Sisters Dr. Ashley Goryl, Au.D. '13, And Dr. Taylor Bender, Au.D. '21 Enhance Hearing Health
By Tony Scott

Dr. Ashley Goryl, Au.D. ’13, left, and Dr. Taylor Bender, Au.D. ’21, both work as audiologists at The Hearing Doctors, a practice that Goryl owns. (Photo by Karly Tearney)

Sisters and doctors of audiology Ashley (St. Peter) Goryl, Au.D. '13, and Taylor (St. Peter) Bender, Au.D. '21, use their sound education at NIU to enhance their patients' hearing health.

Goryl's practice, The Hearing Doctors, and the sisters' success is built on the bedrock of their hardworking family.

“We are both first-generation college graduates in our family,” Bender said. “Our maternal grandparents were Mexican, and our paternal grandparents were Italian. All our grandparents have passed now, but our parents have always said that it would have made them so proud to see both of us with graduate-level degrees. This is what the American dream is all about.”

Goryl and Bender were also inspired by their parents’ hard work.

“Our parents are the reason we are where we are today,” Bender said. “They showed us what hard work and putting family first looks like.”
 

Growing up in Naperville, Illinois, the two sisters have always been very close. Their father worked for ComEd for 35 years, and their mother works in insurance housing, helping families find housing while they are displaced from their homes. 
 

“They both earned a high school education and then worked hard to provide us both with an amazing upbringing,” Bender said. “It was a priority for them to be able to give us the opportunity to have a college education.”

Goryl and Bender both attended NIU because of the audiology program’s stellar reputation of having outstanding faculty, cutting-edge facilities and equipment.
 

Goryl describes her NIU experience as life changing. 

“The program provided an intense curriculum, but we were also provided the support needed to succeed,” she said. “My class started Hustle for Hearing, a 5K fundraiser in the community. We raised and donated over $4,000 to Illinois Hands & Voices, an organization that supports children with hearing loss and their families.”

Bender continued to be involved in the Hustle for Hearing 5K in addition to participating in the Student Academy of Audiology on campus, and said her NIU education prepared her for the hard work of seeing patients.
 

“While it was a lot of hard work and pretty intense and extensive studying, it prepared me greatly for the real world of working with patients,” she said. “I made amazing friends in my program. We created bonds with each other due to our similar passion of helping people.”
 

Both Goryl and Bender praised Diane Schecklong as a mentor and an impactful professor.

“Dr. Schecklong was not only a great professor but guided us to think outside of the box,” Goryl said. “She was also helpful in teaching us how to apply what we were learning to our everyday situations with patients.”

Bender said that all the faculty were accessible and helpful but she had a great relationship with Dr. Schecklong working in the clinic.

“While I had a great experience with all the professors who always took extra time to make sure we succeeded, Dr. Schecklong really impacted me while at NIU,” she said. “She was my in-house clinical preceptor for a semester, and she really helped guide me in my clinical patient care. She provided a very laid-back atmosphere that made learning easy, fun and relaxing while still being very effective. Dr. Schecklong really taught me what a day-to-day experience would look like in an audiology clinic, and it helped reinforce why I love the field and what we can do for patients.”

Bender said the two sisters see patients from early childhood to seniors. They meet with patients and conduct hearing evaluations, make recommendations to help with their hearing loss, including hearing aids and conduct a hearing aid fitting if hearing aids are necessary.

“We make sure they are successful throughout their whole hearing journey over the years,” she said. “A hearing journey is a partnership with a patient and their audiologist.”

Hearing loss can create a loss of connection, and the sisters aim to reconnect their patients with their lives and loved ones.

“The most rewarding part of our job is definitely helping people hear and therefore giving the gift of reconnecting socially with their loved ones,” Bender said. “People don't realize how isolating hearing loss can be, when someone can't hear they disconnect from the world and from the social activities that they love. Being able to give some of that back to people and seeing how people react and are grateful for that is something I will never get over.”

Goryl said the best part of her job is making that connection through better hearing.

“Seeing a patient's face light up when they can hear again is the most rewarding part of what we do,” she said. “We also try to help everyone that walks through our door so if someone has budget restrictions we try and find them a solution, so no one leaves without hearing better.”
 

Bender and Goryl are living examples of the true Huskie spirit.

“Ashley and I believe a true Huskie holds qualities of being hardworking, having perseverance, and being a dreamer,” Bender said. “I always dreamed that my sister and I would one day be working together in a family practice. It just shows that NIU helped us prepare for this amazing experience.”