{"id":263745,"date":"2026-05-08T17:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/263745\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T17:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:55:09","slug":"fsu-audiology-students-provide-hearing-care-to-hundreds-during-guatemala-service-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/263745\/","title":{"rendered":"FSU audiology students provide hearing care to hundreds during Guatemala service trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"ASelena Snowden (far left), teaching faculty III and director of Audiology Services in the School of Communication Science and Disorders, recently brought a group of 18 students to Guatemala for an annual service trip. (College of Communication and Information)\t\t<\/p>\n

Florida State University students from the College of Communication and Information<\/a> helped restore hearing for hundreds of patients during a service-learning trip to Guatemala last semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Selena Snowden, teaching faculty III and director of Audiology Services in the School of Communication Science and Disorders<\/a>, led a group to Solol\u00e1, Guatemala, where students performed more than 100 ear cleanings, fitted 276 hearing devices and saw more than 200 patients for appointments during four days of clinics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASelena Snowden, teaching faculty III and director of Audiology Services in the School of Communication Science and Disorders, conducts a hearing test on a Guatemalan child with his mother. (FSU College of Communication and Information)<\/p>\n

Known as the \u201cHelp Guatemala Hear\u201d service trip, Snowden has led groups of students and professionals on similar service trips since 2015, pausing only during the pandemic. The program aims to provide the \u201cgift of sound\u201d to children, adults and indigenous people in the region. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to witness how the students grow each year clinically, personally, and in humility over the course of experience,\u201d Snowden said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A record number of students participated in the trip: 14 undergraduate students and three graduate students from FSU, along with one undergraduate student studying communication sciences and disorders at Valdosta State University. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

An FSU student conducts a hearing exam on a child in Guatemala as part of the “Help Guatemala Hear” service trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information)Students fit a hearing aid to a patient’s ear during the “Help Guatemala Hear” service trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear our program\u2019s vision resonates strongly with students and our supportive partners,\u201d Snowden said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poverty prevents even routine evaluation and treatment of hearing loss in the Guatemalan Highlands, making audiology services severely needed. Prior to departure, students completed more than 250 hours of training to prepare for the fast-paced, high-impact clinical work they would encounter abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 250 pre-trip training hours matter because they ensure students understand the scope of practice and know how to work safely in low-resource settings,\u201d Snowden said. \u201cIt can also prepare the students culturally, help the team function smoothly on high-capacity clinic days, and ground the students in reflection and ethics so the experience is about long-term impact.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Leslie Abbott, an undergraduate student majoring in Communication Science and Disorders,\u00a0the extensive preparation helped her feel confident.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 250 hours of training made me more confident in my ability to serve the people of Guatemala, however what taught me the most was actually learning from the situations I encountered while I was in Guatemala,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A student conducts an ear exam during the “Help Guatemala Hear” service trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information)A student conducts an ear exam on a patient during the “Help Guatemala Hear” service trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information)<\/p>\n

What stood out to Abbott was seeing how committed people were to obtain hearing services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were seeing over 50 people a day, which led to long waiting times for some people,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was so eye-opening for me to see the lengths the people of Solol\u00e1 went for hearing services, and not once did anyone complain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Garcia, a graduate student pursuing a master\u2019s degree in Communication Science and Disorders, emphasized the scale of what the team accomplished together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing to see what we could accomplish with such a large group,\u201d Garcia\u00a0said. \u201cThere was so much energy and excitement, but it still felt very organized and intentional. Even with a big group, everyone knew why they were there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Mia Finigan, an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Communication Science and Disorders, it was her\u00a0second time participating in the \u201cHelp Guatemala Hear\u201d service-learning project. After participating in 2025,\u00a0she quickly recognized the impact of having a larger team. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving an even larger group had an enormous impact on our efficiency and ultimately the total number of patients we were able to see,\u201d Finigan said. \u201cI felt I was able to take more charge and grow as a leader for others this year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She recalled an emotional interaction with an older man who was eligible for two of the hearing aids available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so thankful and excited that he came up to everyone who had taken care of him at each station and thanked them vigorously while crying,\u201d Finigan said. \u201cIn this moment, I realized just how big an impact we would have on many of the patients we were seeing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students conduct a hearing test on a patient during the “Help Guatemala Hear” service trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information)A student conducts a hearing test on a patient during the “Help Guatemala Hear” service trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information)<\/p>\n

Allison Fordyce, an undergraduate student majoring in Communication Disorders, described an experience working with a young patient that reshaped her perspective on access to care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment that stands out to me the most is watching a nine-year-old girl hear for the first time,\u201d Fordyce said. \u201cI got to watch her hear sounds for the first time. This made me realize the weight behind the help that we were providing in Guatemala. The ability to hear and have health care that covers this is something that I take for granted every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FourFSU students with audiology equipment during the \u201cHelp Guatemala Hear\u201d service learning trip. (FSU College of Communication and Information) <\/p>\n

The trip is part of a long-term effort built on trust and collaboration with Guatemalan communities and partners, including Porch de Salomon, Oticon Hearing Foundation, Resound Gives Sound, WSAudiology \u2013 Signia, and numerous private donors. Audiologists Kaki Pope, Monica Walker, Ricardo Gauthier, and Chelsea Alexander all contributed to the trip as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information about the School of Communication Science and Disorders, visit its website at commdisorders.cci.fsu.edu<\/a>. To learn more about FSU\u2019s global footprint, visit the FSU Global website at global.fsu.edu<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Selena Snowden (far left), teaching faculty III and director of Audiology Services in the School of Communication Science…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[56743,56749,13586,113736,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-263745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-college-of-communication-and-information","tag-fsu-global","tag-fsu-health","tag-fsu-school-of-communication-science-and-disorders","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}