Faculty/Staff/PhD

Academic Faculty

bahr, ruth

Bahr, Ruth Huntley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-CL

Professor and Dean, Office of Graduate Studies

Phone: 813.974.7161
Office: PCD 4024

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Ruth Huntley Bahr is a Professor and Dean for the Office of Graduate Studies. She graduated from the University of Florida in 1987 with a doctoral degree in experimental phonetics. Her primary research interests include spelling and written language, the nature of phonological representations in dialect speakers and second language learners, between and within speaker variability in forensic situations, and voice production in individuals with vocal disorders. She has published numerous articles and book chapters in these areas. In addition, she has been working in the field of Forensic Phonetics for over 35 years, where she has specialized in speaker identification, tape authentication, and gunshot analysis, as well as testifying in numerous trials. She is a Fellow in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the International Society of Phonetic Sciences. She received the Svend Smith Award for her work in applied phonetics and currently serves on the Executive Board of the International Association of Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics (IAFPA). She has received Board Certification in child language (BCS-CL) and currently serves as the Chair of the American Board of Child Language and Language Disorders (ABCLLD). 

Education
Ph.D University of Florida 1987
M.A. Auburn University 1981
B.S. with Honors University of Virginia 1979

Teaching

  • SPA 5204  |  Advanced Clinical Phonology
  • SPA 6211  |  Advanced Vocal Disorders
  • SPA 6805  |  Research Methods in Communication Sciences and Disorders
  • SPA 6930  |  Advanced Clinical Applications in Phonology

Recent Scholarly Activity

Selected Books and Chapters

  • Gosy, M., & Bahr, R. H. (in preparation). From Spirants to Approximants: The Acoustic Properties of /l/ and /j/ in Hungarian. In Ball, M. J. (Ed.). Approximants: Their Phonetics and Phonology. South Yorkshire, England: Equinox.

  • Bahr, R. H., Silliman, E. R., & Conover, L. (in review). More than Spelling Accuracy: Linguistic Feature Patterns in the Misspellings of Superior, Average, and Poor Spellers. In Batbatsouli, E. (Ed.) Multilingual acquisition and learning: An ecosystemic view to diversity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

  • Gósy, M., & Bahr, R. H. (2021). Dichotic Listening. In Ball, M. J. (Ed.) Manual of Clinical Phonetics (pp. 480-494). London: Routledge.
  • Lopez, E., Lee, S-H., Bahr, R., Carey, S., Mott, B., Fults, A., Lazinski, M., & Kim, E. S. (2020). Breathing techniques in collegiate vocalists: The effects of the mind-body integrated exercise program on singers’ posture, tension, efficacy, and respiratory function. In Lee, S-H. (Ed.), Perspectives in Performing Arts Medicine Practice (pp. 111-125) Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

  • Bahr, R. H., & Macrae, T. (2019). Phonological processes. In Ball, M. J., & Damico, J. S. (Eds.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders Vol. 3 (pp. 1383-1386). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

  • Macrae, T., & Bahr, R. H. (2019). Relational analyses. In Ball, M. J., & Damico, J. S. (Eds.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders Vol. 3(pp. 1592-1593). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

  • Bahr, R. H., Gier, T., & Conover, L. (2018). Covert contrast in the early development of speech sounds in children using cochlear implants. In Gósy, M. (ed.). Challenges in the Analysis and Processing of Spontaneous Speech (pp.139-156). Budapest, Hungary: Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

  • Silliman, E. R., Bahr, R. H., Nagy, W., & Berninger, V. W. (2018). Language bases of spelling in writing during early and middle childhood: Grounding applications to struggling writers in typical writing development. In B. Miller, P. McCardle & V. Connelly (Eds.), Writing Development in Struggling Learners: Understanding the Needs of Writers across the Lifecourse (pp. 99-119). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

  • Bahr, R. H. & Silliman, E. R. (2015). Routledge Handbook of Communication Disorders. London: Routledge.

  • Bahr, R. H. (2015). Spelling strategies and word formation processes: Evidence from developmental and spelling ability data. In R. H. Bahr & E. R. Silliman (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Communication Disorders (pp. 193-203).  London: Routledge.

  • Bahr, R. H. & Silliman, E. R. (2015). Introduction: Rethinking the accepted wisdom in communication disorders. In R. H. Bahr & E. R. Silliman (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Communication Disorders (pp. 1-7). London: Routledge.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Silliman, E. R., Bahr, R. H., Danzak, R., & Brea-Spahn, M. R. (in review). Multiple Language Levels in Disciplinary Writing: Strengths-based Assessment to Individual Differences in Students with Specific Learning Disability. Topics in Language Disorders.

  • Smith, B. E., & Bahr, R. H. (2022). The Effect of a Climate Event on Voice-Related Processes in Seniors. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 7(6), 1728-1737.

  • Smith, B., & Bahr, R. H. (In press). The Effect of a Climate Event on Voice Related Processes in Seniors. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Special Interest Group 3 Newsletter.

  • Conover, L., & Bahr, R. H. (2022). Covert contrasts and categorical perception: A comparison of two measurement tools. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 1-14. DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2021.2022212
  • Bahr, R. H., Silliman, E. R., & Berninger, V. W. (2020). Derivational morphology bridges phonology and orthography: Insights into the development of word-specific spellings by superior, average, and poor spellers. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools,51, 640-654.

  • Silliman, E. R., Bahr, R. H., & Wilkinson, L. C. (2020). Writing across the academic languages: Introduction. Reading and Writing, 33, 1-11.

  • Bahr, R. H., Lebby, S., & Wilkinson, L. C. (2020). Spelling error analysis of written summaries in an academic register by students with specific learning disabilities: Phonological, orthographic, and morphological influences. Reading and Writing, 33, 121-142,

  • Smith, B. E, Bahr, R. H., & Hernandez, H N. (2019). Voice therapy with seniors: Attendance, outcomes, and associated patient characteristics. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Special Interest Group 3 Newsletter, 4, 814-824.

  • Gósy, M., Bahr, R. H., Gyarmathy, D. & Beke, A. (2018). Dichotic listening and sentence repetition performance in children with reading difficulties. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 32, 787-803.

  • Grieco, J. C., Bahr, R. H., Schoenberg, M. R., Conover, L., Mackie, L. N., & Weeber, E. J. (2016). Quantitative Measurement of Communication Ability in Children with Angelman Syndrome. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. 31(1), e49-e58. doi:10.1111/jar.12305

  • Bahr, R. H., Silliman, E. R., Danzak, R., & Wilkinson, L. R. (2015). Bilingual spelling patterns in middle school: It’s more than transfer. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18, 73-91.

  • Hollien, H., Bahr, R. H., & Harnsberger, J. (2014). Issues in forensic voice. Journal of Voice, 28, 170-184.

  • Bahr, R. H., Silliman, E. R., Berninger, V. W., & Dow, M. (2012). Linguistic pattern analysis of misspellings of typically developing writers in grades 1 to 9. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 55, 1587-1599.