As of 2022, she is a professor emerita and the former Brewer-Smith Distinguished Chair in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences at Western Carolina University.
[1] Helms-Estabrooks was a co-founder of Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS),[2] and served as president from 2003 until 2004.
[3] Helm-Estabrooks is a researcher and speech-language pathologist (SLP) specializing in the design and application of widely used diagnostic.
She developed, in collaboration with behavioral neurologist Martin Albert and Robert Sparks, a structured rehabilitation program for a type of nonfluent aphasia utilizing intoned phrases to facilitate speech and language production.
[4][5] She subsequently designed and published programs and materials for treating aphasia symptoms and cognitive impairments.