NEW UA PROGRAM TO OPEN FUTURE FOR CHILDREN WITH SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PROBLEMS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Thanks to the generosity of the Western Arkansas Scottish Rite and the expertise of UA professionals in communication disorders, children with financial needs will soon have access to speech-language treatment and reading skills development.

On Thursday, February 20, at 12:30 p.m., Dwane Treat, who leads Scottish Rite in Arkansas, will present a check for $20,000 to the UA Speech and Hearing Clinic to fund the RiteCare Childhood Language Program. Addressing the need for speech-language treatment in childhood can greatly improve school performance and decrease the number of problems that arise later in life.

"We're grateful for the commitment of Scottish Rite to helping children with communication disorders and look forward to a rewarding relationship improving the lives of young children," said Barbara Shadden, professor and director of the UA program in communication disorders.

RiteCare will provide treatment to children who would not otherwise have access to services. The funding provided by Scottish Rite is particularly important since recent changes in state Medicaid guidelines make it impossible for the Speech and Hearing Clinic to obtain Medicaid funding for speech-language therapy for children.

The UA Speech and Hearing Clinic, a program of the College of Education and Health Professions, has been serving children with communication disorders for over 40 years. During the past year, the clinic provided 1374 hours of therapy services to children and comprehensive evaluations to another 113 children.

As part of the master's program in communication disorders, the college prepares speech-language pathologists to work with all age groups and disorder types. There is both a state and national shortage of qualified speech-language pathologists, particularly those who work with children.

The Scottish Rite Foundation has made a commitment to the development and maintenance of programs that provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment of speech and language disorders and well as learning disabilities. This philanthropic initiative addresses the problem that over six million children nationally have speech-language disorders, with many additional children demonstrating learning and reading disabilities. Without adequate treatment and preventative services, these children are at risk for a lifetime of educational, social and emotional handicap.

The Arkansas Scottish Rite had previously funded the Walter E. Brown Scottish Rite Scholarship in the UA history department. The scholarship honors a pioneering scholar of Arkansas history. Brown, a member of the history faculty from 1954 until retirement in 1990, specialized in Southern history and wrote a textbook commonly used in public schools to teach Arkansas history.

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