UCF Appoints National Leader to Communicative Disorders Department

By Karen Guin

The University of Central Florida has appointed Wayne A. Secord -- a national leader in the improvement of services for children in schools -- as the College of Health and Public Affairs Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders. The three-year position is funded by the Office of the Provost.

Most recently, Secord was director of the National Center for Speech-Language Pathology in Schools in Cincinnati, Ohio, a joint project of the University of Cincinnati and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, as well as a member of the faculty at both universities. He has also served as chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., and of the Department of Communication Disorders at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Secord is nationally known for his efforts to improve services offered by schools for children with communication, language and learning disabilities. He has received substantial funding from the U.S. Department of Education to support efforts to educate speech-language pathologists in a school setting. He has also developed extensive continuing education programs for speech-language pathologists and school personnel and administrators, and he has presented more than 400 of these programs throughout the nation. In addition, he is co-author of a leading introductory textbook in communication sciences and disorders, now in its fifth edition.

Secord is also known for his development of assessment tools, including the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals -- the most widely used test in the United States for diagnosing children with language and learning disabilities. Recently, the state of Florida adopted his Classroom Performance Assessment for use by all school districts to evaluate children with disabilities or at risk for disabilities.

At UCF, Secord plans to focus on the development of innovative approaches to address the current shortage of school speech-language pathologists. He also envisions the establishment of a new Center for Early Language and Reading on the campus to support collaborative research and education.

Secord earned a Ph.D. in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Cinncinati, and a master's degree in speech and hearing science and a bachelor's degree in speech and hearing therapy from The Ohio State University in Columbus.