Download TASA Approved Certifiers

TASA Approved Certifiers
TASA describes who may provide certification and these are examples and descriptions of the
accepted certifiers. When in doubt, please contact your designated DPC II.
1. Licensed Physician (http://www.bls.gov/search/ooh.asp?qu=licensed+physician&ct=OOH)
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Family and general practitioners. Family and general practitioners are often
the first point of contact for people seeking health care, acting as the traditional
family doctor. They assess and treat a wide range of conditions, ailments, and
injuries, from sinus and respiratory infections to broken bones and scrapes.
Family and general practitioners typically have a patient base of regular, longterm visitors. Patients with more serious conditions are referred to specialists or
other health care facilities for more intensive care.
General pediatricians. Providing care from birth to early adulthood,
pediatricians are concerned with the health of infants, children, and teenagers.
They specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of ailments specific to
young people and track their patients’ growth to adulthood. Like most physicians,
pediatricians work with different health care workers, such as nurses and other
physicians, to assess and treat children with various ailments, such as muscular
dystrophy. Most of the work of pediatricians, however, involves treating day-today illnesses that are common to children—minor injuries, infectious diseases,
and immunizations—much as a general practitioner treats adults.
Some
pediatricians specialize in serious medical conditions and pediatric surgery,
treating autoimmune disorders or serious chronic ailments.
Otorhinolaryngology. Ear, nose, and throat physicians perform a complete
medical history and physical examination of the head and neck. They also
perform and supervise hearing and balance testing, which leads to the medical
diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of diseases of the hearing and balance
systems in children and adults. This may include prescribing medications;
performing surgery including implanting cochlear implants; and selecting, fitting,
and dispensing hearing aids and related devices.
The nationally accepted
credential for otolaryngologists is board certification by the American Board of
Otolaryngology. A medical degree (MD or DO) is required.
2. Audiologist
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(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos099.htm)
Audiologists work with people who have hearing, balance, and related ear
problems. They examine individuals of all ages and identify those with the
symptoms of hearing loss and other auditory, balance, and related sensory and
neural problems. They then assess the nature and extent of the problems and
help the individuals manage them. Using audiometers, computers, and other
testing devices, they measure the loudness at which a person begins to hear
sounds, the ability to distinguish between sounds, and the impact of hearing loss
on an individual’s daily life. In addition, audiologists use computer equipment to
evaluate and diagnose balance disorders. Audiologists interpret these results and
may coordinate them with medical, educational, and psychological information to
make a diagnosis and determine a course of treatment.
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3. State Certified Teachers of the Hearing Impaired (http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/rules/6A-4-0172.asp)
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Specialization Requirements for Certification in the Area of Hearing Impaired
(Grades K-12)--Academic Class.
(1) Plan One. A bachelor's or higher degree with an undergraduate or
graduate major in hearing impaired, or
(2) Plan Two. A bachelor's or higher degree with thirty (30) semester hours in
exceptional student education to include credit in the areas specified below:
(a) Foundations of exceptional student education to include historical
perspectives, student characteristics, and trends and issues;
(b) Educational management of exceptional students to include classroom
organization, behavior management, and consultation skills;
(c) Audiology, anatomy and physiology of human speech and auditory
mechanisms, including assessment, amplification, and assistive listening
devices;
(d) Introduction to education of students who are hearing impaired to include
the nature and needs of hearing impaired and multi-handicapped students,
trends and issues, family support and intervention, and community resources;
(e) Language development to include the application of English linguistics,
psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics to the education of hearing impaired
students, including ages birth to five (5) years;
(f) Auditory development and learning to include methods of auditory
learning, assessment, and techniques for evaluating the acoustic
environment;
(g) Manual communication to include manually coded English and American
Sign Language;
(h) Instructional strategies for teaching students who are hearing impaired to
include credit in the following:
1. Teaching language to include instructional procedures to effect language
learning to students who are hearing impaired including ages birth to age five
(5) years;
2. Speech development to include production and transmission of speech and
instructional and assessment strategies to facilitate the development of
speech skills for students who are hearing impaired including ages birth to
age five (5) years;
3. Teaching reading to students who are hearing impaired to include theories,
curricular adaptations, and assessment;
4. Teaching mathematics, science, and social studies to students who are
hearing impaired to include procedures for curricular adaptations; and
5. Teaching social and personal skills for students who are hearing impaired
to include employability skills, career awareness, and transition planning for
adult living.
4. State Certified Teachers of the Visually Impaired (http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/rules/6A-4-0172.asp)
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Specialization Requirements for Certification in the Area of Visually Impaired
(Grades K-12)--Academic Class.
Plan One. A bachelor's or higher degree with an undergraduate or graduate
major in visually impaired, or
(2) Plan Two. A bachelor's or higher degree with thirty (30) semester hours
in exceptional student education to include credit in the areas specified below:
(a) Foundations of exceptional student education to include historical
perspectives, student characteristics, and trends and issues;
(b) Educational management of exceptional students to include classroom
organization, behavior management, and consultation skills;
(c) Methods and materials for teaching reading to include:
1. Sequential developmental skills and concepts of reading,
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2. Recognition and diagnosis of reading problems, and
3. Prescription and utilization of appropriate methods and materials to
increase reading performance; and
(d) Specialized courses for the education of students who are visually
impaired to include each of the following:
1. Introduction to visual impairments including psychological, social, and
emotional implications; history of educational services; and current delivery
models;
2. Introduction to orientation and mobility to include theories, concepts, and
the impact of mobility on the individual, the family, and the community;
3. The teaching of reading and writing of English Braille;
4. Functions of the eye and educational implications to include interpretation
of medical eye reports, structure of the eye, disease and impairments, low
vision training, and the use and care of optical aids; and
(e) Instructional strategies for teaching students who are visually impaired to
include each of the following:
1. Teaching and assessing personal and social skills to include personal
hygiene, self care, interpersonal relationships, career awareness, and social
interaction with peers;
2. Teaching and assessing communication skills and reading including the
use of specialized equipment; and
3. Teaching and assessing mathematics, science, and technology to include
Nemeth code, abacus, specialized science materials, adapted technology, and
computer access devices.
5. Appropriate State or Federal Agency Representatives
(http://www.ftri.org/files/1/File/RDC_Resources/RDC_MANUAL_2006-_2007_Final.doc)
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An appropriate state or federal agency is defined as being an agency or
representative of an agency that specializes in the field of deafness, hearing loss
or speech impairment. For instance, a representative with the Internal Revenue
Service (federal agency) would not qualify as an appropriate certifier. However a
VR counselor that serves Deaf or persons with hearing loss would be considered
an appropriate certifier (state agency) because they would already have the
support documentations that confirm the VR client has a hearing loss. Or a
representative with the Division of Blind Services (state agency) would qualify as
an appropriate certifier for someone who is Deaf/Blind (dual sensory impaired)
but not for someone who is hard of hearing, unless they have the necessary
support documentation (i.e. screening result or audiogram).
6. Deaf Service Center Director (http://www.ftri.org/files/1/File/RDC_Resources/RDC_MANUAL_2006_2007_Final.doc)
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Deaf Service Center Director is defined as being the executive director of the
agency. When a new applicant requests certification and the certifier, who is a
deaf service center director, is uncertain of the applicant’s qualification or
eligibility as defined in TASA 427.703, (3), (4), (5), or (10) listed in Section III.
Eligibility for Specialized Equipment, such as a questionable hearing loss due
to the applicant not wearing an amplification device (hearing aid), refer the
applicant to a certifier that is equipped to confirm the hearing loss such as an
hearing aid specialist, audiologist or licensed physician; or contact the FTRI office
for further instructions.
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7. Speech Pathologist
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(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos099.htm)
Speech-language pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, assess,
diagnose, treat, and help to prevent speech, language, cognitive-communication,
voice, swallowing, fluency, and other related disorders. Most speech-language
pathologists provide direct clinical services to individuals with communication or
swallowing disorders.
In medical facilities, they may perform their job in
conjunction with physicians, social workers, psychologists, and other therapists.
Speech-language pathologists in schools collaborate with teachers, special
educators, interpreters, other school personnel, and parents to develop and
implement individual or group programs, provide counseling, and support
classroom activities. Some speech-language pathologists conduct research on
how people communicate. Others design and develop equipment or techniques
for diagnosing and treating speech problems.
8. Hearing Aid Specialist (http://www.betterhearing.org/hearing_solutions/healthcareProfessionals.cfm)
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Hearing aid specialists assess hearing and select, fit, and dispense hearing aids
and related devices. They provide instruction, rehabilitation, and counseling in
the use and care of hearing aids and related devices to enhance human
communication. The nationally accepted credential for hearing aid specialists is
certification by the National Board for Certification in Hearing Aid Sciences
TASA Approved Certifiers - August 29, 2006