Faculty and Staff
Andrea Abramovich
Clinical Lecturer
Office: HUM B2B
Phone: (845) 257-2377
E-mail: urbanlime@hotmail.com
Ms Abramovich has her M.S. in Communication Disorders from The College of Saint Rose. Her first appointment at SUNY New Paltz was in 2003. She is a clinical supervisor and teaches graduate courses such as Voice Disorders and Augmentative Communication. Ms. Abramovich has provided speech and language therapeutic services to infants, children, and adults with a wide range of communicative disorders. She holds RESNA certification and is Regional Director of the Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities (TRAID) program, which serves a five-county area.
Inge Anema
Lecturer
Office: HUM B1C
Phone: (845) 257-2677
E-mail: anemai@newpaltz.edu
Inge Anema is a doctoral candidate at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York and is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist. She has extensive teaching experience at SUNY New Paltz and at Hunter College. Professor Anema has taught courses in the disorders for undergraduate and graduate students. As a bilingual clinician, Ms. Anema has worked in a variety of settings with populations across the life span and augments her teaching with this experience. Her dissertation is on language processing in bilinguals and has recently comleted data collection in Holland as part of her project.
Susan Arnao
Clinical Lecturer
Office: HUM 19A
Phone: (845) 257-3974
Dr. Arnao received a Doctoral Degree in Audiology from the Arizona School of Health Sciences at Still University, Mesa, Arizona and a Master of Science Degree in Audiology from Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY. In addition, Dr. Arnao holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence. She has been a member of the SUNY New Paltz faculty since 2001. Dr. Arnao teaches undergraduate courses in Introduction to Audiologic Rehabilitation, Clinical Methods in Audiology and supervises clinical practicum for Speech Pathology graduate students. Areas of special interest are advances in digital hearing aid technology coupled with aural rehabilitation.
Anne Balant
Associate Professor
Office: HUM B4C
Phone: (845) 257-3453
E-mail: balanta@newpaltz.edu
Dr. Balant is professor of Communication Disorders . She has her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and has been on the faculty since 1994. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in hearing science and related areas. Her research interests are otoacoustic emissions and psychoacoustics.
Wendy Bower
Clinical Instructor
Office: HUM B4A
Phone: (845) 257-3452
E-mail: bowerw@newpaltz.edu
Ms. Bower received her MS from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has been on the SUNY New Paltz faculty since 1996. Ms. Bower teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses including: Introduction to Communication Disorders, Articulation and Motor Speech Disorders, Disorders of Child Language, Disorders of Prosody and Voice, Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing and Language/Literacy Development. She is also currently pursuing a Ph.D. in literacy from the State University of New York at Albany. Ms. Bower has a number of clinical experiences with infants, children, and adults with a wide range of disabilities. Her special interests are literacy, language development, early intervention and swallowing disorders.
Gretchen Brassard
Clinical Instructor
Office: HUM 23D
Phone: (845) 257-2611
E-mail: brassarg@newpaltz.edu
Ms. Brassard is Coordinator of Clinical Services in Speech-Language Pathology and coordinates all speech-language pathology practicum placements for both undergraduate and graduate students. Ms. Brassard is the primary advisor for new undergraduate majors and those accepted into the Teacher Certification program. She teaches Clinical Participation I and II and supervises clinical practicum. Ms. Brassard's first appointment at SUNY New Paltz was in 1980. She received her M.S.Ed. from the State University College at Buffalo. Prior to coming to New Paltz, Ms. Brassard was a speech-language pathologist at the Children's Rehabilitation Center in Buffalo. Ms. Brassard's primary interests are supervision, phonology, and fluency.
Kathryn Burke
SLP Coordinator
Office: HUM 12C
Phone: (845) 257-3601
E-mail: burkek@newpaltz.edu
Elizabeth Hester
Assistant Professor
Office: HUM B4B
Phone: (845) 257-3465
E-mail: hestere@newpaltz.edu
Dr. Liz Hester is Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Communication Disorders. Her primary areas of academic interest are phonology and child language. She received her Master's degree from California State University, Fresno, where she subsequently conducted clinic at Valley Children's Hospital in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She received her doctoral degree from Wichita State University, where she carried out recently published research with Barbara Hodson on phonological production, working memory, and reading decoding. Her research interests include the study of the suprasegmental basis of speech and reading, the evolution of language and speech perception, and the precursors of phonological awareness. She currently teaches phonetics, phonology, and child language at SUNY New Paltz and enjoys hiking and skiing in the mountains nearby.
Helen Hook
Lecturer
Office: FOB S10
Phone: (845) 257-3425
E-mail: hookh@newpaltz.edu
Ms. Hook has an M.S. Ed. from the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY and completed additional study at SUNY Geneseo in Deaf Education. She holds dual certification as a teacher of the Deaf and a Teacher of the Speech and Hearing Handicapped. She is proficient in American Sign Language (ASL) and has worked as an interpreter, both in educational settings and at concerts and performances. She has also worked at schools for the deaf, and for the New York State Dept. of Corrections. Ms. Hook has been teaching at SUNY New Paltz since 1997. She teaches courses in ASL and deaf studies.
Stella Turk
Clinical Instructor
Office: HUM 12B
Phone: (845) 257-3603
E-mail: turks@newpaltz.edu
Dr. Stella Turk is Chairperson of the Department and Director of the Speech-Language and Hearing Center. She has an MS degree in Audiology from Brooklyn College. She received her Doctoral Degree in Audiology from Arizona School of Health Sciences at Still University. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in speech-language pathology and audiology, and supervises clinical practicum. Her first appointment at New Paltz was in 1995. Her special interests are universal infant screening and program development. Dr. Turk developed the universal infant screening program at Vassar Brother Hospital.
Adjuncts
Helena Borland
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-2611
Wendell Brooks
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-2611
E-mail: brooksw@newpaltz.edu
Mr. Brooks has his M.S. in Education from the City University of New York at Queens College with advanced studies at New Paltz, Southern Connecticut State University, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has been on the SUNY New Paltz faculty since 1994. He has provided speech-language pathology services to hundreds of school- aged children in both regular and special education. Mr. Brooks teaches undergraduate courses and supervises in the Speech-Language and Hearing Center. His special interests include child language development and communication disorder diagnostic processes.
Mary Kate Delouise
Adjunct Faculty
Office: FOB S-10
Phone: (845) 257-3425
Louisa Finn
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-3600
E-mail: ljfinn@hvi.net
Ms. Finn has her M.S.Ed. in Communication Disorders from SUNY New Paltz. Her first appointment at SUNY New Paltz was in 1998. She is a clinical supervisor and teaches undergraduate courses such as Language Development in Children. Ms. Finn has provided speech and language therapeutic services to infants, children, and adults with a wide range of communicative disorders. She is especially interested in adults with neurological impairments.
Lois Heymann
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM B2
Phone: (845) 257-2376
Mary Ell Izzo
Adjunct Faculty
Phone: (845) 257-3600
Ms. Mary Ell Izzo received her M.S. in Speech Language Pathology from Nazareth College. She has been on faculty since Spring 2000. Ms. Izzo teaches the Swallowing Disorders course and co-teaches the Adult Language Disorders course with Amy Rickard.
Ms. Izzo also works at Vassar Brothers Medical Center with the adult inpatient population, laryngectomy population as well as pediatrics. In addition, she is an independent contractor through the Dutchess County Early Intervention Program, specializing in pediatric feeding. She has over 15 years experience working in the field of speech pathology.
Stephanie Peacock
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-2611
Jennifer Petruski
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-3600
E-mail: petruskj@newpaltz.edu
Ms. Petruski obtained her M.S.Ed. in Speech-Language Pathology from SUNY College at Buffalo. She has been a clinical practicum supervisor at SUNY New Paltz since 1996.
Ms. Petruski also currently works in a local school district servicing students ages 5-21. She has been an active member on the executive council of The Speech, Language & Hearing Association of the Hudson Valley, as well as a committee chair for the statewide Board of Regional Association Presidents.
Her primary interests include fluency, literacy and child speech and language development/disorders.
Jenny Thayer
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-2611
Tara Theiss
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM B4
Phone: (845) 257-3425
E-mail: theisst@newpaltz.edu
Don Wildy
Adjunct Faculty
Office: HUM 23d
Phone: (845) 257-2611
Staff
Sandra DiStasi
Secretary 1
Office: HUM 14A
Phone: (845) 257-3620
E-mail: vayos@newpaltz.edu
Ms. DiStasi is both Secretary to the Department of Communication Disorders and Secretary for the Speech and Hearing Center. She has been employed at SUNY New Paltz since 1986. She is a graduate of Krissler Business Institute and the mother of two school-aged boys.
