Non-Profit Spotlight: SDSU Audiology Clinic

January 11, 2021

The Audiology Clinic at San Diego State University, operating as part of the School of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, serves children and adults who have hearing problems and communication disorders due to hearing limitations. Clients include individuals with permanent hearing loss, wounded warriors, stroke and traumatic brain injury survivors, and children with autism or other developmental speech and language disorders. SDSU programs help community members who would otherwise be without resources to obtain hearing loss and speech-language intervention services.

The Clinic is designed to be more than a service provider; it is also an educational and research facility providing real-life training experiences for graduate students enrolled in the clinical audiology program and preparing future audiologists to enter into the public and private workforce.

Diagnostic services are provided on a donation-only basis; fees are charged for hearing aid-related products and services. Clinic services include:

Child and Adult Assessments
Comprehensive Hearing Evaluations
Hearing Aid Dispensing
Hearing Aid Parts and Repairs
Assistive Listening Device Demonstrations
Earmolds, Swim Plugs, Musician/Ear Protectors
Speech in Noise Testing

Clinic Director Christine Kirsch, AuD, explains, “My mission is split between serving the community and providing the best possible clinical education I can for my doctoral students. Our patient focus is on the gap group: people who don’t qualify for third party coverage, don’t have insurance, and find the expense of hearing aids to be an insurmountable burden. Our pricing is kept as reasonable as possible and we work especially hard to get all children who need them into hearing aids.”

Patients are consistently positive about the care they receive. Michelle Ogdan said recently, “I have been using San Diego State University Audiology for over 12 years. The clinic has been excellent. My hearing loss is unusual and they have always been able to address the challenge. When I am fitted with a hearing aid that costs more but does not improve my hearing (think Rolls Royce versus Chevrolet), they tell me. Staff are not trying to sell the most expensive; rather, they offer the most appropriate to address my situation. I like SDSU because I am given all options, not just a select few.”

Patient Jolene Koester was equally enthusiastic. She said, “The San Diego State University Audiology Clinic is a special place providing exemplary service. Attention from students in the Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program along with the support of faculty members, means my questions are answered and treatment options explained, all in a friendly and supportive environment.”

The Audiology Clinic has a partnership with the San Diego Unified School District and Assistance League of San Diego County to provide hearing aids for children. The schools identify the children; the Assistance League verifies financial eligibility and buys the aids; the SDSU Audiology Clinic orders and fits the aids, then provides follow up services.

Some patients have been seen at the clinic for many years. Faculty member Carol Branch, AuD, recounts her experience with one family:

“Imagine the change in experience when a little boy gets to hear life through hearing aids for the first time as a 5-year-old. One dear family has been known to us for over 10 years. When we first met, we fit the child with his first hearing aids. His father wrote us the most poignant letter, telling how his heart swelled (and he shed some tears) watching his son marvel at the sounds of ocean waves which he had never before heard. A few years later, when that same boy was in his early teens, his father unexpectedly passed away. Everyone at the clinic was heartbroken—such a great dad. A short time later, we fit the boy with some new hearing aids which had the capability to stream phone calls through a cell phone. His mom gave him the cell phone that had belonged to his dad. We will never forget the smile that spread wide across that young man’s face as he listened to his dad’s voice on the answering message streaming through the phone. What a privilege it is for us to get to know and walk alongside many who have hearing loss, and to assist in whatever way we can.”

Penny Grand was born with normal hearing but lost it at about age one. She was treated and implanted at Providence Hearing and Speech Center in Orange (featured in our Summer, 2018 issue) when she was two years old, and her parents became immersed in the system that was to provide their daughter with access to sound. Penny is developing fluency in spoken English and ASL, is mainstreamed at her kindergarten where she is doing very well academically, and is actively social with her peers.

When Penny’’s hearing loss was diagnosed, her father Paul was an English teacher who had considered going back to graduate school for an advanced degree in Education. As he found himself more and more fascinated with cochlear implant technology, he decided to pursue a Doctor of Audiology (AuD) degree. Paul left teaching and volunteered at Providence while he applied to graduate school.

Paul was especially impressed with the Audiology program at SDSU, both because of the emphasis on working with patients in the clinic, and because of the opportunity to work with some of the top names in the field. He was delighted to be accepted into the program and is now a third year student.

This article was first published in The Hearing Loss Californian, Winter 2019-20.