ST. LOUIS — The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, part of the U.S. Department of Education, has awarded Fontbonne University a $1.25 million grant to fund deaf education and speech-language pathology scholars.
The five-year grant, made to Fontbonne's Department of Communication Disorders and Deaf Education (CDDE), will support 32 scholars seeking a master's degree in early intervention in deaf education or speech-language pathology, officials said. Students who receive this funding will enter a six-semester evidence-based program to help prepare them to become skilled speech-language pathologists and teachers of the deaf through an interdisciplinary approach, the university said.
"Fontbonne has a long history of implementing a high-quality interprofessional personnel preparation program," Jenna Voss, assistant professor and associate dean of Fontbonne's College of Education and Allied Health Professions and CDDE's graduate deaf education program director, said in a statement. "Our speech-language pathology and deaf education faculty members work together to ensure students understand the role and value of both professions and how to collaborate to best serve children who are DHH (deaf or hard of hearing) and their families."
Students accepted to the program will receive tuition support for 36 hours of interdisciplinary coursework and field experience focused on family-centered early intervention, speech and hearing, language and literacy, infant and child development, assessment and intervention planning, and early childhood educational practices, the university said. Students also will participate in a collaborative seminar, attend forums and professional conferences, and work with a local group of parent mentors.
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