Leslie Mahler
Leslie Mahler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders. Leslie received a dual doctorate in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2006. She holds two additional graduate degrees; an MA in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of the Pacific – Stockton, CA in 1977, and an MBA from Drake University in Des Moines, IA in 1987. Leslie has over 30 years of clinical experience working primarily in a hospital setting treating adults with neurological and disorders. Prior to returning to the University of Colorado to pursue a doctoral degree, she worked at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and was on the clinical faculty at the University of Colorado teaching courses in motor speech disorders, language disorders, and voice disorders as well as providing clinical supervision to graduate students.
Leslie's current research interests are in the area of behavioral treatment of motor speech disorders for stroke survivors and for individuals with Parkinson disease. She is interested in translating principles of neuroplasticity into clinical practice to improve treatment outcomes. She has made numerous presentations at national and international conferences. She is a certified clinician in the LSVT® LOUD, an efficacious treatment approach for improving voice and speech function for people with Parkinson disease. Leslie teaches courses in cognitive disorders, voice disorders, dysphagia, medical speech language pathology, clinical pre-practicum, and phonetics.
Personal Statement: One of my goals for teaching at the University of Rhode Island is to combine 29 years of hospital-based clinical experience with clinical research on the efficacy of behavioral treatment for adults with motor speech and voice disorders. It is critically important to bridge academic and clinical teaching to train students to be speech-language pathologists. My classes integrate clinical observations, development of relevant clinical skills, and analysis of clinical cases to provide students the opportunity to synthesize information from lectures and text books into a clinical context.
Courses Taught:
- CMD 273 Phonetics
- CMD 492 Special Problems
- CMD 560 Voice Disorders
- CMD 565 Pre-Practicum
- CMD 571 Medical Speech-Language Pathology
- CMD 581 Dysphagia
- CMD 583 Acquired Cognitive Communication Disorders
- CMD 598 Special Problems
Recent Publications:
Mahler, L. (2007). Intensive behavioral voice treatment of dysarthria secondary to stroke. Published Dissertation, UMI Microform, No. 3239406.
Spielman, J.O., Ramig., L.O., Mahler, L.A., Halpern, A., & Gavin, W.J. (2007). Effects of an extended version of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment on Voice and Speech in Parkinson's disease. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 95-107.
Mahler, L., Ciucci, M., Ramig, L., & Fox, C. (2007). Swallowing problems in Parkinson's disease. In Trail, M., Protos, E., & Lai, E. (Eds). Neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: An evidence based treatment model. SLACK Inc. Professional Book Division, Thorofare, NJ.
Fox, C., Ramig, L., Halpern, A., Petska, J., & Mahler, L. (2007). A speech therapy home program for patients with Parkinson's disease. In Trail, M., Protos, E., & Lai, E. (Eds). Neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: An evidence based treatment model. SLACK Inc. Professional Book Division, Thorofare, NJ.
Mahler, L., Ciucci, M., Ramig, L., & Fox, C. (2008). Swallowing problems in Parkinson's disease. In Trail, M., Protos, E., & Lai, E. (Eds). Neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: An evidence based treatment model. SLACK Inc. Professional Book Division, Thorofare, NJ.
Fox, C., Ramig, L., Sapir, S., Halpern, A., Petska, J., & Mahler, L., Farley, B. (2008). Voice and speech disorders in Parkinson's disease and their treatment. In Trail, M., Protos, E., & Lai, E. (Eds). Neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: An evidence based treatment model. SLACK Inc. Professional Book Division, Thorofare, NJ.
Fox, C., Ramig, L., Halpern, A., Cable, J., & Mahler, L. (2008). Speech therapy tips for patients with Parkinson's disease. In Trail, M., Protos, E., & Lai, E. (Eds). Neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: An evidence based treatment model. SLACK Inc. Professional Book Division, Thorofare, NJ.
Mahler, L., Ramig, L.O., Fox, C. (2009). Intensive voice treatment (LSVT® LOUD) for dysarthria secondary to stroke. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 17,(4).
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome to spring semester, 2012!
Keep watching for an announcement about our first meeting of our local chapter of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association (NSSLHA) in 2012. Our first meeting of the academic year was held Tuesday, September 20th in the Galanti Lounge of the Carothers Library and was attended by over 100 undergraduate and graduate students! We greatly appreciated the participation of members of the Rhode Island Speech and Hearing Association's board who facilitated one of our discussion sections. At our upcoming meeting we will be voting on new by-laws and learning about plans for the spring semester.
For those of you who attended the talk given by Dr. Lynne E. Hewitt, Bowling Green State University, titled "Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Post-secondary Education" on Monday, October 17th, here is a URL that will take you to Dr. Hewitt's web site. Copy and paste the address to your browser then look for the highlighted link to her presentation on her page if you want to print yourself a copy of her slides: http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/cdis/page36445.html.
Check out our updated table of graduate student student outcomes: PRAXIS examination, graduation, and employment rates by linking to:
Why CMD at URI? - Communicative Disorders - University of Rhode Island
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
