18th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 3-5, 2019 • Chicago, IL
Language Outcomes of Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing In OPTION Programs: Insights from LSL-DR
The initiative to ensure that children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) are prepared for kindergarten and on a development trajectory to meet their full potential is an important movement in our field. Many families choose a listening and spoken language (LSL) approach for their children and seek services that would prepare their children for education in general education settings. OPTION Schools, is a national consortium of private education programs that provide specialized early intervention and early childhood education that focuses on developing listening and spoken language. Aligned with desired outcomes of the families, the goal of this intervention is to prepare children for mainstream education in kindergarten or in the elementary school years.
In this presentation, longitudinal outcomes for vocabulary and language development of children (n = 100+) who received services through an OPTION program in the early childhood years will be presented. Factors that impact LSL development and kindergarten readiness will be explored. Additionally, characteristics of high-quality programs that offer effective LSL intervention will be discussed.
- Participants will identify the characteristics of a high-quality early childhood program focusing on listening and spoken language development
- Participants will review vocabulary and connected language outcomes of children who attended OPTION programs
- Participants will discuss factors that influence kindergarten readiness of children who are deaf or hard of hearing
Poster:
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Presenter: Uma Soman
Uma Soman is an educator of students who are deaf, LSLS mentor, and deaf-education researcher. She received her doctoral degree from Vanderbilt University in 2017, through the National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities Fellowship (2010-2014), her Masters in Education of the Deaf from Smith College/Clarke School for the Deaf in 2002., and is also Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Auditory Verbal Educator (LSLS Cert AVEd). Dr. Soman is the Outreach Coordinator at Carle Auditory Oral School in Urbana, IL, and works with students who are deaf or hard of hearing their families, and their educational teams in mainstream school environments. She also trains and mentors professionals pursuing listening and spoken language specialist certification in USA and India. Dr. Soman’s research focuses on language, academic, and social outcomes of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. She is an active member of Alexander Graham Bell Association, and OPTION Schools.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Carle Foundation Hospital/Carle Auditory Oral School.
• Receives Other financial benefit for Ownership from Listening Together LLC.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (member of the board)
relationship for Board membership.
Ronda Rufsvold, Ph.D., LSLS Cert AVEd, a certified teacher of the deaf and listening and spoken language specialist, earned her BS in Speech Language Pathology from University of the Pacific in Northern California and MEd in Special Education from University of San Diego/John Tracy Clinic. She completed her Ph.D. in Deaf and Hard of Hearing From Columbia University in NYC. She is currently a special education administrator in Northern California.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from CCHAT Center.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Tamala S. Bradham, Ph.D., CCC-A is a Assistant Professor at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center in Nashville, TN and the Associate Director of Quality, Protocols, and Risk Management. She is the Coordinator for the Steering Committee of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Special Interest Division 9: Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood. She is the former director of the MUSC Cochlear Implant Center in Charleston, S.C. and the past President of the South Carolina Academy of Audiology and the South Carolina Chapter of A.G. Bell. Dr. Bradham also served as the Vice-Chairman of the First Sound Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program in South Carolina. She received her doctorate in Speech and Hearing Sciences and her Master in Audiology at the University of South Carolina.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Grants for Other activities from OPTION.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Meredith Berger, MS became the director of Clarke Schools for Hearing & Speech/New York, an Early Intervention and Preschool listening spoken language program, in 2008. Prior to that, she was the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Educational Specialist at New York Eye and Ear’s Ear Institute/Cochlear Implant Center. She received a B.S. in Education from SUNY at Buffalo State College and master’s degrees in Deaf Education and in Educational Leadership from Canisius College. In addition to presenting on the educational needs of children with hearing loss, she has also co-authored pieces on the Clinic-School relationship. Meredith is on the Executive Board of Option Schools as a Director at Large and is member of the Children's Hearing Institute Medical and Educational Advisory Board. In 2017, Meredith began her doctoral studies at Teachers College, Columbia University to find answers to her own questions on the needs/outcomes of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, particularly those with microtia/atresia, and their families.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (member of AG Bell Association)
relationship for Other volunteer activities.
• Has a Professional (on Educational Advisory Board)
relationship for Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels.
• Has a Personal (Spouse and Child use Cochlear's products)
relationship for Other volunteer activities.
• Has a Professional,Personal interest (professional rep. on advisory committee) (parent rep. on advisory committee)
relationship for Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels.
• Has a Professional (a board member of Option Schools)
relationship for Board membership.
Judy has been in the field of deaf education for more than 25 year. She has worked as a supervisor of other teachers, has extensive experience working with student teachers, has lectured for graduate courses, and is an experienced teacher in the field of Early Intervention. In addition to teaching in the Family School program at the Moog Center where she provides direct service to children, helping them to develop spoken language skills, Judy has also taught in the preschool and in the primary department working to enhance the students' academic skills. She works with families, helping parents develop strategies and techniques for teaching their children with hearing loss to talk. Judy participates in the Moog Center for Deaf Education Teleschool program and provides services to families via the internet. Judy has extensive experience serving children who are deaf or hard of hearing who present with secondary complicating factors.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from The Moog Center for Deaf Education.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.