The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is committed to research in language and language disorders, speech, voice and hearing sciences and disorders. Working with and in the community is an extension of that research and supports our overall mission.

The department is home to the Temple University Speech-Language-Hearing Center, which provides a wide range of services to people of all ages with disorders of communication. Graduate clinicians provide services under the direct supervision of the Temple faculty who hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Pennsylvania licensure in Speech-Language Pathology and/or Audiology. 

Research labs

Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

Researchers, clinicians, and students in the Saffran Center work together to investigate the relationships among language and short-term memory impairments associated with aphasia.

Aphasia Rehabilitation Research Laboratory

This lab aims to better understand the relationship between language, short-term memory and other cognitive processes in individuals with aphasia.

Concepts & Cognition Laboratory

In addition to basic science research, this group is currently developing novel treatments that promote language maintenance in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD).

First Language Foundations Laboratory

This lab aims to optimize the developmental potential of all d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children by understanding the links between language access, language proficiency and outcomes in other domains.

Human Abilities in Bilingual Language Acquisition (HABLA) Laboratory

HABLA Lab researches how bilingual individuals organize and access their two language systems in order to better understand the nature of language breakdowns associated to language impairment.

Speech, Language and Brain (SLAB) Laboratory

Research in the SLAB lab focuses on speech and language comprehension and production across the lifespan, both in unimpaired individuals and in various populations with developmental or acquired speech and/or language disorders.

Speech Perception and Cognition Laboratory

The SPAC Lab investigates the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms in speech perception by older adults with hearing loss, with the aim of developing clinical measures that reflect these listeners’ real life communication experiences.

Vocal Development Laboratory

The Vocal Development Lab focuses on understanding the development of voice and speech in children with and without voice disorders, with the ultimate goal of making voice therapy for children more effective and efficient.