Tag Archives: Auditory Verbal Therapy

No More Naked Crafts!

I love making crafts with children in therapy. It provides a great way to engage children in a variety of pre-academic and fine motor skills while working on objectives in language, listening, and speech. Making something beautiful in therapy gives children a “talking point” to show off to friends and family members throughout the week,Continue reading “No More Naked Crafts!”

Let’s Make a Book!

If you give a therapist a book… she’s going to want to make one more. Here are some ideas for creating books in therapy to help develop children’s language and pre-literacy skills, as well as to encourage home carry-over of therapy objectives.

Phonological Awareness for Children with Hearing Loss

Phonological Awareness is the ability to detect, identify, and manipulate sounds and syllables in words. Phonological Awareness skills are CRUCIAL predictors of a child’s reading success. Children with hearing loss CAN develop phonological skills through listening.

The Catch-Up Game: Children Who Receive Cochlear Implants “Late”

Lots of attention in the CI world is focused on children implanted young — often before one year of age.  Research shows us that children who receive implants before two years of age have a significant advantage in the development of auditory, speech, and language skills (see Svirsky et, al, 2004 and Nicholas and Geers, 2007).

Crafts, Concepts, and Critical Elements

Arts and crafts projects are about far more the cutting, pasting, and bedazzling until your fingers are sore — they’re also a great way to work on critical elements and basic concepts (see explanations of these terms below).

What to Do While Waiting for Your Baby’s Cochlear Implant

Currently, the United States Food and Drug Administration recommends cochlear implants for children twelve months of age or older.  While many surgeons are operating on children under this age (remember, it is just a guideline, not a rule or law, and research has shown no increased safety concerns in operations before twelve months; see Dettman et. al,Continue reading “What to Do While Waiting for Your Baby’s Cochlear Implant”

Too Much of a Good Thing: Technology, Apps, and Auditory Verbal Therapy

I love technology.  I love the ability it gives me to communicate with people around the world about the miracle of cochlear implants and listening and spoken language.  I love that, though Facebook, Twitter, and teletherapy services I am able to reach out to people with hearing loss, parents, and professionals to share information, advice, ideas, and support.  When usedContinue reading “Too Much of a Good Thing: Technology, Apps, and Auditory Verbal Therapy”

Dominican Republic 2011: Part III

The poverty of the Dominican Republic struck me in various ways during various parts of the trip, as I described above, but when it really hit home for me was when I was changing my money as I prepared to leave at the airport.

10 Quick and Easy Things You Can Do Today to Help Your Child Learn to Listen and Talk

Having a child with hearing loss can be overwhelming at times.  Between the therapy appointments, new jargon to learn, and keeping those hearing aids/cochlear implants on, it’s easy to drown in the routine of each day.  In the early stages, it often seems like an impossible dream that your child will one day learn toContinue reading “10 Quick and Easy Things You Can Do Today to Help Your Child Learn to Listen and Talk”