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Profile

Elaine Russo Hitchcock is a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at ÌÇÐÄvlog. Dr. Hitchcock is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of clinical experience working with multiple clinical populations including many individuals with speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, and voice disorders. At the ÌÇÐÄvlog-Clinical Biofeedback Lab, she conducts research investigating the effectiveness of visual biofeedback techniques, including ultrasound, visual-acoustic and electropalatographic (EPG) biofeedback, as a form of intervention for individuals with communication disorders. Dr. Hitchcock uses biofeedback to help individuals visualize subtle or unconscious speech processes with the goal of bringing them under conscious control. To date, Dr. Hitchcock and her team have successfully used visual biofeedback for treating speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, accent reduction and voice disorders. Several research projects in the Clinical Biofeedback Lab are funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Hitchcock’s research, please visit the MSU-CBL website at .


Selected Recent Publications:
Hitchcock, E. R., Ochs, L. C., Preston, J. L., & McAllister, T. (in press). Online assessment and enhancement of auditory perception for residual /ɹ/ distortions. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Preston, J. L., Hitchcock, E.R., Leece, M. C., Benway, N. R., Hill, J., & McAllister, T.
(2025). Rhotic generalization is more rapid in biofeedback than motor-based treatment for residual speech sound disorder: Secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

McAllister, T., Preston, J. L., Benway, N. R., Hill, J., Lara, M. P., Leece, M. C., Liang, W., &
Hitchcock, E.R. (2025). Rhotic acquisition is more rapid in biofeedback than motor-based treatment for residual speech sound disorder: Primary outcome of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

McAllister, T., Hitchcock, E.R., Benway, N. R., Hill, J., and Preston, J. L. (2025). Protocol for
Visual-acoustic Intervention with Service delivery In-person and via Telepractice (VISIT) Non-Inferiority Trial for Residual Speech Sound Disorder. BMC Pediatrics, 25(65).

McCabe, P., Beiting, M., Hitchcock, E. R., Maas, E., Meredith, A., Morgan, A. T., ... & Grigos, M. I. (2024). Research Priorities for Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A Long View. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 1-14.

Swartz, M., Hitchcock, E.R., Leece, M., Herbst, B., & Preston, J. (2024). Caregiver and Child Perspectives of Wellbeing in School-Age Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1-14.

Hitchcock, E.R., Koenig, L.L., & Ochs, L. (2024). Examining Speech Perception of Non-Errored Pronunciations in Children with Speech Sound Disorders. In Proc. 13th Intl. Seminar on Speech Production, Haskins Press.

McAllister, T., Preston, J.L., Ochs, L., Hill, J., & Hitchcock, E.R. (2024). Comparing online versus laboratory measures of speech perception in older children and adolescents. PLoS ONE 19(2): e0297530. .

Benway, N. R., Preston, J. L., Salekin, A. Hitchcock, E., & McAllister, T. (2024). Evaluating Acoustic Representations and Normalization Techniques for Rhoticity Classification in Children with Speech Disorders. JASA Express Letters. 4 (2): 025201.

Hitchcock, E.R., Swartz, M., Cabbage, K.L. (2023). Speech perception performance profiles of school-age children with childhood apraxia of speech, speech sound disorder, and typical development. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 1-15.

Ochs, L., Leece, M., Preston, J., McAllister, T., & Hitchcock, E.R. (2023). Traditional and Visual-acoustic biofeedback treatment via telepractice for residual speech sound disorders affecting /ɹ/: Pilot study. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 8(6), 1533-1553.

Hitchcock, E.R., Ochs, L., Swartz, M.T., Leece, M.C., Preston, J.L., & McAllister, T. (2023). Tutorial: Using visual-acoustic biofeedback for speech sound training. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 32(1), 18-36.

Cabbage, K. & Hitchcock, E.R. (2022). Clinical considerations for speech perception in school-age children with speech sound disorders: A review of the current literature. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(3), 768-785.

Hitchcock, E.R., & Koenig, L.L. (2021). Adult perception of stop consonant voicing in American-English-learning toddlers: Voice onset time and secondary cues. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 150(1), 460-477.

Benway, N. R., Garcia, K., Hitchcock, E., McAllister, T., Leece, M. C., Wang, Q., & Preston, J. L. (2021). Associations Between Speech Perception, Vocabulary, and Phonological Awareness Skill in School-Aged Children with Speech Sound Disorders. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30(4), 1819-1845.

Hitchcock, E.R., Koenig, L.L., & Ochs, L. (2021). Exploring voice onset time, place of articulation, and vowel context in children. In Proc. 12th Intl. Seminar on Speech Production, Haskins Press, 146-149.

McAllister, T., Hitchcock, E.R., & Ortiz, J. (2020). Computer-assisted challenge point intervention for residual speech errors. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 6(1), 214-229.

Hitchcock, E.R., Cabbage, K., Swartz, M., & Carrell, T. (2020). Measuring speech perception using the Wide Range Acoustic Accuracy Scale: Preliminary findings. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 5(4), 1098-1112.

Hitchcock, E.R., Swartz, M.T., & Lopez, M. (2019). Speech sound disorder and visual biofeedback intervention: A preliminary investigation of treatment intensity. Seminars in Speech and Language, 40(2), 124-137.

Hitchcock, E.R., McAllister Byun, T., Swartz, M., & Lazarus, R. (2017). Efficacy of electropalatography for treating misarticulation of /r/. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26(4), 1141-1158.

Specialization

Assessment and treatment of speech and voice disorders specializing in the use of biofeedback-enhanced intervention techniques.

Courses Taught:

CSND 512 Diagnosis in Speech Language Pathology
CSND 515 Voice Disorders
CSND 534 Speech and Hearing Science
CSND 595 Applying Research to Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology I
CSND 596 Applying Research to Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology II
CSND 835 Practicum in University Teaching
CSND 850, 851, 852 Directed Research I, II, III

Links

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• Overcoming childhood speech sound disorders
• Online assessment and enhancement of auditory perception for speech sound errors
• Establishing New Treatment Directions for Hard-to-Treat Speech Sounds
• Groundbreaking Speech Therapy Research Helps Child Master ‘R’ Sound in Weeks

Research Projects