LSLS Exam Study Session: Fall/Winter 2015

Are you a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) candidate planning to sit for the exam this fall or winter?  Join a virtual study session to sharpen your skills and prepare for success!

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Graduation: When Do We Finish with Therapy?

Long ago, many children with hearing loss received “speech therapy” well into their teen years and beyond.  Thanks to newborn hearing screening, early intervention, and great hearing technology, the world is changing!  Now, we find ourselves asking, “When is a child with hearing loss ready to graduate from auditory-verbal therapy?”  More correctly, because therapy is a family affair, we should really ask, “When is a family ready to graduate from AVT?”

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Are You Flexible?

Accomplished language users know that there are multiple ways to communicate the same message.  You could say, “I’m hungry” or I could say, “I’m starving/ famished/ peckish”  You could bluntly accuse someone of overreacting or gently prod them with, “Hey!  Don’t have a cow!”  You could ask a question directly, “Can you please turn on the air conditioning?” or as an indirect request, “It’s kind of hot in here, don’t you think?”  You may not be able to do the splits, but if you can say one thing in many different ways, you have an even more valuable skill: linguistic flexibility.

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All About Magnets

Whether you call it a coil, magnet, or headpiece, here are answers to your questions about the part of the cochlear implant processor that sticks to your head to communicate with the internal part of your device. 

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8/12-13/2015: An Evening for Parents and a Day for Professionals in Utah

I’m thrilled to be heading West this August to speak at the generous invitation of AG Bell Utah and Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind.   

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7/23/2015: Cochlear™ Facebook Q&A with an Auditory-Verbal Therapist

Join me on July 23rd, 2015 from 5-7PM Eastern Standard Time as I moderate a Facebook Q&A session sponsored by Cochlear! You can submit your questions live or ahead of time on the event page. CLICK HERE to RSVP!

Observing vs. Mindreading

When a child is very young and/or doesn’t talk much (… yet!) it seems like we (parents and professionals) suddenly seem to develop psychic abilities.  Mindreading means anticipating the child’s need or what the child is going to say, and taking care of it before giving the child a chance to ask for help or say anything at all.  While mindreading a baby’s needs is an important part of infant care, to help toddlers and children develop language, it’s time to put away the crystal ball.

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FREE POSTER: These Are NOT My Hearing Aids

Not HAs poster-2Feel free to download and share this poster to raise awareness of the importance of cochlear implants.  It may be used and shared for free in its original form with no edits and proper attribution.

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FREE POSTER: This Is NOT My Cochlear Implant

Feel free to download and share this poster to raise awareness of the importance of cochlear implants.  It may be used and shared for free in its original form with no edits and proper attribution.

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Dear Parents: I Believe In You

I see this “classroom letter” posted a lot on teachers’ Pinterest boards (and in their classrooms).  It’s a beautiful message, and I think we can all agree that it is important to help children feel safe, supported, and encouraged in their classrooms.  But what if we wrote this very same letter to the parents we serve?

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