Audiology students volunteer at Special Olympics

Audiology doctoral students participated in the Special Olympic Summer Games this June in State College. After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Summer Games were held at Penn State University in State College from June 2 to 4. The event attracted more than 2,000 athletes and 750 coaches from across the state to compete in aquatics, athletics, basketball, bowling, equestrian, golf, gymnastics, softball, and tennis.

One of the unique features of the event is the Special Olympics Healthy Athlete initiative, which involved seven discipline-specific services. The Special Olympics Healthy Athlete initiative involves the following services: Healthy Hearing (Audiology), Opening Eyes (Optometry), Fit Feet (Podiatry), Special Smiles (Dentistry), FUNFitness (Physical Therapy), Strong Minds (Mental Health), and Health Promotions (dietitians, etc.). This year, eight Bloomsburg audiology doctoral students, Monica Amarante, Madison Ansbach, Michaela Blackwell, Michael Dellanoce, Carrissa Donnelly, Nicole Gagliardi, Alexis McElwee, and Veronica Sutter, and faculty member Thomas Zalewski, Ph.D., volunteered at the Healthy Hearing initiative. Healthy Hearing screened the hearing of 125 individuals during this two-day event.