2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
| Heading Towards Kindergarten: Appreciating and Adapting to the Impact of Covid on Identification, Language Opportunities and Parent Support
Heading Towards Kindergarten: Appreciating and Adapting to the Impact of Covid on Identification, Language Opportunities and Parent Support
Children born during the Covid 19 pandemic turn four this year. They are entering preschool programs and are rapidly heading for kindergarten. Research to identify the impact on language development for these children is ongoing, with areas of study ranging from parent-child interaction to issues of equity and school readiness. These issues are exacerbated for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, for whom early screening and identification of hearing loss, and implementation of high quality early intervention and parent coaching are known to be essential for brain development. The EHDI 1 – 3 – 6 model has been carefully conceived and implemented; and analysis of the impact of delays in screening, identification and intervention is critical. Appreciating the reality of families’ lived experience during the pandemic informs effective changes in practice to better serve Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, their families, and the providers and teachers who support them.
This presentation reflects evidence-based practice including review of current research on language development during the Covid era; an overview of children who presented as late-identified or lost to follow-up in our practice; and case studies reflecting parent and clinician report, along with child presentation, suggestive of reduced access to language opportunities due to challenges during the pandemic and beyond. The session concludes with development of practices and recommendations to address areas of need with an eye towards guiding success in the school setting.
- Explain adjustments to hearing screening/evaluation during quarantine
- Give examples of challenges in accessing Early Intervention and language opportunities
- Design compensatory strategies and recommendations to address ongoing parent stress and child language opportunities
Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Denise Eng
(Primary Presenter), Children's Hospital Boston, denise.eng@childrens.harvard.edu;
Denise Fournier Eng, MA, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist 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. One of the joys of Denise’s professional life has been training new speech-language pathologists who have gone on to specialize in supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and their families. Teaching responsibilities have included instructor positions 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 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. She is the co-author of High and Appropriate Expectations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: The Role of Assessment (2014), and has presented at regional, national, and international conferences, including the Family-Centred Early Intervention Congress for Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Bad Ischl, Austria in 2018. Mrs. Eng is passionate about addressing issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion, including an ASHA Boston 2023 presentation on Access and Advocacy for DHH Students.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Boston Children's Hospital.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (American Speech-Language Hearing Association)
relationship for Other volunteer activities.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Boston Children's Hospital.
Nature: Member American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick
(Author), Boston Children's Hospital, kaitlyn.fitzpatrick@childrens.harvard.edu;
Kate DeFonzo is an audiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Director of the BCH Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. She earned her doctoral degree in Audiology from Gallaudet University, a bilingual and bicultural university designed to educate those who are- and who wish to work with- Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. For several years, Kate served as an instructor in the Peer Mentoring Program for adults with hearing loss who wish to provide supportive services to other deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, and most recently was a fellow of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilites (LEND) Program through the Maternal Child Health Bureau and Institute for Community Inclusion. Kate’s combined experience affords her to be a valuable resource for children and their families.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Serena Yuré
(Co-Presenter), Boston Children's Hospital, serena.yure@childrens.harvard.edu;
Serena Yuré is a speech-language pathologist in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. Ms. Yuré brings a decade of experience working as an SLP at the Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf, fluency in American Sign Language, and expertise in use of assistive technology to her work with DHH children and their families. Serena was part of an interprofessional, multi-institutional study group examining the brain and language, culminating in a poster session at ASHA Boston 2018. She has also offered a Lunch and Learn workshop on parent strategies for language stimulation through the CCC/BSD Clinic. Ms. Yuré’s inquisitive and thoughtful approach to her work make her a valued teammate and an invaluable support for the families she serves.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Boston Children's Hospital.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (ASHA member)
relationship for Other volunteer activities.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Boston Children's Hospital .
Nature: ASHA member.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Nicole Salamy
(Co-Author), Boston Children's Hospital, nicole.salamy@childrens.harvard.edu;
Nicole Salamy graduated with a Master of Science degree from Boston University. She is currently a speech-language pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital. Previously, she was a speech-language pathologist at The Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham, MA for 14 years. Nicole's experience includes working with a variety of children with hearing loss, some who have hearing aids and cochlear implants and others who do not. Her clinical work also includes working with children who have apraxia of speech, cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder. She has enjoyed presenting at a variety of conferences throughout the country.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Lillian Brown
(Co-Author), Boston Children's Hosptial, lillian.brown@childrens.harvard.edu;
Lillian Brown received her undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University and her graduate training in speech-language pathology at Boston University. Lillian worked as a research assistant in the Child Language and Literacy Lab at Vanderbilt and in the Language Acquisition and Visual Attention Lab at BU. Ms. Brown presented a poster session at ASHA Boston 2018, discussing her findings on the modality of communication in parents and their Deaf children using both ASL and Spoken English. She brings her research background, her experience as an SLP at The Learning Center for the Deaf, fluency in American Sign Language and a creative, collaborative spirit to her work in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. Lillian is passionate in her believe that all children must develop a strong language foundation to promote literacy skills and social/emotional development. She demonstrates creativity and innovation in her clinical work, expanding her expertise to include working with children with single-sided deafness and single-sided cochlear implants. Lillian is an exceptional team member and collaborator, most recently working with her colleagues in the Voice and Resonance Program at BCH to develop a poster session for ASHA Boston 2023.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -