Empowering Students Through Experiencing Language
University of Central Arkansas alumna Beth Helms ’13, ’15 hadn’t considered pursuing a career in speech-language pathology (SLP) when declaring a major. Still, an early fascination with American Sign Language and a summer job led her to a career she loves. This path involves using innovative teaching methods while advocating for the students and families she serves at the Arkansas School for the Deaf. Her dedication to equity for deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) children and the connections she makes for her students are life-changing.
Helms knew she wanted to pursue a career in health sciences but needed to decide which field to focus on when it came time to start college. “The field of communication sciences disorders was not in my original career plan, and it was difficult to narrow down a major. I knew I wanted to pursue something in the health sciences field, and narrowed it down after getting a summer job as an office assistant at a local therapy clinic,” Helms said. After enrolling in pre-requisite courses, Helms realized “the role of the SLP is to improve clients’ interpersonal connections with the people around them by helping them engage and communicate across the lifespan.”
Her role as an educator and advocate for DHH children and their families came naturally from Helms’ early education experience. “I have always been fascinated with American Sign Language, even joining the ‘Singing Hands’ club in elementary school. I also took ASL I and II at UCA as my second language, so I shouldn’t have been too surprised when I found myself circling back to the Arkansas School for the Deaf’s table when attending the UCA Health Sciences Job Fair where I met my future boss,” Helms stated.
After graduating, Helms worked as an educator. She grew into an expert specializing in language and communication skills for those she serves by gaining a Listening and Spoken Language DHH Endorsement. This, coupled with her passion for the language, makes her teaching style one that benefits her students and their families. “The more I learned the language and immersed myself in the culture, the fascination quickly grew into a passion for serving the children of the DHH community,” Helms said.
She described her literacy teaching methods as centered around each child, using real-world connections as a team-supported effort with intervention models in small settings and branching out into the more extensive classroom. “It depends on the child,” Helms continued, “I support early literacy development through multisensory instruction and utilizing listening and spoken language strategies to improve foundational literacy skills. I really value experienced-based learning, making the connection between world knowledge and word/vocabulary knowledge.” This approach provides an integrated model into the classroom or social setting to foster and support skills that carry across environments and link language learning with meaningful experiences.” The students build communication skills based on classroom and real-world situations, thus opening more opportunities for connection for children and families in the DHH community.
This individualized, multi-modal approach is one of Helms’ favorite aspects of her dynamic teaching model and career. She compares this approach to a puzzle. “The most engaging aspect is figuring out how to fit the pieces of each child’s puzzle together to bring the picture of the whole child into focus so we can start working to fill in the missing pieces,” Helms said. Helms hopes this will lead to more innovations for this community thereby impacting more communities beyond the classroom.
“I hope that the relationships I forged and collaborative efforts with educators and leaders in the deaf community lead to a more cohesive and collective approach to the education of DHH children in our state, maximizing their access to quality language development so that they can develop quality personal relationships that allow them to engage as active members of their local communities,” said Helms.
Helms remains focused on those she serves, staying committed to the future and the impact of her teaching. She said, “I hope to continue serving the DHH children of the state I reside in, whether in a leadership or supervisory role.” Her passion for giving back, forming connections and giving support circles back to Helms’ fascination with ASL and her time at UCA. “UCA provided me with a community of support, socially, academically and professionally,” said Helms. “And I am forever grateful.”