2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/10/2025 | 3:10 PM - 3:40 PM | Priming Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children for Success with Reading | 320
Priming Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children for Success with Reading
The ability to become a fluent reader requires a child to have strong language comprehension and the ability to decode. Children need to have a good vocabulary and verbal reasoning which is based on the understanding and ability to use a variety of language structures. In addition, children need to have interacted with books and developed phonological awareness, phone-grapheme correspondence, and alphabet awareness. Historically, a large majority of deaf and hard of hearing children struggle to acquire reading skills beyond the fourth-grade level. One factor playing a role in this limited achievement level is lack of complete access to a language during the early years of development. One factor contributing to this issue is inconsistent and ambiguous access to complete auditory information of language throughout the day. Another factor is that hearing parents do not have knowledge of or fluency in a visual language. Acquiring a second language, such as American Sign Language, is time consuming. A strategy to mitigate these issues is to teach the parents how to convey their native language visually using a cued language, thus providing visual access to the language of the home. Parents can fully communicate with their child throughout the day whether the child is using amplification or not (bedtime, bath time, through a window, in the ball pit, while recovering from surgery after implantation, when hearing aid batteries die, etc.). By having consistent visual access to the phonemic stream of a language from the time of identification of hearing differences, these children can acquire the knowledge of the language and books needed before entering school. Presenters will provide an overview of research supporting the use of a cued language in the development of both language and auditory skills which in turn lead to priming children for success with reading and school.
- Participants will be able to articulate the skills required for the development of reading fluency.
- Participants will be able to identify at least two factors creating ambiguous and inconsistent access to auditory information.
- Participants will be able to site several research articles supporting the use of a cued language in the development of language.
Presentation:
3545975_18063EmilieMulholland.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Emilie Mulholland
(Primary Presenter,Co-Presenter), Bright Beginnings for Babies/FCPS, emiliemulholland@gmail.com;
Emilie Mulholland, a deaf adult with bilateral cochlear implants, is an early interventionist in Fairfax County, VA. She works with families who have a child who is deaf or hard of hearing and is committed to providing families objective information to support their choice of modalities. Emilie grew up using Cued American English, uses it with her three children, and also uses cued language transliterators at work. Of her three children, one is also deaf with bilateral cochlear implants.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Fairfax County Public Schools Infant Toddler Connection of Virginia.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Fairfax County Public Schools
Infant Toddler Connection of Virginia.
Nature: Employment.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Amy Ruberl
(Co-Presenter), National Cued Speech Association, cuersllc@gmail.com;
Amy Ruberl is the author and graphic designer of the Cue with Me! children's kits. She is currently the chair of the Instructor Certification committee for the National Cued Speech Association, having previously served as the Executive Director, Director of Programs, and a Regional Representative. Amy also owns Cuers, LLC making materials for cueing children learning to read and adults learning to cue. Amy taught cueing, signing, and oral students in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland for more than 10 years. Amy has been teaching Cued American English for more than 30 years.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional
(Chair of the Instructor Certification Committee)
relationship for Volunteer employment,Volunteer teaching and speaking,Volunteer consulting,Other volunteer activities.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Cuers, LLC.
Nature: I own this fledgling company which makes materials to support students, parents, and professionals who use Cued American English.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.