You opened up my world.

That simple, five-word sentence delivered to West Virginia University last spring by Laura Crowder spoke volumes about the work in speech pathology and audiology being done these days on campus.

Its work that does open worlds for people who would otherwise be cruelly shut out of life because of problems with their hearing or speech.

A smiling and poised Laura took the podium during ceremonies last March to officially unveil renovations at the WVU Speech and Hearing Center in Allen Hall, a working clinic that treats around 90 patients a year with hearing and speech defects from Morgantown and the surrounding region.

One of those patients is Laura, and the Morgantown teenager has been receiving treatment at the Center since she was 2 years old.

Because of you I can communicate with my family, my friends and my classmates,she said.Because of you, Ill be able to get along in life.

Laura was born with serious hearing defects that would have hampered her development had they gone untreated. Her parents had gone down a lot of avenues looking for help. They eventually turned to WVU and that made all the difference.

The WVU Speech and Hearing Center is housed in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, which is part of the College of Human Resources and Education.

Its in-house clinic offers a full range of screenings, treatments and therapies to help its clients like Laura simply communicate.

The Center underwent $300,000 in improvements last year, and the people planning the official ceremony last spring made sure Laura and her mother, Mary Ann Crowder, were both on the bill. It was a day to sing the Centers praises, and to celebrate Lauras story, and the stories of the other patients who have come through the Centers doors over the years.

As a nurse, and more importantly as a mom, Mary Ann Crowder just knew that time was quickly marching for her then-toddler daughter who wasnt communicating like she should. Lauras treatment at the Center, Crowder said, has been a series of milestones andlots of little miraclesthat have added up to big victories in her daughters life.

It wasnt so easy in the early days, and Crowder remembers growing more and frustrated as she watched bricks of isolation building around her daughter before she became a patient at the Center.

She was diagnosed with a hearing impairment when she was 18 months old,Crowder recalled.If you have kids, you know that time is just so critical for development. I always say that the Speech Center is my house of courage. Thank God for this place.

The Centers newly upgraded facilities now include nine therapy rooms, nine private observation rooms and other areas.

All are wheelchair-accessible and outfitted with the latest diagnostic technology, and thats important, says Dr. Lynn Cartwright, who oversees operations at the Center in her role as chair the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology.

Were a working clinic here, and that is an essential part of our mission,Cartwright said.We offer a real service to the community, and we want people to know that.

Laura agreed, and ended her official remarks with a simple acknowledgement to the professionals and graduate students who staff the Centera group shes grown up with over the years.

Thank you,she said.Thank you for this wonderful gift.

WVU s Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology is being profiled online this week at:http://wvuminute.wvu.edu/.