EaR Books e-News
Read All About It: Deaf Children CAN Learn to Listen and Speak!
Summer 2008
NEW BOOK! Happy Birthday to My Ears
Written by Elizabeth Anne Boschini - Illustrated by Rachel Elizabeth Chaikof
Happy Birthday to My Ears, the newest publication from EaR Books, will make its public debut in mid-July of 2008. Targeted for children ages birth to five years old, Happy Birthday to My Ears tells the story of a little boy’s first year of hearing with his cochlear implants through rhyme, describing the sights and sounds of every month and holiday season. Pricing is the same as our first production, Ellie’s Ears, and all EaR Books products are available at the EaR Books Web Store.
Ellie’s Ears
Written by Elizabeth Anne Boschini - Illustrated by Rachel Elizabeth Chaikof
How does Ellie explain how she listens and talks with the help of her cochlear implants to a new student in her mainstream third-grade class? Read Ellie’s Ears, the first production from EaR Books, to find out! Thanks to your generous support, hundreds of copies of Ellie’s Ears have already been sold, and the news that deaf children CAN learn to listen and speak has spread all around the United States and to over seven countries around the world! EaR Books does NOT profit from the sales of our books, instead, all profits will be dontated to non-profit organizations that help deaf children learn to listen and speak. With your help, we have raised over $600 to change the lives of deaf children and their families. Thank you for your generous support!!!
All EaR Books products are available at the EaR Books Web Store.
Cochlear Implant Online
Over seven years ago, EaR Books illustrator Rachel Chaikof created her website, Cochlear Implant Online, to spread the word about her own experiences as a young person with cochlear implants. Today both Elizabeth (author) and Rachel (illustrator) write for Cochlear Implant Online and the webpage has grown to a daily-updated blog and fully-featured website with the latest research, resources, opinions, and news about cochlear implants, education, and other deaf-related issues. The site also features other cochlear implant users’ stories and videos of deaf people who can listen and speak telling their stories and speaking for themselves. Cochlear Implant Online is a great source of support, encouragement, and inspiration. Visit often for the latest EaR Books news and other updates!
Deaf Village
Deaf Village is the latest project from Elizabeth Boschini, Rachel Chaikof, and a talented team of co-creators from all walks of life and the d/Deaf experience. Deaf Village is a new, non-biased blog aggregator dedicated to bringing you the latest on deaf-related blogs from across cyberspace. All methods of communication are welcome, and the site is FULLY CAPTIONED — any audio/video postings, either spoken, cued, and/or signed, will have English subtitles, so everyone can enjoy the site. Read Deaf Village today and add your blog to our site!
Events and Appearances
June 27-31 EaR Books at the 48th Biennial Convention of the Alexander Graham Bell Association
October 3-5 EaR Books at the Texas Chapter Convention of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)
Press and Publicity
EaR Books has been featured in:
Cochlear Kids
Dr. Sharon Pajka-West’s Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature Project
Library Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan’s Cochlear Implant Story — Newborn Hearing Screening Confrerence 2008!
Ohio Coalition for Children with Disabilities
University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies
The Deaf Blog UK
Elliot and Oliver’s Story
Chronicles of a Bionic Woman
July 5, 2008
EaR Books e-News (Summer 2008) |
July 4, 2008
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Unbelievable Map Change |
“Beep…Beep…BEEP” I was sitting in the audiology room for a MAP tweak up. Last Tuesday, I had an audiology appointment to ensure that my MAP was in good shape before I take off for a four month trip to Europe. My audiologist made a few minor adjustments in the thresholds. Once my MAP was completed, and the audiologist turned the processor on, the sounds sounded good to me, and I felt that I could comprehend very well. Normally, I cannot notice too much change in the MAP until I leave the office when I hear more than just what I hear in the office, such as traffic noise, people babbling in the waiting room, talking to friends in restaurants, etc.
Last Wednesday night, my mother called the house, and Jessica and I both answered the phone. “I’m stopping by Arby’s. Do you want anything?” My mother asked.
“Nothing for me,” I told her and hung up the phone.
I was in my room and working on my computer, and Jessica was in her room down the hall.
“What do you want Jessica?” asked our mom.
“I want chicken and curly fries.” said Jessica.
“Ok. You want chicken and curly fries?” said our mom.
“Yes, and when are you coming home?” asked Jessica.
“I’ll be home shortly.” said our mom.
The next thing I realized was that not only could I hear clearly Jessica talking to our mom, but also, since Jessica was talking to our mom on the speaker phone, I could HEAR CLEARLY what my mother was saying! Before this MAP change, I could hear and understand what other people were saying when they were in DIFFERENT rooms, but I was not able to hear clearly from an electronic device that was placed in a DIFFERENT room prior to this moment. Now, with this MAP change, I can hear and comprehend sound from an electronic device at an even greater distance!
It’s amazing what a MAP change can do. Even though I may feel that I’m hearing well, which is what I felt prior to attending my recent audiology appointment, it never hurts to go for another MAPping session anytime because I just never know what good outcomes could arise.
I have to add a little note - I can certainly credit Auditory-Verbal therapy because it trained me to hear and UNDERSTAND the sounds of WORDS at a greater distance and from a DIFFERENT room, and this scenario is an example. Of course, a good MAP also plays an important role too.
July 2, 2008
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AGBell shines as usual |
Imagine if the majority of the population on the planet were CI and/or HA users? As a CI user, it is a wonder! It’s possible to experience the feeling of imagining that the majority of the people surrounding you are CI users, and I have in the past when I attended cochlear implant-related conventions. Even though I did not go to this year’s AGBell convention, I got to hear about Elizabeth’s experiences from her recent trip to the convention. She sure did experience that feeling and thought it was an incredible experience. For me, as a CI user, it is an enjoyable opportunity to meet other CI users as we can share our similar experiences that other people who are not CI users would not understand, give each other advice, and share the joy of happy hearing. For Elizabeth, as soon-to-be-a-professional, she can learn about others’ experiences and listen to others’ advice on how to be a wonderful professional.
Not only is it incredible to be surrounded by other CI users and HA users, but also it’s incredible to be at a place where it is PACKED with events to learn about cochlear implants, hearing loss, and deafness related topics. The AGBell convention was certainly a one-stop educational place for Elizabeth and other attendees this past weekend. There is no question that Elizabeth learned an incredible amount of material within a few days! We never grow too old to learn new things. As time passes by, life changes. Thus, it’s very important to keep ourselves up-to-date on the latest research, technology, and the lifestyle of deaf people and people with hearing loss! So, I commend AGBell for providing Elizabeth and other attendees with an incredible amount of valuable information.
July 1, 2008
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AG Bell 2008: Monday |
Monday was the last day of the 2008 convention — and it came too soon! Convention 2008 was full of fun, friendship, and great learning experiences, so I was very sad to see it come to an end. Here are some of the great things that I learned on Monday:
EMPOWERING FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS AND OF LOW SES
Mary Ellen Nevins, Ed.D. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia), Renate Schultz, B.A. (University of Chicago), and Dana Suskind, M.D. (University of Chicago)
This presentation was AMAZING. The presenters began by discussing the lamentable disparities in health literacy and self-advocacy between families (especially mothers) of high socioeconomic status versus those on the lower end of the SES spectrum. With greater insurance coverage and state/federal funding for cochlear implants in children, the gap in implantation rates between rich and poor children is quickly closing, but the outcomes for these children still remain unequal. To address this problem, the presenters created project ASPIRE: Achieving Superior Parental Involvement for Rehabilitative Excellence. Their innovative curriculum teaches basic parenting and child language skills that can greatly increase the spoken language success of children with hearing loss. The lessons are delivered through cartoons, videotaped demonstrations, and incredibly catchy songs — I am still humming their doo-wop tune that teaches the Ling 6 Sound Check!
Listening and spoken language are accessible for all children — EVERY CHILD deserves the opportunity to speak for herself, and EVERY PARENT deserves the tools and support they need to give their child the best possible shot at success.
EVIDENCE BASED OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN USING SPOKEN LANGUAGE
Jean Moog, M.S. (Moog Center for Deaf Education), Heather Hayes (Washington University in St. Louis), Ann Geers, Ph.D. (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center — Dallas Cochlear Implant Program), and Julia Biedenstein (Moog Center for Deaf Education)
There are SO MANY factors that can contribute to how well a child with a cochlear implant can develop listening a spoken language skills — how can we parse apart these many variables to determine the best “formula” for optimizing the success of all students whose parents desire for them the ability to listen and speak for themselves? These researchers, all leaders in the field, compiled years and years of research, then analyzed them using some impressive and advanced statistical techniques — the result? A step-by-step analysis of the various factors that can help children with cochlear implants listen, learn, and succeed comparable to their hearing peers. Some of their results:
- The younger, the better! With all other variables controlled to be equal (IQ, parent education, etc.) children who received their cochlear implant(s) at younger ages (roughly 12months to 2years at the very oldest) scored in the normal range for HEARING children on receptive and expressive language tests, with half catching up to hearing peers by only 5 or 6 years of age. Start young, catch up sooner!
- Also, though children who are deaf or hard of hearing may start at a disadvantage on speech/language tests compared to their hearing peers, those who received cochlear implants an appropriate early intervention in speech, language, and listening not only made appropriate yearly progress, they even progressed further, closing the gap between deaf children and hearing peers over time as they gained more experience hearing through their CI(s).
These are just SOME of the many, many different factors the researchers discussed in their presentation. Their formal papers describing these results are currently in editorial review for publication in several international journals. I look forward to sharing this cutting-edge research with you as soon as it is published, so stay tuned for links coming soon!
So, as the convention wrapped up and the sound of friends saying goodbye echoed through the halls of the convention center, I was exhausted but exhilarated after an absolutely remarkable weekend! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the AG Bell staff ad convention committee members who made this incredible event possible. I am so proud to be a part of such a remarkable organization… well, it’s more than an organization, it really is more like a family!
So, good-bye, everyone! M-I-C see you real soon… K-E-Y why? because we like you! M-O-U-S-E. See you in Orlando in 2010!!!
WE ARE AG BELL… HEAR OUR VOICES!
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AG Bell 2008: Sunday |
LOVE DOES HAPPEN AT AG BELL
So this might not have been the most informative session I attended all weekend, but it was certainly the most enjoyable! “Love Happens” was a panel discussion led by three couples, all of whom met at or through AG Bell. They told the adorable stories of how they met and how their shared interests and commitment to volunteer activities through AG Bell have strengthened their relationships through the years. One couple’s daughter became a Speech-Language Pathologist, and another couple has two deaf children of their own. The session was full of laughter — what a great way to wake up early on a Sunday morning!
HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN: DEAFNESS IN THE 21st CENTURY
Janice Gatty, Ed.M., M.E.D., Ed.D., Kathleen Casale, C.A.G.S., Joyce Fitzroy, M.A., CCC-SLP, Amy Catanzaro, M.A., CCC-A, and Cynthia Forsythe, M.E.D., C.A.G.S. (all from Clarke School for the Deaf)
With the cochlear implant and hearing aid technology of the 21st century, it is no longer an unreasonable expectation to believe that all deaf children, regardless of the severity of their hearing loss, should be able to function as minimally hard-of-hearing people in the mainstream environment. The presenters gave two hypothetical case studies, “Betsy Best Case” and “Wendy Worst Case” to show how quickly small missed steps — a late diagnosis, a school system that thinks speech and language delays “can just wait”, and unsupportive teachers and school staff can quickly add up to disaster for a child who might otherwise have done quite well in the mainstream. It was an important reminder that we as parents and professionals must remain “on top of things” because every precious second counts when it comes to giving children the priceless gift of speech and language. If we do our part now, someday, the children will be able to speak for themselves.
On Sunday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with the Hine Family, fellow Deaf Village bloggers. Her youngest son has hearing aids, but he would also like you to know that he has braces (not really) — just like his big brother! Too cute!
Sunday night was the Summerfest Party. AG Bell held a dinner reception before everyone boarded buses and headed downtown for a fun night of music and celebration. At the dinner reception, I met AG Bell members from all over the United States, as well as people from Canada, Mexico, the UK, and South Africa. It was fantastic to hear about deaf education all around the world and to meet some of the remarkable people who are making a difference in the lives of deaf children and their families all around the world!
June 29, 2008
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AG Bell 2008: Saturday |
Oh my goodness, where to begin? Convention has been AMAZING and I am learning great new things and meeting great new people every minute of every day! There are TONS of things to write about, but here’s a quick summary of the things I learned and did on Saturday:
SELF-ADVOCACY: CURRICULUM FOR CREATING INDEPENDENCE
Carrie Bauza, M.S. (Child’s Voice School)
How can we help children with hearing loss become their own best advocates? What skills do deaf or hard of hearing students need to succeed in the mainstream? Carrie Bauza, the Mainstream Coordinator at Child’s Voice School, shared the tools and techniques she and her colleagues used to help the students in their weekly transition class be the best that they could be when they transferred to regular classrooms in their neighborhood schools. The presentation suggested teaching children:
communication repair strategies - problem solving skills
- appropriate social skills
- educate students about hearing loss, help them educate others about their hearing/devices
- mainstream vocabulary – cafeteria, library, names of types of teachers, etc.
- never bluff — if you don’t know, ask!
Children should know that everyone, even those with normal hearing, need to ask for help or clarification every once in a while, and we, as parents and teachers, can help to give them the skills and self-esteem necessary to become full participants in their education, NOT bystanders!
LISTENING AT HOME AND IN THE CLASSROOM WITH LOVE AND LOGIC
Joanna Stith, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT (Listening for Life)
Love and Logic is a popular parenting program and this presentation shared ways that the principles of natural consequences, respect, empathy, and responsibility can be used to increase the listening and learning opportunities for deaf children at home and in school/therapy settings. Some basic principles of Love and Logic:
- replace anger/frustration with empathy
- replace threats and warnings with simple actions
- set enforceable limits
- give away control you don’t need
- raise the child to the standard, not the standard to the child
Love and Logic is all about giving children choices with BOTH of the options being things that the parent wants the child to do. “Would you like to brush your teeth first or wash your face first?” By giving children control of the little things, you make “deposits” into an account from which you can make major “withdrawals” when Mommy simply must say NO. Giving children choices, and forcing them to live with the natural consequences of what they decide, may cause them some short-term discomfort, but it saves them from the long-term disappointment of poor choices made on major decisions later in life. Remember, it takes a very low level of language to understand simple behavioral instructions so, no matter how language delayed or how profoundly deaf your child, hearing loss is never an excuse for poor behavior. In fact, having a hearing loss is even more reason we need to equip our children with the tools they need now to be responsible, polite, successful, independent adults in the future.
BAHA®: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY
Lori Van Riper, M.S., CCC-A (University of Michigan Medical Center)
This session was great! Before attending, I really knew very little about the BAHA, or Bone Anchored Hearing Aid, device. A BAHA is a prosthetic device mainly intended for children or adults without outer or middle ear structures intact — the sound cannot make it to their cochleas in the inner ear, which usually function normally. Without an ear canal, they cannot be fit with traditional behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids, but their hearing loss is typically mixed in nature (sensorineural and conductive components) with thresholds too low to qualify for cochlear implants. To learn more about the who, what, where, when, and why of BAHAs, see HERE.
THE PRESCHOOL EXPERIENCE: ENHANCING EARLY LITERACY SKILLS
Abby Zoia, M.S., C.E.D. and Patricia Hoffman (both from Central Institute for the Deaf)
Literacy Related Skills for Preschoolers:
- book orientation (reading right to left, how to turn pages, hold a book, etc.)
- vocabulary
- reading of the story
- prediction (what will happen next? what happens if…?)
- comprehension (how did he feel? why did they go there?)
- story extension activities (acting out the story, related crafts and games, etc.)
Literacy Related Preschool Skills
- patterning
- sequencing
- pre-phonics (recognizing the grapheme-phoneme relationship — that written letters stand for spoken sounds)
- phonological awareness (rhymes, alliterations, etc.)
- print awareness/emergent writing (can write own name, familiar words, makes up creative spellings for words, etc.)
EXHIBIT HALL
The exhibit hall also opened today, with tons of great booths and information on schools, graduate programs, assistive devices, hearing aids, cochlear implants, and more! Lots of pictures to come!
I MET DAVE SINDREY!
Dave Sindrey is the man behind the wonderfully creative therapy curriculum available for FREE at The Listening Room. I use his materials all the time and I love that all of his illustrations include children with hearing aids and/or cochlear implants — a great way to raise children’s self-esteem. It was fantastic to meet him, and I even got him to autograph some of my materials that he produced!
DHHS PARTY
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Section party was held at the Museum of Advertising — a great venue with so many interesting things to see! Rachel Arfa, despite being extremely busy in her first year as a practicing lawyer, managed to plan a fantastic party full of good food and good friends! Thank you, Rachel, and all of the members of the DHHS Committee, for a wonderful event! We raised over $4,000 for the AG Bell Communication Access Fund, which helps to provide CART captioning for all of the events at the convention — a feat which, in total, costs over $65,000 for the entire weekend, so that everyone can enjoy the fun!
June 28, 2008
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AG Bell 2008: Friday |
Wow! Where to begin? Convention 2008 is off to an amazing start! Here’s what happened today:
I MET WARREN ESTABROOKS
…and I’m pretty much still freaking out! For those of you who don’t know, Warren Estabrooks is somewhat of a legend in the world of Auditory-Verbal Therapy. He’s a gifted therapist, and his work has influenced many aspects of AVT today. It was an incredible honor to meet him, and a great opportunity to say “thank you” to someone who has contributed so much to a field I love — teaching deaf children to listen and speak.
THE BIG EARLY INTERVENTION PUZZLE
Susan Lenihan, Ph.D. (Fontbonne University), Catherine Schroy, M.S., CCC-A (Central Institute for the Deaf), Christine Clark, M.A.Ed., C.E.D. (Central Institute for the Deaf), Mary Daniels, M.A.Ed. (St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf)
This session gave lots of great information on how Early Intervention teachers can provide the best services possible to deaf and hard of hearing children and their families from birth to age three. Some of the most interesting things I learned:
- 50% of newborns who fail the Newborn Hearing Screen DO NOT return for follow up appointments! Tracking and reporting systems vary by state, and even within states. There is still work to do in legislating and standardizing a Universal Newborn Hearing Screen so children do not lose precious hearing and learning time because of flaws in the system.
- Click ABR, a common Auditory-Brainstem Response test used for screening babies’ hearing, can yield false positives with certain types of hearing loss. A child with a “reverse slope” or “cookie bite” audiogram may pass an ABR, but still has a hearing loss that could impact their ability to learn to listen and speak.
- When do you go to the audiologist vs. when do you go to the ENT? More on this later…
PRESCHOOLERS RULE WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS
Barb Myers, M.A.Ed., C.E.D., Kate Coulter, M.Ed., and Cheryl Broekelmann, M.A., C.E.D. (all from St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf)
This presentation talked all about the ways play, especially pretend play and theme-based units, can help develop language skills, and ways to embed language goals into natural, play-based activities. If you can’t play it, they can’t say it!
OPENING CEREMONY
So much to talk about here! It deserves its own post… so more on this later!
June 27, 2008
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LIVE from Milwaukee, it’s… AG BELL! |
Greetings, everyone! It’s your roving reporter, Elizabeth, reporting live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin!
I arrived last night in preparation for the 48th Biennial Convention of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and I am so, so, so excited for the festivities to begin!
Just walking around the hotel, you can feel the buzz in the air — kids with cochlear implants playing tag in the lobby, parents making priceless connections with other “been there, done that” moms and dads, clumps of teenagers camped out in the hallways, talking ’til all hours of the night,, oral deaf adults meeting up with old friends, and professionals and students, here to share the latest and greatest of what we’ve learned about giving deaf children the opportunity to listen and speak. This is where it’s at, and I feel at home!
Last night, some friends and I gathered to chat, snack, and watch the movies “Sound and Fury” and “Sound and Fury: 6 Years Later”. Great films — if you haven’t seen them, check them out! Already, I’ve learned something new — how to get Closed Captions to show up on a computer screen DVD player! That’s great!
The convention hall is being set up as I type, and seminars begin this afternoon! I’ll be blogging frequently to share with you all that I’ve learned, so check back often… it’s going to be a GREAT Convention!
PS: Again, if you’re here and would like to meet up, let me know!
June 24, 2008
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A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words |
These children are my life.
June 22, 2008
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AG Bell 2008 Meet-Up! |
Hi, everyone!
Next weekend, I will be headed to the 2008 AG Bell Convention, and I would love to meet up with Deaf Village “Village People”, EaR Books readers, and Cochlear Implant Online fans! Please leave a comment under this post and/or email me at: elizabeth@deafvillage.com and we’ll figure out a place for all of us to meet up!
I look forward to meeting some of you very soon! Safe travels, everyone, and see you in Milwaukee!
