Careers and Outcomes

Speech-language pathology is a deeply rewarding field with enormous potential for growth. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment in the field is expected to grow “much faster than the average” between now and 2024.

In the last three years, more than 94% of CSD majors who have applied as seniors have been accepted to at least one graduate program in the field.

Graduate study is required for national certification, licensure in most states and a public school certificate in Illinois. After earning their graduate degrees, our students launch dynamic careers in a variety of settings, including schools, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and clinics.

Here are just a few of our outstanding alumni:

• Kristina Ruch ’18 participated in several travel courses while a student at Elmhurst, including CSD 381 The China Experience: A Transcultural View of Rehabilitation Medicine, CSD 382 Global Perspectives in Communication and Disability: Costa Rica Experience, and REL 371 South Africa: Service and Interdisciplinary Study. Kristina is now a clinical researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
• Micaela Mullaney Hastings ’15 is a speech-language pathologist at Rupley Elementary School in Community Consolidated School District #59. She also supervises our students in the ECSLHC.
• Brittany Nolan M.S. ’15 is currently a lead speech therapist at BY YOUR SIDE Autism Therapy Services in Schaumburg where she also supervises Elmhurst graduate students. She is also involved with the UpS for DownS Theatre Company where she works with actors with disabilities on improving their speech.
• Jola Grzybowski ’14, M.S. ’16 is a speech-language pathologist at Mercy Hospital, Chicago. Jola frequently supervises our graduate students at Mercy.
• Sarah Buti ’12, M.S. ’15 is a speech-language pathologist at BY YOUR SIDE Autism. She was the founding speech-language pathologist at Gigi’s Playhouse, a widely recognized center to support the achievement of people with Down syndrome.
• Annice Coughlan ’12 is a bi-lingual speech-language pathologist at Palatine School District #15. She also supervises our students here in the ECSLHC.
• Rebecca Mental ’12 recently completed her Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Her dissertation was titled Using Realistic Visual Biofeedback for the Remediation of Residual Speech Sound Errors.
• Christopher Spiel ’02 is a speech-language pathologist who was honored by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for his innovative development of a peer communication group at Plainfield East High School.
• Sarah Clifford Scheflen ’00 is a co-founder of Teach 2 Talk.

LinkedIn

Elmhurst University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) is dedicated to preparing its students for the successful understanding of human communication and its disorders and differences. Our hope is that our CSD alums, current undergraduate/graduate students, and prospective students interested in the field of speech pathology will visit our group often to learn about news and happenings in the field of speech-language pathology, as well as what’s happening right here in the CSD department at Elmhurst University. Dialogue is encouraged.