2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
3/05/2019 | 9:40 AM - 10:40 AM | Multisensory Integration and Aural Habilitation for Children with Reduced Hearing | International B/C
Multisensory Integration and Aural Habilitation for Children with Reduced Hearing
Despite the enormous audiologic benefit that many children with reduced hearing receive from both hearing assistive technologies and the provision of direct services aimed to support their development, numerous children with reduced hearing continue to perform below expectation in their ability to demonstrate age-appropriate functional use of language skills (Meizen-Derr et al., 2017).
The presenters, an audiologist who also has a background in speech-language pathology and a psychologist with experience in working with deaf and hard of hearing children, wished to explore why the on-going gap in performance might exist. They delved into the current research in cognitive neuroscience and hearing science to explore brain-based habilitation strategies for improving childrens’outcomes. As an important part of examining how the brain processes information, the presenters explored the science behind multisensory integration (MSI). MSI is the process by which different sensory systems, such as sight, touch, smell, and taste, are combined to influence perceptions, decisions, and overt behaviors (Stein, Stanford, & Rowland, 2009). Studies suggest that the brains of all infants and children (including those who are deaf, who have reduced hearing, and/or who ulitize hearing assistance technology) benefit from the input of multiple senses. Cognitive neuroscience and hearing science suggest significant benefit to engaging multiple modalities for communication and increasing the amount of information that is accessible to infants and young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This presentation introduces recent research regarding the benefits of MSI, and contrasts the findings in the literature with current rehabilitation methods that focus on the training of a single sense alone. The presenters will argue that intervention and support strategies should be informed by science. As a result, they will propose modifications to current rehabilitation methods for infants and children who have reduced hearing, yet are able to benefit from auditory input.
- Describe a minimum of three benefits to using principles from multisensory integration (MSI) in aural habilitation of young children with reduced hearing.
- List at least one potential positive impact of utilizing MSI approaches to improve both memory and social processing.
- Identify two or more drawbacks to employing aural habilitation approaches that focus on the input from a single sense.
Presentation:
18878_10313SusanGibbons.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Amy Szarkowski
(Co-Presenter), Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf, amyszarkowski@cccbsd.org;
Amy Szarkowski, PhD, is the Director of The Institute at the Children's Center for Communication/ Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD), and faculty for LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities), at Boston Children's Hospital. She is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from CCCBSD.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf and University of Massachusetts Boston.
Nature: Employment.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Susan Gibbons
(Primary Presenter), Boston Children's Hospital, susan.gibbons@childrens.harvard.edu;
Susan Mumby Gibbons has been an Audiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital since 2011. She received her Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology and her Doctor of Audiology from Northeastern University. Her professional interests include cochlear implants and habilitative audiology. She is a dual-certified member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and has her Pediatric and Cochlear Implant Specialty Certifications through the American Board of Audiology.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -