Exposure to Disability and Hearing Loss Narratives in Undergraduate Audiology Curriculum

Purpose To determine whether exposure to disability and hearing loss narratives increased undergraduate communication sciences and disorders (CSD) students' affective responses to scenarios of individuals with hearing impairment. Method Thirty-five CSD undergraduates responded to 8 scenarios (K. English, L. L. Mendel, T. Rojeski, & J. Hornak, 1999). Sixteen students completed a course in audiologic rehabilitation with no exposure to disability and hearing loss narratives; 19 students completed the same course with exposure. Two audiologists, independent and blind to group status, rated the 35 student responses for affective and technical content. Results Students exposed to the narratives incorporated more affective elements into their technical responses than students not exposed. Conclusions Narratives appear to be effective in increasing affective elements in students' technical/informational responses and may have a place and be of value in undergraduate CSD curriculum.