College of Education and Health Professions

Douglas Watson, Ph.D.
Professor of Rehabilitation Education & Research
Rehabilitation, Human Resources, and Communication Disorders

Rehabilitation Research & Training Center for Persons Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
4601 West Markham St.
Little Rock, AR  72205
Phone: (501) 686-9691
FAX: (501) 686-9698
dwatson@uark.edu

Degrees:

Ph.D., Florida State University, Counselor Education, 1972
M.S.,  Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Counselor Education, 1969
B.S.,  Gallaudet College, Sociology, 1964

Teaching Areas:

Vocational and Psychological Evaluation of Persons who are Deaf
Counseling with Deaf People
Orientation to Deafness

Professional Biography:

Douglas Watson received his Ph.D., in Counselor Education from Florida State University in 1972.  He was an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of Training at the New York University Deafness Center from 1972 until 1982.  He has served as Director of the University of Arkansas Rehabilitation Research & Training Center for Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing since it began operation in 1982.  Dr. Watson holds the rank of Professor in the Rehabilitation Education & Research program within the College of Education and Health Professions, Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders.

Professor Watson has over 40 years of work experience in deafness rehabilitation. He has written or edited numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and monographs; and he has made more than 400 conference and training workshop presentations in deafness rehabilitation. He has taught more than 60 graduate and undergraduate classes in all areas of deaf education and rehabilitation.

He specializes in rehabilitation program and policy issues, ADA advocacy issues, career preparation and placement, clinical rehabilitation assessment services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and he provides leadership to Center efforts in those areas. Dr. Watson also serves as a program consultant to and provides technical assistance to numerous national, regional, and state research, training and service programs for persons who are deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing.  He has a long history of research, teaching, and service in the area of rehabilitation of persons who are hard of hearing or deaf and provides leadership to the design and development of new national initiatives for improving career preparation services for students with hearing loss.

Professor Watson is also very active in the nation’s efforts to improve the quality and availability of sign language interpreting services for persons who are deaf.  Since 1998, he has served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Interpretation, the professional journal of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.