Growing up with a mother who had a background in nursing, Anita Lightburn, an instructor in the department of communication sciences and disorders (CSD) at Syracuse University, was always exposed to health professions.

“I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to be a nurse, but I knew that I really would get some fulfillment and enjoyment out of helping people,” Lightburn said.

Her desire to help people and an interest in health professions eventually led her to the field of communication sciences and disorders. She entered college with a declared major in the field and eventually became a speech-language pathologist.

In addition to teaching classes in the CSD department at Syracuse University, she also serves as a clinical instructor at the Gebbie Clinic. The Gebbie Clinic provides diagnostic testing and treatment for speech-language and hearing disorders to a wide range of age groups ranging from children to the elderly.

“Speech-language pathology services has been dubbed as being a service that is provided from cradle to grave because we address communication needs throughout the human lifespan,” Lightburn said.

While the Gebbie Clinic serves as a training clinic for undergraduate and graduate students, it is under the supervision of speech-language pathologists and audiologists licensed by New York State Department of Education and certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Lightburn is one of these supervisors.

Each week she meets with student clinicians to discuss the cases students are assigned to work with. Discussions address the objectives of the week as well as the direction of the treatment with the clients. Lightburn and her colleagues also observe sessions, observing about 50 percent of sessions and 100 percent of evaluations.

However, Lightburn stresses that this is not the only setting that one can work in within this field. Previously, Lightburn worked as a speech-language pathologist in a bilingual school in the Syracuse City School District. She’s also worked with Nepalese refugees to help them become more comfortable with the English language.

“To anyone who is looking at speech-language pathology or audiology as a career choice, you have so many options available to you,” Lightburn said. “There are many facets to understanding the science behind and social impact of communication.”

Published on October 14, 2015 at 12:02 am

Contact Katie: kazilcos@syr.edu