Tucked inside the special services wing is Mr. Bodine, the new speech therapist. With his education and experience, he is eager to work with the various voices of Eastern.

   Speech Pathology is the concentration of correcting speech delays and disorders, such as lisps, impediments, and stutters. Treatment is offered anywhere from toddlers to senior citizens.

  Originally considering Special Education, Mr. Bodine decided to major in Music Therapy at Temple University. However, he decided to change his tune after an old coworker mentioned Speech Pathology. So, he attended Stockton University for an M.S. Communication Disorders.

   He was already familiar with “creating goals and understanding the therapeutic process.” Sounds have different developmental meaning. “Every student must be personally evaluated,” he said.

   Mr. Bodine has experience working with younger children, but came to Eastern out of an interest to work with older students. He added that older students don’t need to be entertained necessarily. He laughed. “They are used to class,” he said.

    “It is a typical developmental process,” Mr. Bodine said. “Any delay needs to be suppressed at a young age. It is all about hearing and the body’s connection.” He acknowledges that greater gains happen at a younger age, due to developing brains. The speech improvement is better at younger ages, since speech is fully developed at seven or eight.

   Most students get tested if a delay is sensed. Mr. Bodine gathers standardized tests for kids, such as prepositions, antonyms, completion, structure, and pragmatics. It’s graded in percentiles.One example would be a picture of a boy sitting at a table: “Here is this boy and his shirt color is. . . He is sitting at a . . .”

     Exercises and conversations promote learned skills. Bodine expresses how every student in his speech class has an IEP, independent education plan, that tracks how many classes and involvement are desired.

   Every high school actually supplies speech and language services. When working with students near special service, he is “in control of stimulus within the office.”

   “We cater to their needs, in class or secluded,” said Bodine.

   He works with students on the autism spectrum, stuttering, foreign exchange, and students with communication needs.  With language, “there is a strong home influence. It is all about how it’s learned.”

   He draws a comparison between a disorder and cultural difference. For example, “In Boston, they drop the r’s in words like red more than in other places, like South Jersey.” He also mentioned there were some accent reduction private practices available for adults. Vocabulary, cultural background, regions, countries, accents, and delays all play a part in how we communicate.

   Overall, Mr. Bodine draws parallels from his music therapy to speech therapy in the importance of “emotions and reactions as half of the understanding.”

   He also makes home calls for people who have had strokes. A speech therapy education is not limited to the school. Hospitals, private practices, movie industries, and nursing homes all need speech pathologists.

   Students interested in the field should check out the American Speech Language and Hearing Association website www.asha.org, contact an SLP to ask questions and/or observe a session, and volunteer or obtain job experiences working with individuals of any age in need of special services.

   “Creating goals, understanding the therapeutic processes are also important,’ he said. “I am still learning the field, but eager.”