Hearing First

This popular learning experience is now available as a self-study! Theory of Mind (ToM) is critical for children with hearing loss because it supports the development of empathy, compassion, social skills, critical thinking, and reading skills.

In this engaging course, you'll learn:
✅ What Theory of Mind is
✅ How it develops
✅ What aspects of daily life it impacts
✅ Why children with hearing loss tend to struggle in this area
✅ How we can help

Sign up now to learn at your own pace: https://bit.ly/3Mzdq3O

Parents of children with CMV, mark your calendars for the National CMV Foundation's CMV family support group online on September 19.

Mark your calendars for our next 'Care to Talk' session. 💙

Join our CMV family support group on Thursday, September 19th at 8 PM EST. 📅

Pre-registration is required. Use the QR code or go here to register: https://ow.ly/pWoj50STkKt

For questions email: [email protected]

Don't miss this pediatric audiology course to learn about special considerations for children with single-sided deafness. Learn alongside other professionals and explore the incidence of single-sided and unilateral hearing loss and considerations for hearing aids, bone conduction devices, CROS devices, remote microphone systems, and cochlear implants.

Save Your Seat: https://bit.ly/476HywT

Register by: September 30

Mention a mama who is a super-HEAR-o! Let’s all lift up and encourage each other as we head back to school and back to routines. ⭐

Reading aloud to your child with hearing loss is one of the best ways to grow their listening and language skills! 📕 📘📙

💡 Need ideas for keeping their attention? Try creating your own lift-the-flap book to add the element of surprise! Here's how: https://bit.ly/4cr7OmM

Did you know that remote mics help children hear 42% more words?

AND that’s not all – remote mics also help:
⭐ Improve attention
⭐ Increase a child’s independence and confidence
⭐ Support language, vocabulary, and literacy skills

As your little learner goes back to school, let teachers and caregivers know these benefits and encourage them to use remote mics in the classroom to help your child have a Grade-A school year!

To learn more about remote mics, download the infographic here: https://bit.ly/4cvJ7pb

Parents, we are all ears when it comes to our little one's hearing – which is why your baby’s failed newborn hearing screening might leave you with more questions than answers. 💕

There are several factors that influence the results of the newborn hearing screening. In this video, learn from a pediatric audiologist as they explain some of the common factors behind a failed hearing screening and what it can mean. 👶
https://bit.ly/3WQDJae

It can be hard to remember everything you want to say to your child’s teacher ahead of the new school year. We have a fillable worksheet to help you make the most of those conversations and express your child’s needs.🦻

Check out our NEW fillable worksheet to continue the conversation with teachers: https://bit.ly/3AgtWmf

Did your family love watching the Olympics? Us too! And hearing all the commentary reminded us of a favorite LSL Strategy: Play-by-Play! 🥇

Now you can be the sports commentator at home! Give a play-by-play as you narrate everything you and your little one do. This is an easy way to introduce them to new words and grow their vocabulary.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4dEoRDn

Back-to-school season means getting those backpacks ready to go! Turn preparing for school into a fun and engaging activity with your child to get them ready for the first day – all while practicing their auditory memory skills! 🎉

These learning games are designed to help your child who’s deaf or hard of hearing work on sequencing.

(1) Pack Your Backpack (Kindergarten and up): This game uses the LSL strategy It’s Your Turn.
Have your child begin, saying: “In my backpack, I have paper.”
You then add an item: “In my backpack, I have paper and an apple.”
And your child continues: “In my backpack, I have paper, an apple, and markers.” You can continue adding items for more practice.

(2) Pack Your Backpack (Preschool): This game uses the LSL strategy Hear It Before You See It.
Parent: “Will you get your paper and glue?” (Child completes task.)
Parent: “Great, now get your markers, scissors, and crayons!” (Child completes task.)
Parent: “Perfect! Will you get your lunch, tissues, hat, and wet wipes?“

Take an adventure march with your little one to expose them to sounds they may not have heard before. On the walk you can say, "I hear the sound of our footsteps! Listen! Our footsteps go crunch-crunch through the leaves." And then see how they respond.

When you stop and listen, name, and describe what you are hearing, you are encouraging ear contact before eye contact. This helps your little one to connect sounds with words and develop strong listening skills, especially when they are first learning.

It really does take a village. 🏠 And for your child with hearing loss, your little one’s caregivers and teachers are an important part of your village.

Developing positive parent-teacher relationships, communicating early and consistently, and empowering them with the understanding they need to best support your child will make a BIG difference in giving everyone a great back-to-school experience!

Here are some ideas to try:
🤝 Schedule a Meeting with Your Child’s Teachers to introduce yourself
📖 Tell Your Child’s Story – with the teacher or even help your child share their story with their class!
🌟 Share Your Positive Expectations For Your Child & The School Year
🎤 Train Your Child’s Teacher on Remote Mic Systems
✉️ Establish Lines of Communication for Regular Updates

Still wondering how to get the conversation going with your child’s teachers?

Download our NEW fillable worksheet to use as a script when meeting with your child’s teachers! https://bit.ly/4fCSciI

Try these 5 tips for building self-advocacy skills for your child!

Self advocacy is taking responsibility to communicate your needs. What does it look like?

👉 Speaking up for yourself
👉 Making decisions
👉 Solving problems
👉 Asking for support

That sounds like a lot for a young child, but these are important skills they'll need later in life so you want to start developing their self-advocacy early! It’s especially important for children who are deaf or hard of hearing to be their own advocate.

Looking for more self-advocacy tips? Check out this article! https://bit.ly/3LOvUwH

📣 Talk, Read, Sing, Play: The Key to Building Listening and Spoken Language Skills 📣

Wonder what’s the best way to grow your child’s brain and get them ready for school, friends, and life? It’s YOU! When you talk, read, sing, and play with your child, you’re creating an environment that encourages them to develop their listening and speaking abilities — while also having fun!

💬 Talk
📚 Read
🎵 Sing
🧸 Play

Follow along with this video to learn how to talk, read, sing, and play to build your baby’s language and learning! https://bit.ly/3WC98NM

How do you help give your child a voice to speak up for themselves?

Self-advocacy skills start when your kids are young. The earlier you build a foundation for these, the sooner they’ll be able to speak for themselves. These skills are important for children to have as they enter a new school year so they can feel confident and comfortable!

For younger kids with hearing loss, there are several things you can do to start teaching them to speak up and advocate for their own needs:

🦻 Name devices and parts.
🗣️ Talk about batteries and communicate when devices aren’t working.
⏱️ Practice putting devices on together.
🙋 Practice asking for help.
✏️ Teach them how to ask for more information when they aren’t sure.
⭐ Role-play how they can respond if other kids or teachers have questions.

Learn more tips for teaching your child age-appropriate self-advocacy skills in this video: https://bit.ly/3Sxnbmt

Want to learn about four landmark research studies associated with children who are deaf or hard of hearing?

Check out this upcoming free course to learn from expert facilitators. Explore the latest updates in each study and find how the results might influence care provided for infants and children with hearing loss throughout 2024 and beyond.

Save Your Seat: https://bit.ly/4d9g6Ra

Register by: September 3

Take advantage of this new audiology course🦻

Join like-minded learners to explore what has been termed the most successful neural prosthetic - cochlear implants. This course will delve into cochlear implant programming, verification, and validation while exploring how multidisciplinary teams can collaborate to help children with hearing loss achieve their full potential.

DETAILS:
• CE credits from AG Bell, ASHA, and AAA available
• Live session dates: Thursdays, Sept 5, 12, 19, 26 at 8-9 p.m. ET
• Facilitator: René Gifford, PhD, CCC-A

💡 Register by August 30: https://bit.ly/4c9i3Ml

It’s not too early to start back-to-school preparations!

Team up for success with your child’s teachers.

Here are a few ideas to make back-to-school as smooth as possible:
📓 Make a one-page information sheet for the first day.
✉️ Email your child’s teacher ahead of time.
💯 Set up a procedure for care and use of hearing aids or cochlear implants, as well as an FM/ remote mic system with your child’s teacher.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4c6hzqa

Playtime is so much more than just fun and giggles for kids. 😃 It's their natural way of learning about the world!

Playtime helps them develop skills and reach milestones related to:
✅ Listening
✅ Talking
✅ Socializing

It also creates a safe space for exploration, learning, understanding, and practice.

Discover Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) play ideas for the playground: https://bit.ly/3LFcUAI

"I finished my high school career with a 4.0 GPA. I took four AP classes. I graduated in the top 10% in a class of 600 students, and I'm the only one with hearing loss." -Morgan

See what Morgan and her sister, Katie, are up to now:

Choosing Listening and Spoken Language Finding out your child has been identified with hearing loss can be a lot for a family to process. You’re faced with new terms, procedures, people, and servi...

Here's the scoop: ice cream cones (or any tasty treats!) offer all kinds of fun opportunities to learn new words.🍦 Sprinkle your child's snack time with new words & vocabulary!

Try having them practice how to order ice cream: “I would like a chocolate ice cream cone please! And sprinkles!"

🌟 After learning your child is deaf or hard of hearing, you might be wondering, "What hearing technology is appropriate for my child?" 💭

From hearing aids to cochlear implants, the technology works to deliver sound to your baby’s brain. 👶

Many factors go into determining if a child with hearing loss is a candidate for cochlear implants, including:

👶 A child’s age
🔊 Amount or severity of hearing loss
🗣️ Speech and language development
👂 Functional listening abilities

Learn more about these factors in this week’s video from a pediatric audiologist. 🎥

https://bit.ly/46iiP8l

Today is the final day to register: Inner Ear Doesn't Just Hear: Pediatric Vestibular Considerations and Assessment

The inner ear does much more than just hear! In this advanced course, learners will explore example cases, assessment techniques, and common causes relating to vestibular dysfunction - a commonly overlooked disorder in children with hearing loss.

Details:
- CE credits from AG Bell, ASHA, and AAA available
- Live session dates: Mondays, July 29, Aug 5, 12 at 8-9 p.m. ET
- Registration closes: July 23
- Facilitator: Violette Lavender, AuD, CCC-A

Save your seat: https://bit.ly/4eNhpXq

Getting ready for your child's first trip with their hearing device? ✈️ Whether it’s their first trip ever with their hearing aid or cochlear implant or just their first trip in a while, we’ve got you covered!

👉 Save this checklist to make sure you have everything your child with hearing loss needs to hear all the new words, sounds, and experiences!

Get more travel tips: https://bit.ly/3P53pwZ

Are you and your family prepared for an emergency at home? For families of children with hearing loss, there are extra things to consider!

Now's the perfect time to get ready for the unexpected. Here are 6 safety tips to get you started!

NEW Free Summer Learning Experience: Auditory Teaching of Children with Hearing Loss: Assessment to Intervention

This course offers an in-depth look into the “learning to listen” process for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children with hearing loss. Because evaluations of a child’s auditory functioning are crucial to providing the best care, learners will explore assessment tips, tools, and tests as well as how to make the best use of a child’s hearing devices.

This information can be applied right away with infants to school-aged children no matter where they are on their listening journey.

Details:
- CE credits from AG Bell and ASHA available
- Live session dates: Tuesdays, Aug 20, 27, Sept 3, 10 at 8-9 p.m. ET
- Facilitator: Donald Goldberg, PhD, CCC-SLP/A, LSLS Cert. AVT

Register by 8/14: https://bit.ly/3Loj7kz