disability services, academic success offices, tutoring centers, or other offices that support student veterans academically are aware of the role of speech-language pathologists in providing treatment to manage the effects of TBI/ABI on academic performance, along with the locations for speech-language pathology services to which their office refers student veterans, and whether their college or university has an on-campus speech-language pathology clinic. Further, this study identified whether such awareness differs based on public or private college or university status, college or university enrollment size, the type of office whose personnel responds to this survey, the employment status of the personnel who respond to this survey, and the region of the United States where the college or university is located. Results indicated that, as a whole, most public and private college or university personnel do not have awareness of the role of speech-language pathologists, do not have procedures for referrals, and are unaware of whether or not there is an existing university speech and hearing clinic. If referrals are made, most are to Veteran Affairs (VA) hospitals or facilities. The implications of these results suggest there is a need to boost awareness among campus personnel of the role of speech-language pathologists in treatment to manage the effects of TBI/ABI on academic performance, and to develop campus-wide procedures to refer veterans to on-campus speech and hearing clinics in order to promote accessibility and decrease the complexity of the referral process.

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