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(Springville, UT - November 12, 2007) Samuel G. Fletcher, PhD, adjunct research professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and retired professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), will receive the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) Honors of the Association award during the 2007 Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), November 15-17 in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Honors of the Association recognizes distinguished contribution to the field of speech, language, and hearing and is the highest honor the Association can give. Honored individuals have made outstanding contributions to the discipline of communication science and disorders, research, administration, or service to state or national organizations.
Dr. Fletcher has applied his inventive mind to improving treatment outcomes for individuals with communication disorders through science and technology. Dr. Fletcher developed the nasometer, the leading instrument in the world for diagnosing and modifying abnormal nasal resonance among individuals with cleft palate, post-trauma injury of the palate, and nasal resonance disturbances associated with neural damage and disorders.
Dr. Fletcher created his second device, the palatometer, in collaboration with colleagues in dentistry and biomedical engineering. The device helps children, such as those who are deaf, learn to speak. It is also used to study and help modify tongue placement related to a broad variety of other speech disorders.
Dr. Fletcher received research awards from the U.S. Public Health Service, Easter Seal Foundation, several branches of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Fletcher has written five books, has dozens of book chapters, and has more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He served on journal editorial boards and NIH research review committees on topics dealing with normal and abnormal speech and swallowing structure and function and on instrumental evaluation and treatment of speech pathologies.
Dr. Fletcher has served on a number of professional advisory committees and boards, including the Albuquerque Model Cities Diagnostic and Learning Center, Sertoma National Center for Communicative Disorders, ASHA Committee on Scientific Affairs, and American Cleft Palate Association.
Along with his wife, Barbara, Dr. Fletcher has extended his efforts overseas. They provided humanitarian service to individuals with speech disorders in Indonesia: Dr. Fletcher taught medical residents how to use the palatometer to help children improve their speech and was awarded a permanent visiting professorship at the University of Indonesia Medical Center in Jakarta.
The annual ASHA convention is the most comprehensive development conference for speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language and hearing scientists. It features more than 1,500 educational sessions that highlight the latest developments in research and clinical practices for professionals who provide services in schools, hospitals, health care centers, rehabilitation clinics, and other practice settings.
Nearly 300 exhibitors, including hearing aid manufacturers and other companies in the speech and hearing industries, will showcase innovative products and services in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center's exhibit hall. Technology presentations on products, such as computer software programs as well as alternative and augmentative communication and assistive listening devices were also featured.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 127,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders.
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