Over the past 55 years, the Army Audiology and Speech Center (AASC) has earned special distinction as a leader in the field of communication disorders. The audiology profession was actually established in an Army hospital after World War II, when scientists and speech-language clinicians recognized the need for specialists to meet the needs of hearing-impaired soldiers.
Today, the AASC is a world-class center of excellence that continues to provide the highest echelon of evaluation and treatment of communication disorders in Department of Defense, focusing its services in three areas: patient care, research and medical education. I’d like to acquaint you with some of the AASC programs and services that are currently available to you and your patients.
The Speech-Language Pathology services at AASC are unique in DoD, and at the “cutting edge” of the speech disorder profession. The AASC continues to offer its Fluency Program for active duty service members with stuttering problems. Patients attending this 4-week residential program at AASC typically enroll with a moderate-severe level of disfluency. During their training, patients receive intensive individual and group therapy using the Computer Assisted Fluency Enhancement Tool (CAFET). Dr. Mike McClean and Dr. Steve Tasko, two of our speech scientists, also provide instrumental assessment of speech-motor function before and following treatment, to document treatment outcomes and further enhance this program. The success of the fluency program has been astounding. Service members completing this program improve from a moderate-severe level of stuttering, to an insignificant-mild degree of disfluency.
The Voice Disorders program is another unique AASC mission area that is having resounding success in the evaluation and treatment of voice disorders. Ms. Joyce Gurevich-Uvena, in conjunction with Medicine, Allergy and Otolaryngology services, has developed this multidisciplinary program into the only one of its kind in DoD. Since its inception, more than 300 patients with paradoxical vocal cord dysfunction have been treated with a greater than 90% success rate. Many of these cases were patients with asthma, or the misdiagnosis of asthma, and pending medical discharge from military service. With successful evaluation and treatment, these service members were able to resume full military duties. If you encounter active duty service members that you think might benefit from any of these program and would like more information, please contact Ms. Pat Thompson, Chief of Speech-Language Pathology, at (202) 782-8553.
The AASC continues to lead the clinical research of communication disorders, with a prolific record of extraordinary scientific investigations. During FY00, AASC produced 12 published manuscripts, 11 published abstracts, and 28 presentations at national and international scientific meetings. The AASC’s reputation for quality research has generated extramural grants and contracts that fund more than half of our research program. Presently, AASC is conducting clinical trials for GN ReSound (directional microphone hearing aids), and Songbird Medical, Inc. (disposable hearing aids). Studies are also underway to investigate temporal processing in the impaired auditory system, amplification and dead regions of the cochlea, and speech-motor characteristics in stuttering. Further, AASC scientists are leaders in their respective professional organizations, serving as associate editors of scientific publications, chairpersons of various professional committees, and in other committee positions. Dr. Brian Walden is director of AASC Research.
The Audiology Section at AASC continues to set the professional standard for the practice of clinical audiology. The AASC has established 4th year training positions for Au.D. students, and is leading DoD in developing the curriculum for the Au.D. resident training year. A balance center is being established that will integrate the services of audiology, otology, neurology and physical therapy to collaboratively evaluate, treat, and manage vestibular disorders. Finally, evidenced-based medicine has become standard for determining benefit of clinical audiology practices. Presently, we are looking at benefit of the AASC Aural Rehabilitation Program on hearing aid use, use of speech-in-noise clinical testing, and efficacy of digital hearing aids over non-digital hearing aids. Ms. Therese Walden supervises the Audiology Section, and can be contacted for further information via e-mail at.
The AASC values our responsibility as a resource for you and your patients. We look forward to continuing to serve you, and to advance our professions’ understanding, evaluation and management of patients with communication disorders. I invite you to let us know how we can assist you.
COL David Chandler, USA