Education portfolio

Within our training activities we prepare future special needs teachers for the professional educational assessment and education or therapy of children and adults from early intervention to complex rehabilitation
in the following four fields: hearing impairments; visual impairments; physical disabilities; and voice, speech and communication disorders. In addition to the theoretical training, we familiarise students with the latest practical experiences of group and individual therapies in special needs and mainstream institutions.

Research activities
Our colleagues conduct research in the following specialisation-specific and multi-disciplinary areas:
• the speech development of hearing and children with hearing impairments; school and social inclusion; special needs rehabilitation after cochlear implantation; the development of the identity of deaf and hard of hearing persons; modern pedoaudiological and early intervention procedures; hearing impairment and associated disabilities;
• in the field of the education of and therapy for people with physical disabilities, emphasis is placed
on the following: motor learning; adapted physical education and sport; the testing of upper limb movement; the reading and writing of persons/ students with physical disabilities; occupational therapy; research in multiple disabilities; complex special needs; health checks and employment options for persons with disabilities;
• in speech therapy, research activities range from basic research to exploration supporting speech pathology, assessment and therapy (including sound analysis, the acoustic analysis of speech, the formation and solidification of the phoneme system, the early acquisition of vocabulary, the assessment of speech development disorders and the domestic adaptation of international findings on assessing school readiness). The research objectives include the creation of a Hungarian language speech database with recordings of persons with atypical speech development; the most important research themes in the specialisation of visual disabilities include the coping strategies of families with children with visual disabilities, the cognitive background of Braille, reading disorders, and sports and leisure activities for persons with visual disabilities.

Partnerships

The specialisation staff of the Institute are in contact with several national and international organisations and institutions of higher education as well as research centres. In a number of international initiatives, we have
collaborated with experts from the Nazareth College, Rochester (USA), Technische Universität Dortmund and le Comité Permanent de Liaison des Orthophonistes et Logopédistes de l’Union Européenne. One of our colleagues is Associate Editor at the International Journal of Rehabilitation Research.

Contact

E-mail: gymri@barczi.elte.hu
Telephone: (+36–1) 358–5559