Listening and Spoken Language

Opportunities for Specialists in Deaf Education and Hearing Science

The Deaf Education and Hearing Science Program prepares professionals to work with children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing in settings that emphasize listening, speech and language without the use of sign language. This approach is known as “Listening and Spoken Language.”

Hearing loss is the most commonly diagnosed disability among newborns. Nationally, up to 4 out of every 1,000 children are born with some level of hearing loss. When given appropriate equipment and intervention, infants can detect many of the sounds of speech and have the same opportunities as children with typical hearing to develop listening, language, speech and reading skills. These opportunities will not happen without qualified teachers.

The need increases every year for caring professionals to teach deaf and hard-of-hearing children to listen and talk. Hospital screenings at birth have led to more infants being identified with hearing loss. Deaf education is considered an area of critical shortage, meaning that each year there are jobs that go unfilled.

You will find fulfilling career possibilities for helping children in homes, clinics, traditional schools, and special schools. These settings include:

  1. family-oriented therapy services for infants and toddlers,
  2. preschool or elementary classrooms,
  3. individual therapy sessions or
  4. itinerant services (providing services that enable students to participate in typical classrooms).

The purpose of the Deaf Education and Hearing Science Program is to prepare teachers who can make an important difference in the lives of deaf people and their families using the latest technology and techniques to develop their listening and spoken language skills. For more information about the Master of Deaf Education and Hearing Science Program and available scholarship opportunities, please reach out to Dr. Blane Trautwein.

Contact
Dr. Blane Trautwein
Associate Professor and Program Director
trautwein@uthscsa.edu

Deaf Education and Hearing Science
7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC: 7777
San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900
Phone: 210-450-0716
Fax: 210-450-0055

Applications are available on GoApplyTexas.org.