Thirty-seven members of Governor Bob McDonnell's staff recently received hearing screenings and learned some facts about how to protect their hearing, all courtesy of Longwood's communication sciences and disorders (CSDS) graduate program. The screenings, held in recognition of May as Better Hearing and Speech month, were conducted by CSDS graduate students Rachel Brenegar, Lauren Robinson and Jenny Hazlegrove with assistance from Dr. Lissa Power-deFur, director of the Longwood Center for Communication, Literacy and Learning (LCCLL) and coordinator of Longwood's CSDS graduate program.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for Longwood graduate students to showcase their skills while alerting members of the governor's staff about the importance of protecting their hearing,” said Dr. Power-deFur. “Our students are always eager to highlight their profession and Longwood's speech-language pathology graduate program.”

In addition to the screenings, the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing presented demonstrations of assistive technologies.

Free speech-language and hearing screenings for children and adults will be offered in Farmville at the LCCLL on Wednesday, May 23. The free screenings will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from 8-10 a.m., noon-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. at the LCCLL, located at Main and Third streets (third floor, above the Free Clinic) in downtown Farmville. For information call 395-2972.