Brooks Rehabilitation Partners with Area Universities to Develop the Eric Sorensen Motor Speech Program

Brooks Rehabilitation is proud to announce the launch of the Eric Sorensen Motor Speech Program (ESMSP), a new initiative designed in partnership with leading subject-matter experts from University of Central Florida (UCF), Jacksonville University (JU) and the University of Florida (UF). The purpose of the program is to provide better access to services for adults living with a primary diagnosis of a motor speech disorder.

The need for this specialized motor speech program was brought to light with patient Eric Sorensen. In January 2020, Eric suffered a major traumatic brain injury. While his physical capabilities improved, he faced severe apraxia, a motor speech disorder caused by a neurological event where the brain is unable to plan and deliver correct movement instructions to the lip, jaw, and tongue for speech. He required intensive motor speech treatment that Brooks’ existing services could not fully provide.

Through the mentorship of Jodi Morgan, CCC-SLP, manager of the Brooks Rehabilitation Aphasia Center (BRAC), and under the guidance of Lauren Bislick, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CBIS, an apraxia expert from the University of Central Florida, Eric’s speech therapist, Jackie Hurst, MS, CCC-SLP, was able to provide Eric with skilled apraxia treatment. Inspired by Eric’s progress, his parents, Chris and Puschel Sorensen, proposed the development of an intensive program for adults with acquired apraxia of speech. Their generous donation funded its development.

“It brings me so much joy to see the Sorensen’s vision come to life,” said Hurst, “The university collaboration allows us to provide our clinicians with specialized training and evidence-based resources, in order to achieve higher outcomes for our patients living with motor speech disorders. The ESMSP will not only benefit adults living with primary apraxia of speech, an acquired impairment affecting articulation, intonation and rate and rhythmic speech patterns but will also help those living with dysarthria, a neurological condition resulting in difficulty with muscular movements needed for speech and voice production.”

The vision of the ESMSP is to grow into a clinic similar to the BRAC, only designed for adults living specifically with motor speech disorders.

“The ESMSP will provide comprehensive, holistic approaches and treatments for people with the primary diagnosis of dysarthria and apraxia. The BRAC will continue to serve people with primary diagnosis of aphasia, primary progressive aphasia, and secondary diagnosis of apraxia. BRAC and ESMSP ‘s collaborative approach will help serve all populations with communication disorders to enhance life participation, social interaction and increase their quality of life,” said Morgan.

Program Details

The ESMSP kicked off in October 2023 with the start of virtual and in-person support groups led by Hurst who was named the program manager. The launch included a selection of six Brooks speech-language pathologists (SLPs) identified to receive specialized training and learn the necessary instrumentation used to assess and treat those with acquired motor speech impairments. Since then, the team attained a partnership with four Ph.D. SLPs from three major universities. The ESMSP leadership team consists of Hurst and Morgan of Brooks Rehabilitation, as well as university partners Christine Sapienza, Ph.D., CCC-SLP (JU), Karen Hegland, Ph.D., CCC-SLP (UF), Bari Hoffman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHAF (UCF), and Lauren Bislick, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CBIS (UCF).

The university partners developed the Sorensen Integrated Motor Speech (SIMS) continuing education program, and the six selected Brooks SLPs were the first therapists to complete this certification. The ESMSP consists of two phases. Phase I involves a team of SIMS-trained SLPs; four in the outpatient division and two in the home health division at Brooks, who have received skilled training and equipment to better treat the motor speech community.

“This partnership marks a significant advance in delivering comprehensive care for individuals with acquired motor speech disorders. Our collaborative efforts will ensure that patients receive the highest quality clinical care, grounded in the latest research and clinical expertise tailored to their specific motor speech impairment,” said Bislick.

To instill confidence in our patients and facilitate the generalization of trained skills, students in the UCF Aphasia and Related Conditions (ARC) Research Lab (PI: Bislick) will provide additional support through the Lab’s Mission SPEAK program, which promotes Socialization, Participation, Engagement, Advocacy and Kindness. Mission SPEAK offers a safe space for patients to practice and enhance their communication skills in free one-on-one communication groups.

Some services offered by the ESMSP include respiratory muscle strength training, voice therapy services and specialized Parkinson’s treatments. The six program SLPs have been equipped with innovative tools to more objectively measure respiratory muscle strength, tongue pressures, vocal function and much more.

“The ESMSP stands out for its comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating motor speech disorders. By combining cutting-edge research with personalized care, the clinic provides unique solutions tailored to each individual’s needs, helping patients regain their communication abilities and improve their quality of life. Its commitment to innovation and evidence-based therapy sets it apart as a leader in speech pathology,” said Sapienza.
Phase II of the program will focus on the study of acquired motor speech disorders via both traditional and intensive services. “We value the multidisciplinary team approach and recognize the importance of treating the whole person, not just the motor speech disorder,” said Hurst. Phase II will offer a collaborative team approach to treatment in order to achieve the highest level of recovery.

For more information about the Eric Sorensen Motor Speech Program or the support group, please contact Jackie Hurst at [email protected] or visit BrooksRehab.org/motor-speech.