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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'Incorporating Lessons from Neurodevelopment to Inform Clinical Practice: Optimizing Language & Listening Outcomes' Track: 3 - Language Acquisition and Development Keyword(s): neurodevelopment, functional language, listening comprehension, cochlear implants, hearing aids, clinical practice Learning Objectives: Differentiate access to sound and comprehension of language. Identify a minimum of three strategies for improving language-based outcomes in deaf and hard of hearing children who can benefit from the use of hearing aids or cochlear implants. Discuss a minimum of two ways in which understanding of neurodevelopment can inform the interventions and supports that are used for deaf and hard of hearing children who use assistive listening technologies. Abstract: Many deaf and hard of hearing children are well able to benefit from hearing aids and cochlear implants, showing outcomes on par with expectations for hearing peers. Yet, despite good auditory access, some children who are cochlear implant or hearing aid users are not developing appropriate, functional language skills. For those children, a gap exists between their solid access to sound and their reduced ability to make sense of what they hear. Drawing from the fields of speech-language pathology, psychology, audiology, deaf education, language acquisition and neurocognition, this presentation will examine current practices in listening and language training in light of known factors associated with neurodevelopment. Understanding how the brain makes sense of sound and optimizing its ability to do so can lead to improved comprehension. This has direct implications for intervention, service provision, parental guidance, and overall programming for children who use hearing aids or cochlear implants. In light of better understanding of language, cognitive and neurodevelopmental processes, additional suggestions are offered for closing the gap between what is heard and what is understood. The aim of this presentation is to highlight means of promoting not only access to sound for children who can benefit from assistive listening technologies, but also to foster access to meaning. Presentation: This presentation has not yet been uploaded or the speaker has opted not to make the presentation available online. Handouts: Handout is not Available CART: CART Transcription is not Available
PRESENTER(S) / AUTHOR(S) INFORMATION
Greg Licameli - Author Boston Childrens Hospital       Amy Szarkowski - Primary Presenter,POC Boston Children's Hospital & Harvard Medical School      Credentials: PhD in Clinical Psychology      Other Affiliations: Instructor in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Psychologist, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, Boston Children's Hospital; Adjunct Instructor at Gallaudet University & Tufts University       Dr. Szarkowski is a Psychologist in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Boston Children's Hospital. Her work there involves conducting developmental and psychological assessments, providing support to Deaf and hard of hearing children and their families through short-term therapy, and advocating for appropriate supports and accommodations to meet childrens' needs. Dr. Szarkowski also holds an appointment as Instructor at Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. She teaches in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers and Families Collaboration and Leadership program at Gallaudet University, as well as in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist. Denise Eng - Co-Presenter Children's Hospital Boston      Credentials: Denise Fournier Eng, MA, CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist       Denise Fournier Eng Denise Fournier Eng, MA, CCC-SLP, a contributing author for this resource, is a speech-language clinician with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program of Boston Children’s Hospital and a member of the hospital’s Cochlear Implant Team. Mrs. Eng has worked in private school programs for deaf and hard of hearing children, public school settings, and in early intervention. She has taught in the deaf education master’s degree program at Boston University and at Framingham State College and Emerson College. Mrs. Eng has coordinated several partnerships in the community and with museums to support accessible opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children and their families, created parent education programming and in-service training programs for public school personnel, and presented at numerous regional and national conferences.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist. Elizabeth Erickson O'Neill - Author Boston Children's Hospital      Credentials: AuD, CCC-A       Dr. Erickson O'Neill is an audiologist at Boston Children's Hospital. Susan Mumby Gibbons - Author Boston Children's Hospital      Credentials: AuD, CCC-A/SLP       Dr. Gibbons is an audiologist and speech-language pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital. Jennifer Harris - Author Boston Children's Hospital      Credentials: AuD       Dr. Harris is an audiologist at Boston Children's Hospital. Jennifer Johnston - Author Boston Children's Hospital      Credentials: EdD, CCC-SLP       Dr. Johnston is a speech-language pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital.