In summer 2025, the UAB Department of Otolaryngology received additional funding to support the SPEAK OUT!® Therapy Program. This initiative of the Parkinson Voice Project allows the UAB Voice Center to offer free speech therapy to eligible individuals living with Parkinson’s disease.
Led by Sarah Hoch, MS, CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist at the UAB Voice Center, and co-principal investigators Edie Hapner, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, professor and co-director of the UAB Voice Center, and Will Boswell, MCD, CCC-SLP, the program offers specialized therapy to help those with Parkinson’s disease and related movement disorders regain and retain their speech and swallowing abilities.
“We are honored to share that we’ve been selected as the SPEAK OUT! Therapy and Research Center for Mississippi, in addition to our existing designation for Alabama,” Hoch explained. “This doubles our funding from the Parkinson Voice Project to $100,000 over the next five years, allowing us to expand free therapy services and strengthen research efforts at the UAB Voice Center for those with Parkinson’s disease.”
Also, the grant will further the center’s mission by broadening access to the SPEAK OUT! Therapy Program and supporting continued research and education in voice and swallowing disorders.
“Our clinicians have also secured telehealth licensure in Mississippi, enabling us to offer specialized care for Parkinson’s and a wide range of voice and upper airway disorders,” Hapner added. “This expansion greatly increases our ability to deliver advanced, accessible treatment to patients across the region.”
Read about a patient who benefited from the SPEAK OUT! Therapy Program.