Faculty members in the Deaf Education and Hearing Science Program include Assistant Professors Sarah Ammerman, Ph.D., and Blane Trautwein, Ph.D.
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Contact: Rosanne Fohn, 210-567-3079

SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 18, 2010) — The Deaf Education and Hearing Science program at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio has received a grant of $806,500 from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

The grant will fund 36 scholarships for teachers, support faculty and provide some of the program expenses for the Master of Deaf Education and Hearing Science program — the only program in Texas with an emphasis on listening and spoken language.

In the program, teachers are prepared to work with hearing-impaired children to develop spoken language. The auditory-oral language approach capitalizes on the child’s residual hearing by using amplification technology or cochlear implants, combined with a verbally focused learning approach and individual therapy.

Enrollment has grown nearly four-fold
Enrollment has grown from six to 23 students — a 283 percent increase — since 2008, when Blane Trautwein, Ed.D., assistant professor, joined the Health Science Center as director of the program.

“The Deaf Education and Hearing Science program has quickly risen to national prominence and is attracting students from around the U.S. and Mexico,” said Douglas Murphy, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Health Professions at the UT Health Science Center. “Although it is unusual for such a program to be offered at an academic health center, the success of this program has come about partly from its association with the allied health professions represented in our school such as occupational and physical therapy — professions with which our graduates will work in school settings.”

Blane Trautwein, Ph.D., works with a student at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, where master’s degree students from the Health Science Center practice new techniques and teaching skills in deaf education and hearing science.

More teachers are needed for deaf education
The grant will aid the Deaf Education and Hearing Science program in attracting high-caliber, diverse students to help address the shortage of trained educational professionals in Texas. It will additionally provide support to existing faculty and fund an adjunct position.

Faculty explore new methods
Dr. Trautwein added, “One of the strengths of our grant proposal was our research in reciprocal peer coaching and faculty mentoring.”

Dr. Trautwein and his colleague, Sarah Ammerman, Ph.D., assistant professor, published an article in the Summer 2010 edition of The Volta Review, a journal of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The article states:

“In reciprocal peer coaching, students practice new teaching methodologies, master techniques, utilize shared problem-solving skills and receive feedback from a peer evaluator. The reciprocal nature of this coaching lies in the participants’ willingness to regularly assume the role of both observer and the person being observed.” In addition, faculty mentors demonstrate teaching techniques and participate in dialogues with individuals and groups of students beginning with the first semester of the master’s program.

Program strengths
Reviewers also noted the program’s collaboration with the School of Health Profession’s Department of Occupational Therapy, the Health Science Center’s status as a minority-serving institution and recent successes with philanthropic giving to the deaf education program.

The Deaf Education and Hearing Science Program has a close partnership with Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children in San Antonio as a laboratory for learning techniques and teaching skills. Students participate in more than 350 clinical hours during the two-year master’s program.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $739 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.