NMU Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic

Patients or parents must contact the NMU Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic at 906-227-2125. Our department secretary will ask for some preliminary information and mail out a case history form for the patient or parents to complete and return. This includes a release of information form that must be completed and signed in order for us to provide services. It also provides clients the opportunity to list any individuals or agencies that are to receive copies of our reports, and allows us to video tape, audiotape, and have our students observe sessions. This is particularly important because the only reason the clinic exists is to support the education of the students in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Program. Such observation and field work is valuable to teach our students.

Appointments

When we have all the information needed to schedule your appointment, a faculty supervisor and student clinician are assigned to the case. Supervising faculty or graduate students contact individual patients or parents for diagnostic evaluation appointments after the case history form has been received.

At times we must maintain a waiting list for the clinic because we have had more referrals than we can handle. Our faculty will keep in contact with the patient or parents and inform them when space is available. We do reserve the right to prioritize services based on educational levels of our students, availability of space in our schedule and the severity of the circumstances surrounding individual cases.

Sessions and Cancellations

Because the clinic is part of Northern Michigan University, we operate on the university schedule, offering three sessions per year: winter (January - April), summer (May - July) and fall (September - December). We are closed during times the university is closed, including certain holidays, semester breaks and due to inclement weather. Your student clinician will advise you of the schedule for the session during which you receive services, or you can view the schedule yourself on the Internet at our clinic web site.

In the event the clinic must cancel your appointment due to student clinician illness or other unexpected events, we will contact you and reschedule. If you must cancel your appointment for any reason, please notify us ahead of time by calling 906-227-2125. Please give us the name of your faculty supervisor and student clinician, as well as the reason for the cancellation.

Location and Parking

We are housed in West Science Building of the Seaborg Science Complex, located on Center Street (see campus map). See our department secretary in West Science room 1351, across the hall from the clinic, for a green parking permit when you arrive for your first appointment. You must display this permit in your front windshield to be entitled to park in one of the “Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic” spaces in the lot adjacent to the clinic while you are receiving clinic services. If these slots are filled, you may feel free to park in any marked parking space in the lot with your permit displayed. If you follow these procedures and get a parking ticket, give the ticket to the department secretary so it can be voided.

Please note that only one parking permit will be issued for each family car per year. Individuals needing a replacement must go to Public Safety in the Services Building on Sugarloaf Avenue. When a client is discharged from the clinic program, the parking permit must be returned to the department secretary.

Check In

Please sign in at the clinic reception desk in the SLH Clinic each time you arrive for your appointment. Patients and family members are to remain in the clinic waiting room until your student clinician comes to escort you to your treatment area. In no case should you enter the clinic area unescorted; this is to protect confidentiality of our services and to allow us to work uninterrupted.

Observing

Parents may be invited from time to time to observe their child’s work with the student clinician. At these times, siblings are allowed in the observation area under parental supervision as long as they do not disrupt the work of the clinic. It is absolutely necessary to maintain these areas as dark, quiet, clean environments. Therefore, no food or beverages are allowed in the observation areas. Disruptive persons will be asked to leave.

Questions About Evaluation or Treatment

Questions about any of the procedures we use in diagnosing or treatment of communication problems or any of the other services we provide should be directed to the faculty member supervising the student clinician who will be working with you or your family member. Questions about the procedures and policies of the clinic should be addressed to the clinical coordinator. It is our goal that your contact with the NMU Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Program and Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic are pleasant and productive.