2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
| Building Blocks: Laying Foundations in Social Development with Collaborative Projects
Building Blocks: Laying Foundations in Social Development with Collaborative Projects
Children with hearing loss are at a higher risk for social development delays due to challenges in language acquisition and communication. Understanding emotions, expressing wants/needs, and engaging in social interactions are important components necessary to build age-appropriate social skills. As providers, we promote the acquisition of these skills through guided play experiences. Utilizing collaborative projects within a variety of meaningful natural settings gives children with hearing loss focused opportunities to practice these skills.
Collaborative projects involve two or more people working together to achieve a shared goal. These projects can include building a block tower, designing a shared art project, baking cookies, or creating a story/play. Collaborative projects are play-based and child-directed. They can be incorporated into individual and small group speech therapy sessions, where social communication skills are explicitly taught and practiced. Classroom group projects and home-based experiences promote the generalization of these learned skills. As children work together with a shared goal this promotes the use of social language, such as advocating for their ideas, requesting, resolving conflicts, and interpreting feelings. When collaborative projects are completed as a team, children build a sense of connection and confidence in their ability to contribute to a shared goal, and this empowers them to continue to participate in these interactions. Collaborative projects provide the foundational building blocks that help children with hearing loss develop age-appropriate social skills and promotes continued social engagement.
- Participants will be able to analyze the stages of play-skill development and evaluate the benefits of collaborative projects that facilitate the acquisition and enhancement of these skills.
- Participants will be able to identify the role of individual and group therapy in promoting social communication, and the benefits of teaching social language to resolve conflict, self-advocate and understand differing perspectives.
- Participants will be able to explore how to implement collaborative projects across early childhood settings and understand the benefits they offer in developing children's play and social skills.
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
Teena Young
(Primary Presenter,Author,Co-Author), Sound Beginnings at Utah State University, teena.young@usu.edu;
Teena is a Teacher of the Deaf at Sound Beginnings at Utah State University. She has a Masters Degree in Deaf Education with an emphasis in Listening and Spoken Language.
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.
Olivia Tyger
(Co-Presenter,Author,Co-Author), Sound Beginnings at Utah State University, olivia.tyger@usu.edu;
Olivia Tyger is a graduate student at Utah State University pursuing a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology.
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.