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Grant to Improve Services for Young Children who Have Complex Communication Needs and Benefit from Augmentative or Alternative Communication Systems

Early Language and Literacy Education with AT/AAC for Pre-professional Speech-Language Pathologists and Special Educators: Interdisciplinary Preparation to Support Young Children with Complex Communication Needs Who Benefit from AT/AAC Systems (Project Early LEAPS).

Each year, this grant from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education provides three consecutive semesters of free tuition for four or five graduate students from the Speech-Language Pathology program in the Department of Audiology & Speech Pathology at UTHSC and four or five students in the Special Education program in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education at UTK.

The focus of the preparation is on Family Centered Early Intervention and designed to improve the early language and pre-literacy skills of young children with complex communication needs who use or would benefit from augmentative or alternative communication systems. We recognize the heterogeneous nature of children with complex communication needs and prepare grant trainees to serve as direct service providers and consultants to other early intervention professionals.

If you participate in the Early Leaps grant, no additional time will be added to your educational degree program. The courses and practica required of grant scholars are designed so that they fit into the regular degree schedule and are already required for your degree program or available as elective content.

If you would like more information about this grant funding opportunity, please contact Dr. Ilsa Schwarz in Audiology and Speech Pathology at ischwarz@uthsc.edu or Dr. MariBeth Coleman in Special Education at mbc@utk.edu.

Affiliated Faculty and Staff 

Ilsa Schwarz, PhD
Professor Emerita
Project Co-Director                                
UTHSC Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology

Jillian McCarthy, PhD
Project Co-Director                                Assistant Professor
UTHSC Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology

MariBeth Coleman, PhD
Project Co-Director 
Associate Professor                                      UTK Program in Special Education,                Dept. of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education

Kristen Secora, PhD
Project Co-Director 
Associate Professor                                      UTK Program in Special Education,                Dept. of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education

Alison Wegman, MS
Clinical Assistant Professor
UTHSC Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology

Donna Alderman MS
Senior Lecturer,Special Education Internship Coordinator 
UTK Program in Special Education,                Dept. of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education


 

May 26, 2022