Effective communication by whatever means necessary. Society’s unnecessary need for a diagnosis. Identity reclamation. Difference versus disorder. Dr. Natalie Czimskey, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, is dedicated to raising awareness about these important concepts. 

Around 2020, Czimskey began to think about how she could teach non-SLHS majors about the nuances surrounding culture and language. In 2022, she discovered signature courses and began to further her idea. In 2023, she submitted the proposal for an Undergraduate Studies class, and in fall 2024, Beautiful Brains was born. 

“I feel like we've spent so much time educating and training individuals with different types of disabilities and communication abilities to communicate better,” Czimskey said. “When another thing that we could be doing is training and educating the general public on how to effectively communicate with individuals who communicate differently, because we all have a responsibility to help facilitate communication.” 

Through the class, students from all majors have the opportunity to learn how to do just this. When discussing the two key concepts of the course, Czimskey said that society is the main culprit in the need for a diagnosis. Because of this, communities are designed for people with certain abilities, and as such, people without those same abilities are left out of parts of society. The second key concept of the course is the idea of identity reclamation. 

“I'm sure there is a sociological term for it, but I refer to it as identity reclamation,” Czimskey said.  “So what I'm talking about here is individuals with autism. For years, it was called a disorder and a problem, and people were told they needed to cure it or get better or get over it. And then comes the autistic community saying, ‘Absolutely not. It is not a disorder. It's a neurotype, and we're fine with this.’” 

Elaina Hirana, a Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences junior, is particularly passionate about this subject, and thus added a double minor in critical disability studies and African American diaspora studies. She said that Czimskey often talks about dialectical differences. Specifically, how about 90% of speech language pathologists are white, and a lot of the SLPs use standardized American English as the standard when assessing children in school based settings. 

“This can lead to children with dialectical differences or accents being misdiagnosed with language disorders,” Hirana said. “(Czimskey) has nailed that in my brain from my little freshman SLHS intro class–difference versus disorder– so the main focus of my studies is the intersectionality of speech and marginalized identities.” 

Journalism freshman Natividad Munoz took Beautiful Brains in the fall. She said the concept that effective communication is everyone’s responsibility was very eye-opening for her.

“To educate everybody about mental disabilities and physical disabilities and how they play a role in all of our day to day lives (is important),” Munoz said. “It doesn't just affect those with the disabilities, but it affects all of us, and a lot of people don't realize that because in any field you go into, there's going to be somebody that has some sort of mental or physical disability, and knowing how to communicate with them is really important.” 

Students who already have their UGS credit but still want to take a class from Czimskey that can fulfill a science course requirement will have the opportunity to register for an SLHS science credit course in the fall of 2025. This will continue Czimskey’s  goal to reach non-SLHS majors. 

“Dr. C 100% practices what she preaches,”  Hirana said. “She stands on business. She has an empathetic teaching style and she lets everybody know that. She fosters such a welcoming and inclusive environment. I've never sat in a classroom where so many people ask questions and participate and raise their hands and get involved.” 

Czimskey tells her students that 15% of Americans have a diagnosis that falls into the category of physical or mental disability. She said if you’re in PR, advertising or marketing, that is 15% sales and 15% profit that you could increase, if you’re going to think about it in a capitalistic sense. From a broader perspective, she said she wants everyone in Moody to constantly learn more in order to consider the 15%. 

“Learning to rely on other experts in other areas that do know what we need to know can be a huge boon to our effectiveness in whatever our careers are,” Czimskey said. “I love being part of Moody and having all of these other expert communicators in different areas around us. If we can give them just even a bit of our knowledge to increase their communication abilities and to consider this other 15%, then I'll say that my job is successful.”