UCF, USF partner to aid hearing impaired

UCF and the University of South Florida may be bitter rivals on the football field, but in academia they are teaming up to provide training for speech pathologists through a new grant.

The $1.1 million program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, will span five years and train 40 speech pathologists to help deaf and hard-of-hearing children whose first language may not be English.

The grant is in high demand. Only 10 speech-language pathologists in Florida are trained in developing listening and spoken language in children with hearing loss, according to a UCF Today article.

Dr. Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, brought the grant to UCF with the help of Dr. Theresa Hnath Chisolm of USF.

Rosa-Lugo believes that UCF needed a program to help children in the community.

"UCF doesn't have any programs like this for children and USF does, so that's why I chose to partner with them," she said. "Together, we were able to pull our resources."

More than 31.5 million Americans have a degree of hearing loss, and an estimated three out of every 1,000 children in the United States may be born with hearing loss, according to UCF Today.

The grant is giving the two universities a chance to work with families and children who have hearing loss and that may not speak English, Rosa-Lugo said.

The grant allows students to go beyond regular coursework

"It goes five courses beyond a master's program," she said. "Oral rehabilitation to learn trouble shooing with hearing loss and training to work with culturally and linguistically diverse children."

Another important part of the grant is what it can do for students.

"I find that students don't avail themselves to these types of opportunities," Rosa-Lugo said. "Grants are more than just the learning."

Grants have initiatives for students to expand from just learning a set of curriculum skills.

Alexandra Arredondo, a graduate student currently working in Rosa-Lugo's other grant, Preparing to Serve English Language Learners with Communication Disorders, said the grant has changed her graduate experience.

"I'm so happy," she said. "This grant helped me get experience, build relationships and [helped me] financially, too."

Arredondo is hoping to get a job working with school-age children either at a school or an outpatient hospital.

The grant programs are small, and students can build relationships with one another. Rosa-Lugo also sent 19 of her graduate students in the ELL grant to a national convention to meet with professionals.

Megan Northcutt, another student working in the ELL grant, said working under a grant has helped her find her niche.

"I feel privileged to work with these girls and to have Dr. Rosa-Lugo as my mentor," she said. "I have also presented at state conferences, created professional posters and even built a portfolio."

Northcutt hopes to work with children in the local community once she graduates.

Both graduate students are excited for the new grant to come to UCF.

"It's great because there aren't many programs out there for DHH and not many students," Arredondo said. "Special skills and specific training are needed to work with culturally linguistic diverse students."

The grant program begins January 2012. Rosa-Lugo is currently accepting applications and reviewing prospective students.