Two members of the Communication Disorders and Sciences

faculty at Eastern were recently named co-recipients of the \

Illinois Clinical Achievement Award for their efforts on a

series of research projects.

Professors Rebecca Throneburg and Lynn Calvert received

the award for their projects involving speech pathology in area

elementary schools.

Following a reception in their honor, the award was

presented by the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association

at a banquet during the ISHA Annual Convention in Arlington

Park last month.

Throneburg said one of the projects she and Calvert teamed

up together on began over three years ago and aimed to study

how much students with communication disorders learn when they

have the traditional teaching in separate speech rooms compared

to how much they learn in classroom-based teaching, she said.

The problem with the traditional teaching methods is that

students with communication disorders are not aware of what is

going on in the classroom, Throneburg said.

“It’s hard to integrate these students back into the

classroom setting,” she said.

Throneburg said it is harder for students with

communication disorders to get their practice in while they are

in the classroom, but it is more functional to get teachers and

other students more aware of speech and language so they can

help.

Calvert said their goals in this project were to

determine what type of service delivery best serves students,

classroom teachers and speech pathologists and also to involve

undergraduates and graduates in clinical research.

Three masters students at Eastern are involved with the

ongoing project. Shara Barlage is looking at the curricular

narrative skill process, Pam Davidson is working at speech

sound errors and articulation skills and Courtney Benefiel is

counting the exact amount of practice students get in both

settings, Throneburg said.

The inspiration for the project came about from Calvert’s

10 years of experience as a speech pathologist before she

became faculty at Eastern, Throneburg said.

“She had a gut instinct that there may be a different way

of going about teaching students with communication disorders,

but it had never been tested,” Throneburg said.

Throneburg said those involved with the project worked

primarily with Pam Paul at Carl Sandburg Elementary. They also

did research at Windsor Elementary with Janice Altholff and at

St. Joseph Elementary with Myra Tosh and Melissa Bigger.

Calvert said she and Throneburg were shocked when they won

the award.

“We didn’t even know we were going to be nominated. It was

a pleasant surprise,” Calvert said. “We were excited. It was an

extra, added bonus to what we were doing.”

Throneburg said they were very honored.

Calvert and Throneburg also will be nominated for the

DiCarlo Award, which is awarded by the American Speech-

Language-Hearing Association. This award is presented to

individuals who have advanced the knowledge in clinical

practice in the field of speech-language pathology and/or

audiology.