In this episode of Beyond Words, host Garrett Oyama, MS, CCC-SLP, sits down with Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, host of Brainstorms, for a thoughtful, clinician-centered conversation about how sound and music shape communication and brain health across the lifespan.
They talk about something we experience every day but rarely stop to think about: how the brain makes sense of sound. Drawing from neuroscience, audiology, music cognition, and clinical research, Renee and Garrett unpack how listening is an active, dynamic process involving sensory input, movement, emotion, attention, and reward. Sound is never just background. It is constantly shaping how we think, feel, and communicate.
The conversation also connects directly to clinical reality. They explore how factors like chronic noise exposure, age-related changes in hearing and listening, concussion, and traumatic brain injury can quietly influence communication and participation. Along the way, they reflect on what this means for assessment, therapy environments, and the listening demands we place on the people we support.
This episode invites you to listen more intentionally and to consider how sound and music can either support or interfere with communication. It is a reflective, practical conversation that encourages clinicians to think differently about listening, brain health, and meaningful communication throughout the lifespan.
They talk about something we experience every day but rarely stop to think about: how the brain makes sense of sound. Drawing from neuroscience, audiology, music cognition, and clinical research, Renee and Garrett unpack how listening is an active, dynamic process involving sensory input, movement, emotion, attention, and reward. Sound is never just background. It is constantly shaping how we think, feel, and communicate.
The conversation also connects directly to clinical reality. They explore how factors like chronic noise exposure, age-related changes in hearing and listening, concussion, and traumatic brain injury can quietly influence communication and participation. Along the way, they reflect on what this means for assessment, therapy environments, and the listening demands we place on the people we support.
This episode invites you to listen more intentionally and to consider how sound and music can either support or interfere with communication. It is a reflective, practical conversation that encourages clinicians to think differently about listening, brain health, and meaningful communication throughout the lifespan.
