DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS (CD)

Professor Gerald L. Culton, Chairperson
Office: 7 Rowand-Johnson Hall

Communicative disorders encompass speech, language, and hearing disorders. Professionals who work in the area of hearing are audiologists. Professionals who work with speech, language, and swallowing impairments are speech-language pathologists. Formerly, they were often known as speech therapists. The undergraduate program in communicative disorders is preprofessional and prepares students to apply for graduate programs in audiology or speech-language pathology.

Requirements for the major. The required courses are CD 225, CD 226, CD 244, CD 275, CD 277, CD 371, CD 372, CD 377, CD 411, CD 442, CD 443, and CD 444. All 200-level CD courses must be completed prior to enrollment in 400-level CD courses. A minimum of 12 hours at the 300 or 400 level must be earned on this campus.

Enrollment in 200-level courses is restricted to students with sophomore or above standing with an overall grade point average of 2.5 or higher. A student must earn a grade of "C" or better in CD 275 before being accepted as a major in communicative disorders. A minimum grade of "C" in all practicum courses is required for a student to be retained in the major. Departmental majors choose either psychology or English as a minor.

Decisions concerning clinical placement, completion of the program, or termination of the student from the program will be predicated on factors including course grades, demonstrated clinical competence, and personality characteristics.

Requirements for the minor. The minor in communicative disorders requires the courses CD 225, CD 226, CD 371, CD 443, and 6 hours chosen from CD 244, CD 275, and CD 372. A minimum of 6 hours at the 300 or 400 level must be earned on this campus. Minors must have minimum grade point averages of 2.5.

Students are advised that the communicative disorders major is considered to be preprofessional. A master's degree or the equivalent is necessary for membership in and certification by the national professional organization (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) and for licensure by the state of Alabama and most other states. Employment opportunities for students with a master's degree in speech-language pathology or audiology are in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, private practice, and other settings.

For information about the Speech and Hearing Center, see p. 61.

A Suggested Sequence of Courses for the Communicative Disorders Major
FRESHMAN YEAR
First Semester			Second Semester
Course	Hours		Course	Hours
EN 101	3		EN 102	3
MATH3	3		PY 101	3
SOC 101 or ANT 101	3		BSC 114	3
Humanities1	3		BSC 115	1
Natural science	4		History1	3
			CS 102	3
	------			------
	16			16
SOPHOMORE YEAR
First Semester			Second Semester
Course	Hours		Course	Hours
EN 225	3		EN 226 or EN 227	3
BSC 215	4		Computer science or foreign language	3-4
Computer science or foreign language	3-4		Fine arts1	3
CD 225	3		CD 244	3
CD 226	3		CD 275	3
	------			------
	16-17			15-16
JUNIOR YEAR2
First Semester			Second Semester
Course	Hours		Course	Hours
CD 371	3		CD 372	3
CD-related electives	6		CD 377	3
Minor	3		CD 411	3
TH 113 or COM 123	3		Minor	6
CD 277	1
	------			------
	16			15
SENIOR YEAR2
CD-related electives	3		CD 442	3
CD 443	3		CD 444	3
Minor	3		CD-related elective	3
Social and behavioral sciences1	3		Minor	3
Writing course	3		Electives	3-5
Electives	1-3
	------			------
	16-18			15-17
Total: At least 128

¹A maximum of 6 hours in any one department may be applied to the humanities, literature, and fine arts (HU, L, FA) and history and social and behavioral sciences (HI, SB) requirements.

²Six hours in courses designated W must be included in the junior or senior year. A minimum of 33 hours in 300- and 400-level courses must be completed, including 12 hours in the major.

³MATH course number is determined by placement. MATH 110 or higher is required.

Admission to clinical practicums. Only communicative disorders majors are admitted to clinical practicums and only by application. Prior to admission to CD 377, the first clinical practicum, or CD 455, the audiology practicum, the student must meet the following criteria:

• The student must have completed the following 16 hours in the department: CD 225, CD 226, CD 244, CD 275, CD 277, and CD 371.
• The student must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for CD courses listed above.
• The student must have a grade point average of at least 2.8 for all courses taken at The University of Alabama.
• The student must have been evaluated favorably by two graduate faculty members in the department who have knowledge of the student's abilities.
• The student must give an acceptable performance on a speech and language proficiency test and on a hearing screening given in conjunction with CD 225. If students fail the speech and language test, they will be required to enroll in speech-language therapy in order to correct or control the disorder to the extent that it would not interfere with their functioning as a clinician. At the termination of therapy, students must pass the required speech and language proficiency test to the satisfaction of the Evaluation Committee. If a student fails the hearing screening, appropriate follow-up steps must be taken upon the recommendation of the Evaluation Committee.

During the practicum, a student judged to be experiencing difficulty will be evaluated by his or her clinical supervisor and one additional clinical staff member in order to determine if performance is satisfactory. The effectiveness of each practicum student will be evaluated by faculty and supervisors.

Graduate programs. The Department of Communicative Disorders offers programs leading to the master of science degree in audiology or speech-language pathology. The requirements for the degree are stated in the University of Alabama graduate catalog.