Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences (SLHS)

Faculty & Staff Spotlight

Marcia Walsh-Aziz, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor

When did you start working on campus?

Part-time: January 2017, Full -Time August 2018

What areas of research or other areas of academic pursuit do you focus on? What attracts/attracted you to that area and what do you find makes it so interesting?

I research language development and therapy in children with hearing loss regardless of mode of communication used. This is a very special population since 95% of children born with hearing loss are born to hearing families with little to no knowledge of hearing loss and its impact on development and even culture. There’s a lot of variability, growth, and room for improvement in this area and that’s why I got so interested in it. It’s never boring to try and figure out how a child can develop language when they are utilizing more than just hearing to develop and communicate.

What advice would you give to students? What is the most helpful advice you have received?

For sure something that was said to me was “Fake it till you make it”. A lot of the people we look up to or you think “has it all together”, those people doubt their abilities and skills. All of us still need to strive to be knowledgeable in our areas, but also grow our confidence.

My advice, is don’t be afraid of making mistakes, one of the fastest ways to learn is to make mistakes and learn from it. Don’t miss out on opportunities to improve because you’re afraid of getting something wrong.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

This is a tough question. I love advising students and helping them figure out their path to graduation and careers. As an SLP, I love listening to families and supporting them and their children in developing communication and connections that they didn’t have before. Either way I love hearing when someone has a ‘break through’ moment whether that’s a student who understands the difference between speech and language or a family that sees the difference repetition is making for their little one.

Are you doing any research currently? If you have been published and would like to share that information, please do so!

Nothing published just yet, but currently working on editing a manuscript to be published. It is qualitative (descriptive) study of teachers use of fingerspelling in deaf and hard of hearing classrooms during language arts lessons. We’re describing how often they fingerspelled, what kind of words (nouns, verbs etc.) were fingerspelled, how often the fingerspelling was directly associated with print and the context in which they occurred.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

As a young kid I remember saying “I want to be a dancing ballerina, teacher, NASCAR driver” ….but by high school I had transitioned to pediatrician, physicians assistant, or … SLP!

What do you like to do outside of campus?

I love trivia and games. I also do a little bit of dancing both for exercise and for fun. I like listening to music, crocheting, drawing, taking pictures of my cat, traveling, and current favorite outdoor activity is paddle boarding.

What’s the coolest (or most important) trend you see today?

I don’t know if this is a trend, but embracing ourselves as we are and not hyperfocusing on perfection. I really like to draw but I had stopped because I felt like I wasn’t that good at it. And I saw a meme or a post (paraphrasing) “We need to get over not sharing our talents because they’re not perfect or professional enough. If you have fun doing it, then share it!”.

What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?

Mentally and emotionally: Starting up receiving counseling again. Counseling has really helped me process out everything we’ve been experiencing in the last few years (and then some) and reminds me to stay mindful and in the moment rather than worrying about the future or the past. I know I would not be as strong as I am now without counseling.

Physically: Working out every week with my personal trainer/best friend 😊

What is your motto or personal mantra?

It always gets done.

Career Prospects

Click here to learn more about careers in SLHS.