Section 25.45  Standards for the Standard Special Certificate – Speech and Language Impaired

a)         The individual holding the CERTIFICATE IN SPEECH AND LANGUAGE IMPAIRED must have a master's degree and have completed a course of study in communicative disorders and related disciplines designed to develop academic and clinical competence in the areas identified below.

b)         The academic preparation as outlined requires a total of 66 to 75 semester hours of the designated areas of course credit, including up to six semester hours for the required practicum, distributed as suggested.

1)         Field of Specialization – Speech and Language Impaired

A)....... Knowledge and understanding of the normal development, use of speech, hearing, and language .......................................................... 16-18 Semester Hours

i)          Competencies specifically required include the ability to know anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism and to know and professionally apply phonetics and the principles of speech and language development.

ii)         Additionally, the clinician should possess a broad and general spectrum of knowledge derived from the study of such fields as acoustics, communication theory, psychology of speech and language, linguistics, semantics, and speech science.

B)....... Understanding of the nature of communicative disorders and their etiologies as well as clinical competence in the evaluation and management of speech and language impairments, specifically including disorders of articulation, voice, fluency, structural and neuromuscular impairments of speech, and disorders of expressive and receptive language; and knowledge concerning such methodological details as program development, casefinding scheduling, referrals, record keeping, and reporting     *28-30 Semester Hours

C)....... Understanding the fundamentals of hearing testing techniques, and their clinical applications, ability to interpret auditory tests, clinical competence in the administration of basic hearing tests and aural rehabilitation procedures ...............  7-9 Semester Hours

2)         Professional Education and Related Areas

A)....... A general understanding of the public schools through the study of such areas as history and philosophy of education, structure and function of the schools, procedures in directing learning; general knowledge about the procedures used for other educational handicaps ...........................................................................  6-9 Semester Hours

B)....... Knowledge and competence in the application of psychological principles derived from the study of such areas as general psychology, human growth and developmental processes, educational psychology, tests and measurements, abnormal psychology, and the psychology of learning  9 Semester Hours

3)         Clinical Practicum in Communicative Disorders.  Clinical competence in the evaluation and management of communicative disorders, including specifically those listed below.

A)        Understanding, through at least 100 clock hours of supervised practicum involving diagnostic and therapeutic experience with children in school, of the specific problems, methods and procedures applicable in public education.

B)        Competence in the evaluation and management of speech, language and auditory disorders in clinical settings other than the public schools, involving diagnostic and therapeutic experience with clients achieved through not less than 200 clock hours of supervised clinical practicum.

C)        Ability to prepare histories, reports, letters, lesson plans, and other materials required in clinical management, and competence in counseling, interviewing and staffing through achieving an additional 100 clock hours of such activity under supervision both in the school setting and in other clinical settings.

D)        The practicum described above should include experience with each of the following types of problems.  There should be a reasonable distribution of clock hours among various age groups.

i)          impairments of fluency

ii)         impairments of articulation

iii)         impairments of voice

iv)        speech and language impairments associated with structural and neuromuscular disabilities

v)         impairments of expressive and receptive language

vi)        impairments of hearing

*Not more than six (6) semester hours in this category may be earned in clinical practicum courses.