2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
3/06/2023 | 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Getting Ready to be Readers: Preliteracy During the EHDI Period | DECC 232
Getting Ready to be Readers: Preliteracy During the EHDI Period
Literacy achievement has long been a concern of parents and professionals working with deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. Recent research has found that age-appropriate reading skills are possible for many of today's DHH elementary schoolers to achieve (e.g., Mayer et al., 2021; Smolen et al., 2020). But the road to successful reading begins long before formal schooling. In fact, the early intervention (EI) period provides many opportunities for parents and professionals to facilitate preliteracy skills.
This presentation will explore preliteracy development for DHH infants and toddlers as they are getting ready to become successful readers. Results of a longitudinal study of reading achievement in DHH children enrolled in specialized listening and spoken language intervention show that while basic reading skills, including phonological awareness, are generally strong for this population, challenges with reading fluency may impact reading comprehension for some. A comparison of prereading skills of a subset of study participants–one cohort of DHH children enrolled in prekindergarten in 2018-19 (n = 16) and another cohort enrolled in prekindergarten in 2021-22 (n = 30) suggests that interruptions in EI due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant differences in reading readiness for these cohorts.
How can parents and professionals strengthen DHH infants’ and toddlers’ prereading skills, even as the pandemic continues to impact service delivery? Strategies for targeting preliteracy through shared book reading, routines-based language learning, mental state talk, and auditory memory will be presented, along with tools to track the development of these skills in very young children.
- Describe skills involved in early reading achievement for infants and toddlers
- Discuss the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the development of early reading skills for DHH pre-kindergarteners
- Apply strategies to develop foundational reading skills with DHH infants and toddlers and their families
Presentation:
3420032_15582ElaineSmolen.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Elaine Smolen
(Primary Presenter), Teachers College, Columbia University, elaine.smolen@gmail.com;
Elaine Smolen, PhD, CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Special Education: Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research work centers around language and literacy development for young deaf and hard of hearing children who use listening and spoken language. Smolen received her PhD in deaf and hard of hearing education from Columbia as a National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities scholar. An experienced teacher of the deaf and certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Smolen has served young children with hearing loss and their families as a head classroom teacher and in an itinerant role. She holds teaching certification in the areas of deaf education, elementary education, and English.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Receives Salary for Employment from University of Connecticut.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Personal (hard of hearing, wears hearing aids)
relationship for Other volunteer activities.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Teachers College, Columbia University
University of Connecticut.
Nature: hard of hearing, wears hearing aids.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Maria Hartman
(Co-Presenter), Teachers College, Columbia University, mch33@columbia.edu;
Maria Hartman, Ph.D., is a NYS certified Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with many years of classroom teaching experience. She is currently a lecturer and the director of the the Program of Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Teachers College, Columbia University.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Brynne Powell
(Co-Presenter), Teachers College, Columbia University, bp2628@tc.columbia.edu;
Brynne Powell is currently pursuing her PhD in deaf education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked as a teacher of the deaf in both public school and OPTION school settings, mostly with preschool-age deaf and hard of hearing children and their families. Brynne received a master’s degree in deaf education from Smith College as well as a Master of Public Health degree from Loyola University Chicago, specializing in public policy and management. Her research interests include theory of mind and social emotional development in deaf and hard of hearing children, spoken language acquisition, caregiver involvement in education, and federal and state policy regarding deaf and hard of hearing education.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Thekra Alruwaili
(Co-Author), Teachers College, Columbia University, tra2120@tc.columbia.edu;
Thekra Alruwaili is currently pursuing her PhD in deaf education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Thekra received a master’s degree in deaf education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked for four years as a teacher assistant at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Thekra is a founder of the Development and Behavior Disorders Center (DBDC), in Saudi Arabia. Thekra worked as a specialist at DBDC for four years. Her research interests are language acquisition and literacy development for deaf and hard of hearing children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -