2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
| From Snack Time to Story Time: Embedding Language Opportunities into Daily Home Routines
From Snack Time to Story Time: Embedding Language Opportunities into Daily Home Routines
This poster presents innovative, easy-to-implement strategies for using children's literature in the home to support early literacy and language development, specifically incorporating Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) techniques. This poster is designed to empower parents and caregivers with practical tools to transform everyday routines into powerful learning opportunities. It highlights two key areas: extending literature themes into hands-on everyday activities like snack time and play, and targeting specific developmental milestones such as phonological awareness, vocabulary growth, and narrative skills. Emphasis is placed on incorporating LSL techniques into these routines, such as narrating actions to build receptive language, pausing to encourage verbal turn-taking, and using repetition to strengthen auditory memory. The poster presents examples of how families can use book content through themed snacks, play, and conversation. For example, after reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, families might go on a “bear picnic” while using auditory cues to sequence events, label items, and expand descriptive language. A book about counting could lead to a snack-time activity of counting crackers, and a story about shapes may inspire a shape-finding scavenger hunt during playtime. Attendees will receive a practical take-home resource guide containing specific activity ideas from children’s literature they can apply at home and in their daily routines. This approach bridges the gap between typical reading time and the child's real world, making literacy a part of their everyday life. It empowers parents to be their child's first and most influential literacy teacher, building a love of reading and a strong foundation for future literacy success. Attendees will walk away with concrete ways to transform home routines into opportunities for listening, language growth, and early reading success.
- Participants will explore appropriate hands-on activities to reinforce a specific book concept.
- Participants will discuss one or more developmental milestones (such as phonological awareness or vocabulary growth) that their chosen reading strategy will target.
- Participants will identify at least two listening and spoken language (LSL) strategies to incorporate into daily home reading routines to strengthen the critical foundation for listening, spoken language development, and overall literacy success.
Presentation:
View Presentation File
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Brinley Richardson
(Primary Presenter,Author), Utah State University, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, brinley.richardson@usu.edu;
I’m a first-year Speech-Language Pathology graduate student at Utah State University studying with an emphasis in Listening and Spoken Language (LSL). I love the overlap LSL brings between speech-language pathology and audiology. My passion for working with the deaf and hard-of-hearing population (DHH) stemmed from doing undergraduate research in aural rehabilitation. I loved working with early interventionists and hearing the life-changing narratives of families with children who were born DHH. I’m from a small town in Idaho, and I love all things potatoes, mountain biking, skiing, paddleboarding, sports, and cooking!
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.
Tausha Edmonds
(Co-Presenter,Author), Children’s Developmental Services of Campbell County, tausha.edmonds@campbellcountywy.gov;
I am a graduate student in the Teacher of the Deaf Program at Utah State University and hold a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in reading. I work at Children’s Developmental Services of Campbell County, where I have supported Early Head Start, Part C Early Intervention, and Part B Preschool Special Education programs—providing direct services to families and managing program operations. I am a mother of three adult children and two dogs. I bring both professional experience and personal insight to my work. Outside of my professional life, I enjoy camping, gardening, canoeing and kayaking, and spending quality time with my family.
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.
Ella Jones
(Co-Presenter,Author), Utah State University, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, ella.jones@usu.edu;
I am a first-year graduate student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at Utah State University with an emphasis in Listening and Spoken Language. I love the opportunities for interprofessional collaboration and the deeper understanding of Deaf Education and Audiology I have gained through the Listening and Spoken Language emphasis. I worked at the Utah State Up to Three early intervention program during my undergraduate degree, which grew my passion for embedding language opportunities into a family's everyday routines. I loved spending time in families' homes and seeing their aha moments about how they could incorporate speech therapy into their daily lives. I grew up in Pleasant Grove, Utah, and love all outdoor activities and spending time with my loved ones.
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.
Lauri Nelson
(Co-Presenter,Author), Utah State University, lauri.nelson@usu.edu;
Lauri Nelson is a Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Utah State University. She is the Director of the Listening and Spoken Language Interdisciplinary Deaf Education graduate training program and the Director of Sound Beginnings. She has a dual background as both a pediatric audiologist and LSL deaf educator.
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.