A Farewell to Jo(anne) DeLuzio, M.Cl.Sc., PhD

Prepared by: Aamna Ashfaq and Jazmaine Choy

After 25 consecutive years of teaching in the S-LP program, I have stepped back from this role. I was interviewed not that long ago for The UofT S-LP Intercom Newsletter (Refer to “A Peek into Jo’s Career!” By: Sally Yan and Adrienne Yau). I didn’t want to repeat myself here, so your Class of 2026 POCC Reps (Aamna Ashfaq and Jazmaine Choy) suggested I discuss my “contributions to students as their Audiology professor”. Now there's a challenge!

Although my student evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive over the years, upon reflection, I don’t believe that I have always been successful in effecting any real change in the students. Students entering the S-LP program are all bright and talented. You already know how to regurgitate neatly in paragraphs and most of you can memorize almost anything that is thrown at you. Students entering my classroom were not always that interested in audiology. Many held preconceived notions that audiology was all about dial-twisting and physics; after all, audiologists work with machines, but S-LPs interact with people. I have even had S-LP colleagues tell me that they hated their audiology courses when they were graduate students. Yikes! Something needed to change.

In the earlier years, I erroneously believed my role was to cram as much information as possible into my courses so students would become informed S-LPs. I focused on finding ways to provide facts and information in an enjoyable way. I reasoned that if I made class enjoyable, perhaps students would want to learn.

I have great passion for my profession and hopefully most graduates of the program will remember how to read an audiogram. However, what I came to recognize was that information dissemination is not the goal. I knew that you, the students, were going to hold the hopes and dreams of your future clients and their families in your hands. You need to recognize that you cannot possibly learn or know everything. You will continue to grow throughout your years of practice, and you will learn more from your clients than you could ever learn from me.

I wanted to ensure that my students recognized the systemic barriers people with communication differences encounter. There are immeasurable barriers in health care for so many complex reasons and as clichéd as it sounds, if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem. I wanted every student to recognize that all of us have explicit and implicit biases that can and will impact the services we provide. We cannot ever hope to change what we are ignorant of, and what we don’t acknowledge. This required much sole searching and self-reflection. I had to continually check myself to ensure that I was not holding any biases with students. This was not always an easy or a pleasant task. It is uncomfortable to confront our own actions and to be honest with ourselves. We all make mistakes.

Interpreting X’s and 0’s on a piece of paper while important does not begin to explain the impact someone’s level of hearing has on all aspects of their life. To steal a quote I read somewhere

I knew I was a good clinician continually striving to listen and learn from my clients what they needed and wanted. It was only when I began to truly listen to my students and make meaningful changes in the way I was interacting and teaching that I began to have an impact. I began to share more of my clinical experiences and my successes and failures as an audiologist with you, and you told me that made the content of the course come alive.

I hope that in some small way I have inspired students to confront audism and ableism, and to become advocates for people with communication differences. Access to service should not be dependent on where we live, the colour of our skin, our country of origin, religion, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, economic status, or any other characteristic other than the fact that we are all human. From an audiological lens, communication is a fundamental human right, not a privilege reserved for people with typical hearing.

In the end, it isn’t up to me to decide what contributions I may or may not have made to you and your profession. That is up to you to determine. It has indeed been an honour and privilege to be your audiology instructor for so many years.