Wits will start providing voice therapy at the university’s speech and hearing clinic from the first week of March.
Patients who have damaged their voice as a result of a traumatic experience or those experiencing difficulties in their voice such as hoarseness or loss of vocal range can now get help at the voice clinic located at the Umthombo building on East Campus.
The senior supervisor at the clinic, Bianca Kruger, says voice problems often occur in people with vocally intense occupations such as lawyers, teachers, actors, singers, performing arts students or loud children.
The establishment of the new clinic comes as result of a recent change in the speech pathology and audiology degree.
“The two degrees have grown substantially in their own right over the last decade or so and it is now not feasible to study them together. All of the other South African universities have split the degree as well. Wits was the last to do so,” says lecturer, Dr Kim Coutts.
The clinic is run by final-year speech pathology students and Kruger. Consultations at the clinic can cost patients R100 – R200 per session.
Sessions will be conducted either in person, via telephone or online platforms. The duration of the therapy will depend on the severity of the problem. – Report by Wits Vuvuzela’s Akhona Matshoba