On July 14, Ida senior audiologist Melanie Gregory partnered with pediatric hearing care specialists Christine Yoshinaga-Itano and Eileen Rall to conduct a post-session workshop on the My World pediatric counseling tool at the 2013 Frontiers in Hearing Symposium hosted by the Marion Downs Hearing Center.
Representatives from pediatric hearing care centers of excellence in the United States attended the workshop to learn how the My World tool can help facilitate a discussion with the child about their hearing loss and the communication challenges they experience in daily life.
“The Marion Downs Hearing Center did a fantastic job of collecting some of the most forward-thinking leaders in the field of pediatric hearing care together at the symposium. It was an honor to introduce the My World tool to this group of thought-leaders who are rethinking the boundaries of pediatric audiology and making a positive difference in the field,” stated Melanie Gregory.
Workshop participants explored how pediatric hearing care specialists can place more emphasis on the psycho-social development of children with hearing loss. Hearing loss in children can cause a delay in the development of receptive and expressive communication skills. Speech and language development delays can impact how children react in social situations and therefore inhibit their social and emotional development. A discussion ensued about how the boundaries of the profession can be expanded to not only recognize the different psycho-social development stages of children, but to also promote a healthy, steady psycho-social development in children.
At the workshop, participants also explored how play can be an important vehicle for children to express themselves and learn. Christine Yoshinaga-Itano led a discussion of how we can broaden our approach to children and incorporate play to better understand how children are managing their hearing loss.
Psychologist Virginia Axline is one of the pioneers in the use of Play Therapy. She once remarked that toys can be likened to children’s words and play as their language. Before the introduction of advanced hearing aid technology, the only way children could communicate was through play. Advancements in technology have produced hearing instruments to allow pediatric specialists to address the child’s hearing, but technology alone cannot address all of the issues concerning speech and language development. Participants explored how the My World tool can introduce play into the appointment and facilitate communication with the child.
The workshop also focused on bullying and the role of parents in the rehabilitation process. Children with hearing loss are at risk of being the target of bullying at school and in other social situations. Bullying can have significant repercussions on a child’s social and emotional development. We discussed how pediatric audiologists can address bullying and work with other professionals in a multi-disciplinary fashion to support the child and their family.
With regards to parents, Frontiers in Hearing has a very active parents group that focuses on the role of parents in the rehabilitation process. At the workshop, we explored how one could use the My World tool in involve parents in the child’s rehabilitation process and enable parents to counsel other parents about their child’s hearing loss.
Workshop participants represented some of the leading centers of excellence in the field of pediatric audiology in the United States, including Boys Town, Vanderbilt University, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Marion Downs Hearing Center. We are happy to welcome all of the participants to the Ida community and look forward to learning more about how they are using the My World tool in the future.
Eileen Rall, AuD, has been an audiologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) since 1995. Along with her clinical responsibilities, Eileen coordinates CHOP's Assessment and Treatment Implementation Program for Infants and toddlers with Hearing Loss - Enhancing Rehabilitation "CATIPIHLER."
Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, PhD. is a Professor of Audiology and Chair in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, faculty of the Institute of Cognitive Science, Center for Neurosciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She also serves as a Professor of Audiology at the Department of Otolaryngology and Audiology at the University of Colorado, Denver and at the Marion Downs Hearing Center.