The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Beyond the Classroom

Many of our current students are involved in the following organizations. Would you like your organization to be added to this list? Email commdispeers@umass.edu with information.

  • Aphasia Connections Program:  Service opportunity in the department. Students volunteer to work with a “pal” in an area nursing home. Students can apply during the summer for the upcoming school year.
  • Autism Speaks U:  UMass’ arm of the national organization
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters: A volunteer and service learning opportunity
  • Boltwood Project: A volunteer and service learning opportunity with people with disabilities
  • DEAFinitions: Deaf Studies Project:  Hampshire College yearly hosts a Deaf studies conference where different Deaf speakers come in and share their work. If you are interested in Deaf studies, you can be a conference organizer and create an awesome conference for the five colleges.
  • Developmental Disabilities and Human Services (DDHS): Letter of specialization in DDHS that you can earn through coursework and internship experience in developmental disabilities through the psychology department.
  • Letter of Specialization for Speech Language Pathology Assistants
  • Linguistics Certification
  • MAICEI program: The Massachusetts Concurrent Enrollment Initiative brings young adults on IEPs to college campuses. There is no Umass MAICIE page, but you can read about it here
  • NSSLHA club: The National Student Speech Language Hearing Association’s UMass chapter is involved in a number of department-related events.
  • Spanish and Health Certification: The Spanish department at UMass offers a certificate for people interested in working with Spanish-speaking communities in healthcare and related professions.