[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 86 (Thursday, June 19, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1259-E1260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR JAMES C. HARDY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES A. LEACH

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 1997

  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, on June 30, 1997, James C. Hardy, Ph.D., 
professor of pediatrics and speech pathology and audiology at the 
University of Iowa, in Iowa City, IA, will conclude a distinguished 41-
year career of research, teaching, clinical service, and the pioneering 
of innovative and far-reaching programs for people with disabilities.
  In the early 1950's, Dr. Hardy made the decision to enter the field 
than called speech correction, and discovered that he enjoyed and had a 
unique gift for working with children with development speech 
disorders. After doing so in public schools in Missouri for a few 
years, he came to the University of Iowa for graduate study. While 
working on his master's degree, he accepted the position of graduate 
assistant at University Hospital School [UHS] in 1956.
  Beginning in 1960, as supervisor of the UHS Speech and Hearing 
Department, Dr. Hardy directed a 13 year federally funded research 
program in speech physiology and disorders thereof due to neuromotor 
dysfunction. One of his publications, ``Suggestions for Physiological 
Research in Dysarthria,`` published in Cortex in 1967, continues to be 
cited as a guide for research dealing with speech disorders resulting 
for neuromotor dysfunction of the speech producing musculatures.
  Dr. Hardy has also been recognized as an early leader in what was, in 
the 1960's, the relatively new field of assistive technology. Under his 
leadership, UHS speech-language pathologists were among the first to 
advocate for the development of strategies to teach nonoral 
communications for children whose severe neuromotor dysfunction made 
oral communication impossible. UHS staff went on to develop the 
Nation's first specialized clinical service for nonspeaking children in 
use of augmentative communications devices.
  In 1972, Dr. Hardy became director of the University of Iowa's 
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology's Wendell Johnson Speech 
and Hearing Clinic.
  James Hardy has continued his clinical work throughout his career, 
and, in 1970, he and Dr. William LaVelle of Iowa's Department of 
Otolaryngology-Face and Neck Surgery began expanding on early work in 
the use of intraoral devices called palatal lifts. These devices are 
made for persons who have speech disorders, at least in part, due to 
dysfunctional soft palates that cannot be resolved by surgery. Hardy 
and LaVelle have continued to provide patients, from young children to 
elders who have a variety of diagnoses, with palatal lifts since that 
time, and this work has been designated as a model of contemporary 
standards of care in prosthodontia.
  In 1979, James Hardy was appointed director of professional services 
at University Hospital School, and for more than 15 years he directed 
the clinical activities of one of the few programs in the country that 
provides comprehensive interdisciplinary services for people with 
disabilities. He continued his research interests in communication 
disorders, and, beginning in 1983, he codirected with Dr. Herman A. 
Hein, professor of pediatrics, a 7 year statewide study, funded by a 
national private foundation, of early identification of communication 
disorders in infants and toddlers.
  With the increasing recognition of the advantages of assistive 
technology for people with disabilities to improve their quality of 
life, Dr. Hardy has become involved in the enhancement of assistive 
technology services. Since 1988, he has directed the federally funded 
Iowa Program for Assistive Technology [IPAT], a program that has 
resulted in significant increases in assistive technology services in 
Iowa for persons of all ages who have all types of disabilities.
  During the four decades of his career, Dr. Hardy has seen what he 
calls the astronomical development of services for people with 
disabilities and their families. ``I have been privileged to work with 
people who have disabilities, in programs that provide assistance to 
them, and with students who also will do so,'' reflects Dr. Hardy. 
``And I have also seen our society's all too slow but nevertheless 
increasing recognition that people with disabilities do indeed have 
abilities. It would be difficult to ask for more from one's career.''

[[Page E1260]]

  It would also be difficult to find anyone who has given more of 
himself and his gifts for others than Dr. James Hardy. I know my 
colleagues join me in expressing profound appreciation for his over 41 
years of service as teacher, researcher, clinician and healer.

                          ____________________