The grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services will fund a four-year project aimed at training graduate students and practicing speech-language pathologists to better meet the communication needs of people with severe to profound developmental disabilities and autism, said Bill Ogletree, head of the department of communication sciences and disorders.
“As a parent of a child with severe special needs who requires specialized speech services, I am thrilled about this opportunity for future speech-language pathologists,” said Julie Davis, whose daughter receives services at WCU’s Speech and Hearing Center. “The number of children who need specialized therapists far outweighs the number of trained speech-language pathologists available. What a timely and wonderful opportunity for students and the individuals who will benefit from this program and all it will offer.”
Ogletree, who co-authored the grant proposal with WCU colleagues Georgia Hambrecht and David Shapiro, said state and national surveys indicate a strong need for specialized training for speech-language pathologists to serve individuals with severe disabilities.
“The people who participate in this project will be particularly prepared to work in the public schools, in group homes and in similar situations,” he said.
Eight students seeking master’s degrees in speech-language pathology and eight practicing speech-language pathologists will be chosen to participate each year of the project. In addition to their regular curriculum, students will take part in seminars designed to introduce them to the needs of people with severe disabilities. Also participating in those seminars will be a “cyber faculty” of nationally recognized experts in the field, who will communicate with the WCU class through distance-education technology.
The program also features a mentor training component, in which all participants are required to complete mentor training that is infused throughout the project, said Hambrecht. “After completing the project, the participants will be expected to commit to becoming mentors to five peers in the profession over a five-year period,” she said. “The mentoring efforts will increase the impact of the project exponentially, in effect providing training to an additional 320 individuals.”
During the summer, students will participate in four additional intensive courses. The program also will require 50 hours of clinical work in assessing and treating communication needs in the targeted population.
Graduate students chosen for the year of special training will receive more than $12,000 to cover in-state tuition and other costs, and to provide support for related expenses.
In addition to specialized training for students, the intensive summer courses will be open to a total of 32 practicing speech-language pathologists from the region and beyond (eight each summer of the award period), who also will be eligible to receive a stipend to cover school and incidental expenses. The practicing clinicians, who will be chosen through an application process, will be able to apply those academic hours to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s state certification in severe disabilities.