Faculty

Alison Behrman

Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology

Alison Behrman

Phone: (212) 998-5676
Email:

Dr. Behrman, a nationally recognized voice scientist, joined the faculty at New York University in 2004. Previously, she developed and directed the voice center at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and then was recruited to expand the voice center at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. She is interested particularly in the application of biomechanics and physiology to the advancement of voice therapy treatment practices, and issues relating to fostering improved patient adherence to behavioral change. She is the Principal Investigator of a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders/National Institutes of Health to assess effectiveness of vocal hygiene education and voice production therapy, and the effect of patient adherence on adult women with phonotraumatic voice disorders.

Dr. Behrman is the author of Speech and Voice Science (2007), a definitive speech science and acoustics textbook for students and professionals, published by Plural Publishing. She is the Associate Editor for Voice for the Journal of Speech, Language, & Hearing Research, and a member of the review panel for voice-related manuscripts submitted to the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. She has been a participant on study section review of NIH/NIDCD grant proposals. She is a past editor of the Newsletter of ASHA Special Interest Division 3 - Voice and Voice Disorders. Dr. Behrman is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and the Voice Foundation. She is a Scientific Fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) and was a consulting member of its Speech, Voice, and Swallowing Committee, and is a contributing author of the Joint Statement on Voice Therapy by the AAO-HNS and ASHA. She has collaborated with Dr. Harm Schutte and Dr. Donald Miller of the Groningen Voice Research Laboratory as a founding member of the annual meeting of the International Conference on the Physiology and Acoustics of Singing. She holds ASHA clinical certification and is licensed in speech-language pathology in the state of New York.

 


Presentations

  • Behrman A. Diagnosis of MTD: Common Practices of Experienced Voice Therapists. Voice Foundation’s 33rd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, Philadelphia, PA, June 2-6, 2004.
  • He T, Behrman A, Sulica L. Factors predictive of patient perception of dysphonia. Triological Association Eastern Section Meeting, NY, NY January 2004.
  • Behrman A, Sulica L. Voice rest after surgery for benign vocal fold lesions: current opinion and practice. Combined Otolaryngologic Spring Meeting (COSM), Nashville, May 4-6, 2003.
  • Sulica L, Behrman A. Management of benign vocal fold lesions: results of a national survey. Combined Otolaryngologic Spring Meeting (COSM), Nashville, May 4-6, 2003.
  • Behrman A. Meaningful acoustic measures of dysphonia: obtaining, interpreting, and integrating the data. Voice Foundation’s 32nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, Philadelphia, PA, June 4-8, 2003.
  • Phramongkutklao Hospital, “Diagnosis and Treatment of Voice Disorders”, Bangkok, Thailand, August, 2001
  • Behrman A. Phonation threshold intensity in singers and non-singers: the significance of offset/onset hysteresis. Voice Foundation’s 30th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, Philadelphia, PA, June 13-17, 2001.
  • Behrman A, Shikowitz MJ, Daily S. Effects of Upper Airway Surgery on Vocal Quality, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, September, 2001

Degrees Held

  • Ph.D. Columbia University
    Speech Pathology
  • M.S. New York University
    Speech-Language Pathology
  • B.A. Linguistics, University of Michigan

Publications

  • Behrman, A. (in press). Vocal hygiene education, voice production therapy, and the role of patient adherence: a treatment effectiveness study in women with phonotrauma. Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research.
  • Behrman, A. (2006). Facilitating behavioral change in voice therapy: The relevance of Motivational Interviewing. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 15, 1-11. (view)
  • Behrman, A., & Roark, R. (2005). Inspiratory maneuver: A simple method to assess the superficial lamina propria during endoscopy. Journal of Voice, 19, 481-484.
  • Behrman, A. (2005). Common practices of voice therapists in the evaluation of patients. Journal of Voice, 19, 454-469. Sulica, L.,
  • Behrman A. Evidence-Based Treatment of Paralytic Dysphonia: Making Sense of Outcomes and Efficacy Data. Otolaryngology Clinics of North America 2004;37(1):75-104.
  • Behrman A. Sulica L. Voice rest after microlaryngoscopy: Current Opinion and Practice. Larygoscope,2003;113:2182-2186.
  • Behrman, A. Sulica L., & He T. (2004). Factors predicting patient perception of dysphonia due to benign vocal fold lesions. Laryngoscope, 114, 1693-1700.
  • Behrman A, Dahl L, Abramson, AL, Schutte H. Anterior-posterior and medial compression of the supraglottis: signs of non-organic dysphonia or normal postures? Journal of Voice 2003;17:403-410.
  • Behrman, A., & Sulica L. (2003). Voice rest after microlaryngoscopy: Current Opinion and Practice. Larygoscope, 113, 2182-2186.
  • Bloch I, Behrman A. Quantitative analysis of videostroboscopic images in presbylarynges. Laryngoscope 2001;111:2022-2027.
  • Behrman A, Shikowitz MJ, Daily S. Effects of Upper Airway Surgery on Vocal Quality, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 2002;127:36-42.
  • Behrman A. Global and local dimensions of vocal dynamics. Journal Acoustical Society of America 1999;105: 432-443.
  • Behrman A., Agresti C, Blumstein E, Lee N. Microphone and electroglottographic signals from dysphonic patients: Type 1, 2 and 3 signals. Journal of Voice 1998; 12: 249-260.
  • Behrman A., Orlikoff RF. Instrumentation in voice assessment and treatment: What’s the use? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 1997; 6: 9-16.
  • Behrman A., Agresti C, Blumstein, E, Sharma G. Meaningful features of voice range profiles from patients with organic vocal fold pathology. Journal of Voice 1996;10: 269-283,.

Awards

  • 2002 : Principal Investigator, NIDCD/NIH R03 DC005550-01A1 Efficacy of Voice Therapy for Vocal Fold Nodules
  • 2002 : ASHA-NIH Grant Writing Workshop; 2002 Travel Award for grant proposal: Postoperative Voice Rest in the Management of Benign Lesions”
  • 1996 : ASHA 1996 New Investigator Award: A Prospective Outcome Study of Microlaryngeal Phonosurgery

Courses

  • E34.0402 Acoustic Phonetics
  • E34.2037 Voice Disorders
  • E34.2019 Advanced Voice Disorders: Voice Therapy

Editorial Boards

  • Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research, Associate Editor
  • Annals of Otology, Rhinology, & Laryngology, Book Reviewer
  • American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Reviewer
  • Laryngoscope, Reviewer
  • Otalaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Reviewer

Research Interests

  • Diagnostic and therapeutic techniques in voice disorders
  • Diagnostic techniques in voice disorders, Treatment Efficacy in voice stuttering disorders, Evidence-based practice, Motivating behavioral change in voice and stuttering disorders
  • Patient adherence in behavioral change
  • Mechanisms of muscle tension dysphonia and phonotrauma