2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
| AAC Increases Communicative Success and Reliability in Audiological and Community settings for Deaf/Hard of Hearing+ Individuals
AAC Increases Communicative Success and Reliability in Audiological and Community settings for Deaf/Hard of Hearing+ Individuals
Children with developmental disabilities experience disparities in accessing audiological assessments, putting them at risk for missed or late diagnosis of reduced hearing (Bonino et. al., 2024). They can also have difficulties communicating their thoughts and needs regarding hearing devices. Additionally, when choosing communication modalities, children with physical and/or cognitive limitations may not be able to access signed languages, indicating a need for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). AAC is a communication modality that increases opportunities for individuals to communicate with a variety of people (Barker et al., 2013). The purpose of this project was to explore how using AAC could improve the communicative success and reliability in children with developmental disabilities in clinical and community settings. A review of the literature and discussions with families and service providers identified notable language and accessibility gaps for AAC users with hearing differences. These gaps included the inability to advocate for hearing-related needs at home, in the community, and in healthcare appointments, as well as a lack of vocabulary relevant to pediatric audiological protocols. This was addressed by developing a brochure/learning guide and low-tech language boards for educational and professional teams to support children who have difficulty accessing standard audiological appointments. When a child with a developmental disability had difficulty with participating in standard audiological testing and was given access to their own AAC device or low-tech language boards, they were able to attend to tasks longer, build better rapport, and more clearly communicate their needs and responses during behavioral testing. When clinicians obtain more reliable and consistent responses, children are more likely to have their hearing devices programmed more effectively, leading to better hearing and language outcomes overall.
- Participants will be able to explain how and why a patient’s speech generating AAC device can be used in clinical and community settings.
- Participants will be able to use and adapt low tech language boards in a variety of settings.
- Participants will be able to identify two accommodations that can benefit Deaf+ individuals
Presentation:
View Presentation File
Handouts:
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Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Danielle Spalding
(Primary Presenter,Author), University of Colorado Boulder, Dept. of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, dasp1432@colorado.edu;
Danielle is a first-year Audiology graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Previously, she spent the last 6 years working as a teacher for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in southern California, where she developed a passion for providing neurodivergent and disability informed care to DHH students with developmental disabilities. She is hopeful of continuing her work as an audiologist, improving access for those who have historically faced many disparities in the assessment and treatment of hearing differences.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with LEND: JFK Partners, Section of Developmental Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics
University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Nature: Travel and lodging funding to attend EHDI in person if the poster is selected to present. .
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Tammy Fredrickson
(Co-Author), University of Colorado Boulder, Dept. of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, tammy.fredrickson@colorado.edu;
Dr. Fredickson is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Fredrickson works with AuD students both as a clinical supervisor at the University of Colorado Hospital Department of Hearing and Balance and as Director of Audiological Services. As Director of Audiological Services, she coordinates practicum experiences for audiology graduate students and ensures that the AuD program continues to meet the high standards of accreditation. She received her BS (1996) and MS (1998) from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and her PhD from University of Colorado Boulder in 2010.
Dr. Fredrickson’s primary area of interest is infant speech perception. She has worked with colleagues to develop a clinical tool to assess infants’ abilities to discriminate speech sounds: Visual Reinforcement Infant Speech Discrimination (VRISD). University of Colorado Hospital now uses this tool regularly as a component of their test battery when working with infants with hearing loss. Recent and future VRISD studies include investigating the development of infant speech perception and how an infant’s ability to discriminate speech sounds relates to physiological changes as well as language abilities. Other areas of interest include auditory processing testing and rehabilitation and clinical supervision.
Dr. Fredrickson holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a Fellow with the American Academy of Audiology.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -