Rate My Professor Rachael Flush

Rachael Flush is Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at The Ohio State University. Her academic background includes a B.S. in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of Minnesota in 1996, an M.A. in Audiology from the University of Minnesota in 1999, a Clinical Fellowship in Audiology at Mayo Clinic Rochester in 2000, a Ph.D. in Hearing Science from the University of Minnesota in 2003, and an NIH Post-doctoral Fellowship in the De Vault Laboratory, Department of Otolaryngology – HNS at Indiana University School of Medicine from 2003 to 2005. She serves as DEI Chair in the department and Associate Director of the Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Rachael Flush directs the Developmental Speech Lab and has mentored undergraduate students, masters students, doctoral students, and post-doctoral fellows in research and training.

Her research and teaching interests encompass speech perception, language, neurocognitive, and psychosocial development in children with typical hearing and those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing using cochlear implants or hearing aids, the effects of family environment on developmental outcomes in children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and accent perception across the lifespan. Areas of expertise include speech perception, cochlear implants, and pediatric audiology. Key publications include 'An exploratory look at pediatric cochlear implantation: is earliest always best?' (2008, 423 citations), 'Speech and language development in cognitively delayed children with cochlear implants' (2005, 207 citations), 'Contribution of family environment to pediatric cochlear implant users' speech and language outcomes: Some preliminary findings' (2012, 160 citations), 'Associations between parenting stress, language comprehension, and inhibitory control in children with hearing loss' (2020, 97 citations), and 'Auditory skills, language development, and adaptive behavior of children with cochlear implants and additional disabilities' (2012, 84 citations). Her research contributes significantly to understanding outcomes for pediatric cochlear implant users and children with hearing loss.