Deaf Education and Hearing Sciences Resource Guide: Key Info

The Council on the Education of the Deaf (CED) is sponsored by seven major national organizations dedicated to quality education for all deaf and heard of hearing students:

• Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf (AG Bell)
• American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA)
• American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC)
• Association of College Educators - Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACE-DHH)
• Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD)
• National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
• OPTION Schools

The CED:

• promotes nationally recognized standards for teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students in all educational settings;
• accredits university programs; and
• collaborates with various related organizations through several national committees and workgroups.

The American Academy of Audiology's Guidelines and Standards are key documents essential to the Academy and the audiology profession.  Information on the following topics can be found:

Medical practice guidelines summarize the best practice in a particular area of healthcare. They define important questions related to clinical practice and outline decision options and their outcomes. The intent is to improve the connection between evidence and practice, raise the standard of care, and guide the decision-making process.

Historically, medical practice guidelines were based on tradition. Modern guidelines are written by medical associations or governmental organizations using the most current data and best evidence.

• Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology (ARA) - promotes excellence in hearing care through the provision of comprehensive rehabilitative and habilitative services.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) - is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 186,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students.
• Council for Exceptional Children - Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness (DCDD) - is concerned with the well-being, development, and education of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with communication and learning disorders, ranging from mild to profound, and/or who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) - is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is mandated to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research and research training in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language. The Institute also supports efforts to create devices which substitute for lost and impaired sensory and communication function.

• ASHA Leader - Hearing Aids Cochlear Implants & Assistive Technology
• CED Certification
• Deaf Education - Educational Enhancement for the field of Deaf Education
• Tools to help open communication between hearing care professionals and their clients. from the Ida Institute