Don Finan, Professor of Audiology and Speech- Language Sciences
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Gunter Hall 1480 |
Professional Education:
- Ph.D. Speech Physiology & Developmental Neuroscience, Indiana University
- M.S. Speech Pathology, Eastern Illinois University
- B.S. Speech Pathology & Audiology, Eastern Illinois University
Professor Finan's research focuses on investigating aspects of motor control for speech and other oromotor behaviors. He uses perturbation paradigms to investigate oromotor control in infants, children and adults to altered sensorimotor environments. Projects have included studies on speech and feeding development in infants, the development of respiratory/laryngeal coordination for speech in children, responses to auditory perturbation (altered auditory feedback or acoustic startle) in individuals who stutter, and articulatory responses to lingual perturbation. He teaches courses on speech science, voice production and disorders, and the neuroscience of communication. He is a co-developer of the Actifier II and NTrainer technologies, devices used to assess and provide therapeutic stimulation to premature infants with oromotor feeding deficits. Dr. Finan is also interested in developing new approaches to teaching courses in the speech and hearing sciences. In his free time, he enjoys playing the guitar and mountain biking, although not at the same time.
Tamara Nickelson