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duke univcusity mc6icM ccnteR
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 33
AUGUST 20,1976
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Children Learn To Listen, Then To Speak
Acoustic Nursery Helps Hearing'lmpaired
By Ina Fried
The little girl's back is to the door.
As the teacher calls her name from
the doorway, she (juickly turns
around.
Responding to the sound of her
name is probably an everyday
reaction for most children. But for a
hearing-impaiied child, it's a major
accomplishment.
Kven with hearing aids, the
children in the Acoustic Nursery lack
normal hearing. I'hey must strain to
use whatever residual hearing they
have.
The nursery, which is part of the
Speech and Hearing Disorders
Program, is sup})orted by the medical
center and donations from private
groups. It serves hearing-impaired
children up to four years of age and
their j)arcnts.
Home-Centered Approach
rhe focuS of the program is a
homc-ccntered, parent-guided,
natural approach to language
learning, Ci a r o 1 \V i 1 s o n ,
coordinator-teachcr of the nursery,
explained.
The nuisery is divided into two
parts, the Parent-Infant Training
Program, which serves the recently
diagnosed child and parent, and the
Acoustic Nursery, which provides a
ni () re s t r u c t u r e d 1 e a r n i n g
enviromnent for the child.
"I encoinage parents to see
themselves as the child's natinal
teachei's, and I give them tools to
work with in teaching," explained
Susan McNair, coiniselor-tutor of the
Parent-Infant I l aining Program.
Counseling and Support
In a home-like setting. Mis.
"COME OUT, CLOWN!"—Leslie Funderburk, 2, sees that the
clown pops up when Susan McNair (center) calls him. At the
Parent-Infant Training Center of the Acoustic Nursery, Mrs.
McNair demonstrates how parents like Mrs. Leonard
Funderburk
Goldsboro
can use toys to encourage
hearing-impaired children like Leslie to use their voices.
(Photo by Thad Sparks)
.McNair first provides coimseling and
suppoi t for the parents, who have to
face the fact that their child's hearing
is impaired, and who may have
feelings of guilt or frustration.
(Continued on page 3)
Six Faculty Members Named
In Medical Center Promotions
Physical Therapy Chairman
Heads National Association
1 he chairman ot the Department
of Physical Therapy has been elected
president of the American Physical
Therapy Association.
ROBERT C. BARTLETT
Rol)ert C;. Bartlett was chosen to
head the 26,0 0 0 -m e m b e r
organization at its annual meeting in
New Orleans. The association is the
primary representative of phvsical
therapists in the United States with
chapters in every state. It helps the
federal government formulate
national policy relating to physical
therapy.
Bartlett came to Duke earlier this
year from the State L'nivei sity of New
V'ork's Downstate Medical ('enter,
where he was professor and
chairman of the Program in Physical
Therapy. He previously had worked
at the New York University Medical
(Center as well as the UnitecI C^ereln al
Palsy Association of New York State.
A graduate of Springfield (Mass.)
Ciollege, he earned a certificate in
physical tiierapy at New York
University's Jkhool of Kducation in
1957 and a master's degree in
physical tliej apy there in 1959.
Six promotions on the medical
tenter faculty ha\e been announced
by Provost Trelei ic N. Cleaveland.
Dr. Wesley A. Cook Jr., 40, was
promoted to asscKiate professor of
neurosurgery. He is a native of
Tiesno, Ualif., and received his
medical degree at the University of
Oregon Medical School in 1963. He
came here as an intern in 1963 and
later spent two years at the University
of Pisa. Italy, on a special
postdocMJral fellow-ship from the
National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Stuart Handwerger, 37, was
promoted to assKiate professor of
pediatiics. .A native of Baltimore,
Md., he received his M.D. at the
L niversitx of .Maryland School of
Medicine. He came to Duke in 1971
from Harvard Medical School, w here
he was a fellow in endocrinology and
a teaching fellow in medicine. He was
ap|)ointed as chief of the pediatric
endocrine division and will continue
to serve in that capacity and as
assistant professor of physiology and
l)harmacology.
Dr. Gerald A. Serwer, 30, has been
named assistant professor of
pediatrics. He is a native of
Oklahoma and received his medical
tlegree from Duke in 1972. He
remained here as an intern, resident
and fellow in pediatric cardiology.
Dr. J. Bolling Sullivan, 36, was
jjromoted to associate professor of
biochemistry. A native of Rome, Ga.,
he received his Ph.D. at the
University of Texas at Austin in
1966. He came here that year as a
National Institutes of Health
postdoctoral fellow.
Nancy F. Woods, 29, was
promoted to asscKiate professor of
nursing. The Kau Claire, Wis., native
is a gracUiate of Wisconsin State and
earned her master's degree in
nursing at the University of
Washington in 1969. A Duke faculty
member for the past four years, she
has studied biostatistics and
environmental sciences at the
University of North Carolina and
currently is working toward a
dcKtorate in epidemiology.
Karen K. Yoder, 29, was named
assistant professor of nursing. A
native of Ciarnett, Kan., she was an
instructor at Parkview Methodist
Sch(M)l of Nursing, Fort Wayne, Ind.,
foi* two years before she received her
.Master of Nursing degree at Emory
University in 1973. She came here in
1974 as an instructor in the School of
Nursing.