Susan Black, Geneva College audiology instructor, put her skills to good use when she spent a week in the Dominican Republic this spring. “There is one ENT doctor on the island and audiology, when done, has been Audiology Without Borders, but not in the area I was in,” says Black, who evaluated over 100 people, from young children to older individuals as well. “It was very humbling as these individuals with their problems came to see me.”
The conditions of the people Black saw varied. One woman was a teacher with severe nodules—so severe, in fact, that the teacher had to change jobs because early in the day she becomes aphonic, which means she loses the ability to speak. Black made use of a Geneva-provided audiometer to help people with stuttering, developmental articulation problems and hearing issues, and she worked with one boy who had oral apraxia, a disorder that affects children’s ability to speak by making it difficult for them to move their jaw, lips, or tongue.
There were also obstacles along the way, including confiscation of 50% of their antibiotics. “Nevertheless," says Black "God used us anyway.”
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