|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Program Information
|
|
|
|
|
|
The mission of the Department of Speech
Pathology and Audiology is to provide undergraduate, master’s and doctoral
programs that challenge the student to achieve the highest standards of
academic learning, scientific inquiry and clinical excellence. The
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology seeks to deliver a
comprehensive program of academic, research and clinical training in the
area of speech, language and hearing development and disorders. The
Department offers the Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences,
the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology, the Doctor of Audiology
and the Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMS
OFFERED
|
|
|
Follow the links above
for specific information about each program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ACCREDITATION
|
|
|
Our graduate clinical training programs
(M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology and Au.D.) are accredited by the Council
on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA)
of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
|
|
|
|
|
|
CERTIFICATION & LICENSURE
|
|
|
Students completing the prescribed
graduate courses for the M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology meet the
academic and clinical requirements needed to initiate a Clinical Fellowship
(CF). The CF is the last requirement that leads to national certification
(CCC/SLP) by ASHA and eligibility for Alabama state licensure. Students
completing the prescribed doctoral courses for the Au.D. meet the academic,
clinical, and practicum requirements for national certification (CCC/A) by
ASHA and eligibility for Alabama state licensure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CORE PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
|
|
|
The M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology and the Au.D. are the
"entry-level" degrees for each profession, and are included in
the requirements for ASHA certification. Students must have the knowledge
and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical and academic
situations, and to render a wide spectrum of speech-language-hearing
services. Therefore, the abilities and expectations listed below are needed
for successful completion of the requirements leading to the M.S. or Au.D.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Problem Solving
|
|
|
The culminating activity in the preparation of an audiologist
or speech-language pathologist is clinical reasoning. Therefore, a student must
be able to make correct observations, and have the skills of measurement,
calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Judgment
|
|
|
The student will be expected to demonstrate
judgment in the classroom laboratory and clinic which shows an ability to
make mature, sensitive, and effective decisions in the following areas:
|
|
|
- Relationships with professors, supervisors, peers,
and patients/clients
- Professional behavior
- The effectiveness of diagnostic, assessment, and
intervention strategies.
|
|
|
Communication
|
|
|
A. Written Communication: The student must be able to assimilate information from written
sources (text, journals, medical/school records, etc.). The student must be
able to attain, comprehend, retain, and utilize new information presented
in written formats. The profession not only calls for the initial learning
of a new body of knowledge, but also the continual updating from current
sources. Students are required not only to utilize information from written
sources, but must be able to produce appropriate written documentation.
|
|
|
B. Verbal and nonverbal communication: A student
must be able to produce the spoken word and to elicit information from
patients/clients, supervisors, and peers with skills in not only describing
factual information, but the subtle cues of moods, temperament, and social
responses. Communication with patients/clients and all members of the
intervention team must be accurate, sensitive, effective, and efficient.
Response time to emergencies/crisis situations, as well as more routine
communication, must be situationally appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Motor/Sensory
|
|
|
Students must have gross motor, fine motor, and equilibrium
functions reasonably required to carry out speech-language-hearing
assessment and intervention strategies/techniques. Task requirements may
range, for example, from operating complex, electronic instrumentation to
palpating certain areas of a patient's head and neck. Quick reactions may
be necessary in some clinical situations, not only for safety, but to
observe a patient accurately close at hand (e.g., from within a distance of
10 feet or less). Diagnosis, assessment, and intervention of communication
problems necessitates the functional use of the senses of vision, hearing,
and touch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Demeanor
|
|
|
Students are expected to exhibit professional behaviors and attitudes
during their participation in classroom, laboratory, and clinical
activities. This includes, but is not limited to, flexibility toward change
and acceptance of responsibility for one's own conduct. Students are
expected to avoid any behavior disruptive to quality classroom teaching,
research, and patient care.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply to this
program. However, it is the
responsibility of the student to notify the Department
of Speech Pathology and Audiology if there is any reason why the
abilities/expectations described above cannot be met. Students who indicate
that they cannot meet one or more of these and who request a review in
writing will be reviewed by the Departmental Faculty Committee and the
Coordinator of Special Student Services to determine what, if any,
reasonable accommodations might be possible to facilitate successful
completion of the degree requirements.
|
|
|
|
|
