Students in the Au.D. program at UCONN must be able to carryout certain essential functions to be successful in clinical training. It is necessary for students to meet minimum technical standards noted below in order to carry out required activities, and to perform clinical activities competently and safely in supervised patient care experiences.

 

1. OBSERVATION Students need to be able to accurately observe clients’ physical status including body type, posture, ability to ambulate, fine motor skills, and response to sensory stimuli. Additionally, students must be able to accurately observe clients’ behavior including verbal and nonverbal communication patterns. Finally, students must be able to comprehend and produce text, numbers, and graphs.

 

2. COMMUNICATION Students must be able to communicate effectively, sensitively, and efficiently with clients and colleagues; comprehend technical, procedural and professional materials; and follow instructions. Students must be able to readily communicate observations and findings, prepare progress notes, correspondence, as well as evaluation and treatment reports in a clear, logical, and professional manner. Students must also be able to perceive the speech of clients and to accurately judge its quality. They must be able to readily comprehend language expressed in oral, graphic, and gestural forms. The speech and English language skills of the student must be such that colleagues and clients consistently understand them. Finally, the student’s speech and language skills must be intelligible to permit administration of speech understanding in a reliable and valid manner.

 

3. MOTOR COORDINATION Students must be able to travel to various clinical practicum locations, access and control equipment, safely and reliably perform an otoscopic examination of the ear as needed.

 

4. INTELLECT Students must be able to problem solve effectively, and analyze, integrate, and synthesize data concurrently in a multi-task setting. In addition, students must be able to comprehend mutli-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of anatomical structures, physiology, and pathology.

 

5. BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES Students must possess the emotional health required to exercise good judgment, and timely and safely carry out responsibilities. They must be able to adapt to change, display flexibility, and function appropriately in stressful situations. Students must exhibit empathy for others and focus on the need of the clients. They must exhibit polite behavior, integrity, manage criticism, be reliable and punctual and be respectful of clients and their families.