Nearly 18 months after Tonya Bowman gave birth prematurely,
her daughter, Jasmyn, was diagnosed with hearing loss. Thus began Tonya’s journey to becoming a professional parent
advocate and a parent partner in NICHQ’s Improving Hearing & Intervention
Systems project.
A study has been shown to partially restore hearing to deaf gerbils by using injections of human stem cells. The research team from the University of Sheffield transformed human embryonic stem cells into both early stage auditory neurons and hair cells found in the cochlea. Stem cell biologist Marcelo Rivolta whose leading the research team said it will be several years before human trials.
Today’s fathers are significantly
more involved in raising their children than previous generations. This
spotlight from AG Bell’s new book 101
Frequently Asked Questions about Auditory-Verbal Practice, explores the evolving role fathers play in their child’s
language development. Learn how to better involve fathers in the therapy
process and leverage their skills in helping their children by following this link.
Rapid hearing loss in both ears may be a symptom of the rare but always-fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and should be considered a reason for clinicians to test for the disorder.
World Wide Hearing launched its Hearing Express project in Jordan and will work to fit hundreds of kids in Jordan with affordable, high quality hearing aids. The organization has partnered with the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf.
EHDI-PALS is a
web-based directory and search engine designed to help parents, hospital
personnel, and physicians identify pediatric audiology facilities that will
meet the individual needs of a child and his or her family. Facilities listed
in EHDI-PALS must have the appropriate equipment and be able to provide
audiology services to evaluate and treat children who are younger than 5 years
of age. Create your facility’s online profile today by following this link.
University of Miami (UM) Psychologist Alexandra L. Quittner leads one of the largest, most nationally representative studies of the effects of parenting on very young, deaf children who have received cochlear implants. The findings indicate that mothers who are most sensitive in their interactions with their children receiving cochlear implants have kids that develop language faster, almost “catching up” to their hearing peers. The report is published in the Journal of Pediatrics.
Legislative, technological, and pedagogical innovations have
greatly impacted the field of deaf education in the United States. These
changes have provided children who are deaf and hard of hearing with a greater
range of options for educational experiences that were not available
historically. This article highlights some of the major changes in the field of
education for children who are deaf and hard of hearing, along with some of the
future opportunities and challenges that result from such rapid change.
Read this inspirational interview with one of this year’s general session speakers at the 2013 AG Bell Listening and Spoken Language Symposium, Dana Suskind, M.D. Dr. Suskind shares her life and work and provides insights
into Project ASPIRE, the program she and her team developed to help parents
strengthen their abilities to enrich their child’s language environment, and
ultimately enhance their listening and spoken language skills. This interview
was originally featured as part of the LSL Leading Edge, which is available exclusively
to professional members.
Scientists at Vanderbilt University have developed a way to reprogram cochlear implants that dramatically improves the quality and clarity of users’ hearing.