Baby Ayla Can Learn To Listen and Talk


The beautiful story from an Auditory Verbal family the day after one-year-old Ayla hears with her cochlear implants for the first time. Dad and Mom talk about the power of hearing for children who are deaf or hard of hearing to learn to listen and talk. 



 At Hearing First, we want all children to benefit from the availability of newborn hearing screening and for parents to learn the status of their baby’s hearing first. Hearing is a foundational building block for children to learn to listen and talk, become healthy readers, and do well in school.
Today, children who are deaf or hard of hearing can learn to listen and talk and achieve learning and literacy outcomes on par with their hearing friends. The earlier a child with hearing loss is identified, amplified, and receiving help, the more opportunities that child will have. We want all children to have the opportunity to take advantage of access to sound
 – a critical building block for future success. 
Want to learn more? 
Click HERE

Kicking Off Summer Read Aloud

Summer by Alice Low
 is my kick off to the season read aloud in AVT. 
Listening to the rhyming text leads to prediction and auditory closure skills.

 “Oh, the wonderful things that summer brings—swimming at the beach, making sand castles, catching butterflies, eating watermelon, toasting marshmallows, watching fireworks!” 



Turtle Crossing and Auditory Verbal Therapy

I told a Little Listener and his Dad that I saw a big turtle in the middle of the road this morning.


 Hours later I received a text from their Nanny saying he told her the story about the turtle. This 3 year old listened, comprehended, remembered and retold the story later in the day! WooHoo! 

My turtle adventure turned into this language rich turtle craft.

Meaningful Counseling Narrative That Explains Hearing Loss and Technology for Families


Phonak Insight in January 2018, published this article
 and included the  summary below,

 This paper has proposed a counseling narrative that explains hearing loss and technology in a way that is meaningful for families. Since approximately 95% of children with hearing loss are born to hearing and speaking families, listening and talking will likely be desired outcomes for the vast majority of families we serve. Families need support in understanding what it takes to attain their desired outcome. 
Below are summary bullets for professionals and caregivers regarding this counseling narrative: 
  • The ears are the doorways to the brain 
  • Hearing occurs in the brain because we listen and understand with the brain, not the ear 
  • Sound = auditory information = knowledge 
  • Hearing is a stepping stone to cognition 
  • Hearing loss is often a fixable doorway problem 
  • Modern hearing technologies are designed to break through the ear/doorway to deliver auditory information to the brain 
  • Hearing technologies must be worn at least 10 hours per day 
  • Better quality and greater quantity of information delivered to the brain means stronger neural pathways are developed and more knowledge is gained
This white paper is authored by my mentor and dear friend Carol Flexer.