Stephanie Hicks, clinical instructor for the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program, has been elected by professional peers to serve as treasurer on the 2023-2025 board for the Academic Language Therapy Association-Arkansas. The association is made up of therapists and practitioners dedicated to providing rigorous evidence-based multisensory structured language education (MSLE) therapy to individuals with dyslexia.

The mission of Academic Language Therapy Association-Arkansas is to promote professional camaraderie so that therapy strategies can be shared to support certified academic language therapists, mentor therapists in training and act as a resource for the education of our communities in Arkansas.

The Academic Language Therapy Association is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization based in the United States, incorporated in 1986, with nearly 4,000 members. Certified members have met rigorous training requirements, have passed the national Academic Language Therapy Association Competency Exam for Multisensory Structured Language Education and maintain high ethical standards.

Hicks has been an active member of ALTA/ALTA-AR since 2017. She is a certified academic therapist, with over 25 years of experience working with students who have dyslexia or other learning differences. She currently provides evaluation and therapy services at the U of A Speech and Hearing Clinic for the following:

• Literacy and dyslexia
• Speech sound production
• Language (comprehension and expressive language abilities)
• Social communication

The U of A Speech and Hearing Clinic accepts private pay, private insurance and Medicare. Appointments can be made by email at spclinic@uark.edu or by phone at 479-575-4509.

For more information about the Academic Language Therapy Association, contact altaread.org or altaread/Arkansas-chapter.