Schools
$250,000 Gift to Help Fontbonne's Communication Disorders and Deaf Education Department
The Clayton school announced the anonymous donation Thursday.
A $250,000 donation from an anonymous source will help fund scholarships and other projects at 's communication disorders and deaf education department. The school announced the gift Thursday in a news release.
“In the United States, two out of every 1,000 infants are born profoundly deaf, approximately 3 million children have a hearing loss, and one out of every 20 people has a speech, language or hearing disorder,” stated Dr. Gale Rice, the department's chair. “This gift will help us educate compassionate, knowledgeable professionals needed by so many in this field.”
The money will be divided into three segments to support:
- 12 yearly communication disorders and deaf education scholarships over a five-year period.
- the Development Language Group Family Observatory and Therapy Rooms, part of The Eardley Family Clinic for Speech, Language and Hearing. The public clinic serves people with communication disorders.
- the department's biannual Family Augmentative and Alternative Communication Family Theater Camp.
The department offers degrees in deaf education, speech-language pathology and early intervention in deaf education. It graduates roughly 50 students each year.
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