Auditory-Oral/Birth-Kindergarten Teacher Training Program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
This four-year program offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education with a concentration in Auditory-Oral Training, and eligibility for North Carolina teacher licenses in Birth-Kindergarten and Hearing Impairment K-12. |
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The program content and fieldwork reflect the competencies identified by the following professional agencies or organizations:
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Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf
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Council of Education of the Deaf
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Auditory-Verbal International, Inc.
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Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Early Childhood
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National Association for the Education of Young Children
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North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Students will gain experience in a wide range of settings including:
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Inclusive preschool and kindergarten classrooms
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Itinerant service settings
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Consultative service settings
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Family-home based settings
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Community based programs
Students are also required to attend monthly seminars focusing on topics such as:
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Collaborating With Other Professionals
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Working With Parents
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Services Available to Families
Understanding Ethical Issues and Responsibilities of Professionals
Most children with hearing impairments, about 90% of them, have hearing parents. More and more of these parents are choosing an Auditory-Oral option for their children. Parents want children to be given the chance to learn to use verbal communication within the family and community, enabling them to become independent and included in school and society. Several of the courses in this program provide opportunities for students to work directly with families of children with hearing impairments, and most classes at least offer some degree of study of the diversity of families.
EXPLORED COMMUNICATION OPTIONS IN ORAL DEAF EDUCATION
Auditory-Verbal Approach:
In this approach, children with hearing loss receive individual diagnostic therapy designed to encourage making use of residual hearing through amplification, and assists the child in developing listening skills by discouraging the use of manual communication. Parents receive training in how to help the child succeed in learning verbal communication by carrying over practice sessions into the home.
Auditory-Oral Approach: (THIS IS THE FOCUS OF THE UNCG PROGRAM)
Teaches the child to make maximum use of residual hearing through amplification, but stresses the use of speech-reading to aid the child’s communication. Use of manual communication (sign language) is not encouraged, although some gestures may be supported. Parents are encouraged to be highly involved in their child’s education and to incorporate practice sessions of the auditory-oral learning approach into daily routine and play.
Cued Speech:
This is a system that uses eight different hand shapes in four different locations near the mouth that, when combined with natural mouth movements, allows for the clear transmission of spoken language. It is intended to eliminate or reduce the ambiguity of visual clues available through speech-reading by providing a child with a hearing impairment a visual representation of spoken language.
UNCG has received a 5-year (2000-2005) federal award (#H325A000133) to develop an undergraduate program to prepare auditory-oral teachers of infants and young children with hearing impairments. Full-time students who have achieved junior status and who have been admitted to UNCG’s Teacher’s Academy are eligible to have their tuition and fees paid in full, and are eligible to receive a stipend of $2500 per semester. For more in formation about financial support, please contact Rosie Parrish, Program Coordinator, at (336) 256-0497 or by email at rjnparrish@aol.com.