Representatives from Fort Worth Scottish Rite presented a $10,000 gift to the Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders Wednesday, February 21 to support the development of a new Summer Speech & Language Clinic for children with communication impairments.
The summer clinic will meet the need for intensive, state-of-the-art services available to children who have difficulty communicating their wants, needs and ideas. This year’s gift from Fort Worth Scottish Rite will allow up to 20 children to receive free services during a three-week clinic in June, 2018. The goal of the Davies School is to build upon this initial summer clinic with growing support from Scottish Rite so that substantially more children can benefit from these services in years to come.
“This gift from Scottish Rite will allow us to create an opportunity for children in the Fort Worth community which will impact their lives in a substantial way,” said Dr. Christopher Watts, Director of the Davies School. “Language and speech impairments affect almost 8% of children between the ages of three and 17, which means there are a large number of kids who could benefit from a clinic like this.”
“The focus of the 2018 summer clinic will be on improving language and literacy skills,” said Karen Hennington, a faculty member in the Davies School and the summer clinic director. “The clinic will bring children’s literature to life through interactive learning stations and special thematic events. Kids will learn to ‘lasso’ letters and words during Western Week, ‘explore’ new vocabulary during Space Week and ‘dive into’ reading during Ocean Week.”
The Summer Speech & Language Clinic at TCU will be divided into two different age levels, each with their own literacy focus. There will be a preschool group for 4-5 year-olds needing to work on literacy skills that are crucial for success in kindergarten. The camp will also serve children entering first through third grade; this group will focus on strategies to improve reading fluency and word level decoding while also improving vocabulary and narrative skills.
The summer clinic supported by Fort Worth Scottish Rite will build on the enduring connection of TCU, the Davies School, and the Fort Worth community. TCU’s Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic provides valuable speech, language and hearing assessment and treatment services to individuals in the Fort Worth community, both at the clinic and through community partners.
“We are excited to add Scottish Rite as partner,” noted Lynn Flahive, director of the Miller Speech & Hearing Clinic. “We will work with them to expand our services to provide therapy this summer to children in our community so that we can help improve their speech and language skills through a fun, learning environment.”
The Summer Speech & Language Clinic at TCU, sponsored by Fort Worth Scottish Rite, is currently seeking applications for participation in the clinic. Preschool children ages 4 to 5 and children in first through third grade will be eligible.

Lynn Flahive, assistant professor and director of the Miller Speech & Hearing Clinic, John Allen, a representative of the Fort Worth Scottish Rite, Karen Hennington, an instructor at the Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Dan Gilbert, a representative of the Fort Worth Scottish Rite, and Dr. Chris Watts, professor and director of the Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, hold books to be used in a new summer speech and language clinic at TCU Feb. 21, 2018. A gift by Fort Worth Scottish Rite will fund the clinic and bring valuable language and literacy skills to Fort Worth children.

Dr. Chris Watts, professor and director of the Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, John Allen, a representative of the Fort Worth Scottish Rite, and Karen Hennington, an instructor at the Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, discuss plans for a summer speech and language clinic at TCU Feb. 21, 2018. A gift by Fort Worth Scottish Rite will fund the clinic and bring valuable language and literacy skills to Fort Worth children.