Cynthia Watson to Offer Pediatric Speech and Language Services at Speech and Hearing Clinic

The Communication Sciences and Disorders Program is excited to announce that Cynthia Watson, a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist, will be offering pediatric services at the U of A Speech and Hearing Clinic. Watson will provide articulation and language services and supervise student clinicians enrolled in clinical practicum courses. She will also continue to teach several popular language-focused undergraduate courses for the program. 

Watson considers helping children communicate to be one of her greatest passions in life. She shares a particular clinical interest in childhood apraxia of speech, a condition that disrupts the brain's ability to coordinate and sequence the motor movements required to produce clear speech. In addition to speech sound evaluation and intervention services, she will also be assessing and treating the language and social-communication skills of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. 

Watson holds a Bachelor of Science in speech-language pathology and audiology from the U of A (1994) and a Master of Education in speech-language pathology from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (1995). She is the co-founder of Children's Therapy Team, holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is also licensed through the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. 

When Watson entered the field of speech-language pathology, she became passionate about early intervention and has spent most of her career with the pediatric population. During her undergraduate years, she recalls a mentor sharing, "Teaching is your way of giving back." This was a statement that she took to heart, and she has enjoyed helping student clinicians grow in their clinical expertise ever since. 

In 2020 Watson was ecstatic to see a CSDI program opening for an adjunct instructor. Since that time, she has taught the program's undergraduate Language Development in Children and Language Disorders in Children courses each year. She always knew that she wanted to offer speech-language pathology services on campus alongside her students. In her own words, "Serving children of Northwest Arkansas is heavy on my heart in a variety of clinical settings." 

In addition to classroom teaching and clinic services, one of Watson's favorite clinical activities is administering early intervention language screenings, which help to identify early signs of speech-language delays. She recently helped to lead language screenings at the Jean Tyson Child Development Center with student clinicians enrolled in CSDI Undergraduate Clinical Practicum. Watson commented, "I love being around the future of speech-language pathology."

About the University of Arkansas Speech and Hearing Clinic: The University of Arkansas Speech and Hearing Clinic is a university-affiliated practice that has been offering comprehensive speech, language and audiology services since 1960. The clinic serves as a clinical training and research laboratory for undergraduate and graduate students. The clinic has faculty with a wide range of experience who provide intervention to individuals with communication disorders while also teaching and supervising graduate and undergraduate students. 

If you're interested in making an appointment for a speech and language evaluation or intervention, please call the clinic at 479-575-4509 or email spclinic@uark.edu