Master of Deaf Education and Hearing Science

 

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Master’s Degree in Deaf Education and Hearing Science is a graduate level course of study designed for students with a background in education, communication disorders, or other related fields. The preferred career path is to obtain a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, elementary education, deaf education/studies or communication disorders.

 

With your undergraduate preparation, you will enter the master’s program equipped to take previous learning and apply it in new ways to meet the special needs of children with hearing loss. Coursework includes extensive field experiences so that you can enter the field as a confident specialist in auditory-oral intervention.

 

Hands-on learning opportunities are provided by our partner in this program, Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, the region’s leading auditory-oral center. The school focuses on the abilities of hearing-impaired children rather than their disabilities, and includes a rich oral language curriculum. With over 100 children with hearing losses enrolled, the graduate student has many opportunities to interact with the children, teach them and help them manage their technology.

 

The Master of Deaf Education and Hearing Science is nationally certified by the Council on Education of the Deaf (CED). You will be able to receive CED certification upon graduation. You will also be able to apply for certification as a teacher of the hearing impaired in the state of Texas.

 

Program Objectives

The purpose of this program is to develop educators who can teach children with hearing loss utilizing auditory-oral and auditory-verbal methods (i.e. approaches that do not utilize sign language). There are only a few Master’s Degree programs in the United States committed to the intensive training needed to effectively use auditory-oral methods. Particularly since hearing aids and surgical procedures are bringing, more than ever, sound to children with profound losses, the need is greater for well-educated professionals, specialized in the techniques that promote the development of listening, language and speech.

 

You will be prepared for placement in oral classes, centers or schools for children with hearing loss. The program is not designed to prepare graduate students for placement in programs that use the various forms of manual communication. One course in sign language is required, but proficiency is not an objective; this class serves as an orientation to alternate communication modes. Students completing the course of study will be prepared to take the ExCET/TeXes examination for teachers of the deaf in the state of Texas, but not the ExCET/TeXes test for sign language proficiency. During the final semester, graduates will take Auditory-Verbal Therapy, a course designed to begin preparation for national certification as an Auditory-Verbal Educator.

 

Through observations, demonstrations, lectures, group discussions, research opportunities, assigned readings, and practicum experiences, this program is designed to educate graduate students in the joint Knowledge and Skills statements from the national Council on Education of the Deaf (CED) and the Council for Exceptional Children.

 

In addition to these national standards, the state of Texas expects teachers to demonstrate competencies in forty-four areas that have been identified as essential information and techniques for teachers in settings with hearing-impaired children.

 

Course of Study: Full- and Part-Time Options

The MDEHS program can be completed through full time studies (4 semesters) or through a part-time program (7 semesters) to accommodate MDEHS students who are employed. The program consists of 36 semester credit hours of course work that includes observations, seminars, demonstrations, research opportunities, field trips, and practicum. Practicum assignments are scheduled at Sunshine Cottage, the UT Health Science Center, and partnership schools and clinics in the San Antonio area. Students who successfully complete the course requirements must pass a comprehensive examination covering the major components of the program. A thesis is not required; however, students are required to acquire competency in reading and critically reviewing professional and research literature, and to develop awareness of statistical and research design concepts for educational and clinical studies.