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FIRST YEARS > Project History
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As more and more deaf and hard-of-hearing
children are served in inclusive settings, speech pathologists, special
educators, and other professionals are called upon to provide intervention
services. Although experienced in their respective disciplines, many
of these professionals lack specialized educational preparation related
to the needs of children with hearing loss and their families.
As chairperson of the Financial Aid Awards Committee for the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Sandra Aldrich was challenged to design an accessible professional development project to meet the needs of these professionals. Aldrich was referred to Carolyn Brown at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the director of Carolina Children's Communicative Disorders Program (CCCDP), which includes the Center for Acquisition of Spoken Language Through Listening Enrichment (C.A.S.T.L.E.). The C.A.S.T.L.E. programs provide clinical and preschool services to children, as well as continuing education through 1) summer institute programs in the auditory-verbal approach and 2) professional internships designed to provide practical experience in auditory-verbal and auditory-oral interventions. Brown and Aldrich invited the collaboration of UNC's Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences which has, for over 30 years, provided graduate education in audiology and speech-language pathology. The Division also co-founded the Carolina Consortium for Distance Education in Communication Sciences and Disorders, a successful program designed to serve the continuing education needs of working professionals. In the spring of 2000, Brown and Aldrich developed a collaborative project proposal and submitted it to a national foundation that supports auditory learning and spoken language programs for children with hearing loss. The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing received the funding and formed a collaboration with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to design and implement the project, a comprehensive program of continuing education professional development geared to the needs of experienced professionals working with young children with a hearing loss. Thus, FIRST YEARS was born. Laurie Cochenour became the first Program Director of FIRST YEARS. In November 2003, UNC approved the "Certificate in Auditory Learning in Young Children with Hearing Loss." The first cohort of students began in August 2004. FIRST YEARS continues to enroll a new class of students annually. In September 2008, Laurie Cochenour stepped down and Kathryn Wilson became the new FIRST YEARS Program Director. |
 12/05/03 |
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