AV Graduate Anthony Alfano Featured In Chicago Lighthouses On The Mag Mile

I am so excited to share that Anthony Alfano, one of my AV graduates is featured in Lighthouses on the Mag Mile, a public art display celebrating access and inclusion for people with disabilities from The Chicago Lighthouse Deaf-Blind Program . Fifty-one 6 foot lighthouse sculptures on North Michigan Avenue are catching the public’s eye and capture their hearts this summer. 

Anthony is pictured as King Cole the merry old soul. His chair became his throne as he calls for his pipe, bowl and fiddlers three. Rich Green’s illustrations on the lighthouse will be soon to be published book, Chicago Treasure that features photos of children from all over Chicago in leading roles of classic fairy tales, nursery rhymes and folk tales. Proceeds from sales will be donated to The Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired, and Access Living.

Remember What I Heard.

This drawing may not look like much to you but it is the result of a Little Listener hearing an open set story, remembering what he heard then illustrating the story elements. 

Love how he held what the details in his auditory memory while multitasking to remember all the elements, draw and then describe and retell the story.

FREE Guide to Communication Milestones from LinguiSystems®

Audiologists and speech language pathologists must know and understand typical communication behaviors and development milestones across multiple domains.

 LinguiSystems® generously offers the popular reference  Guide to Communication Milestones as a free download and is available for printing.

Click HERE!

Summer Pool and Water Fun - Auditory Verbal Therapy

Summer and the swimming go hand in hand for many families with young children. The opportunity for maximizingListening and Spoken Language (LSL) learning is immense and cumulative for water-loving families over an entire summer. Early in June, I often coach parents/caregivers and we brainstorm and plan together LSL goals to target while they are enjoying the pool and related routines. The child’s age and goals dictate the activities and strategies. I help families understand and take advantage of water-resistant hearing technology and related gear/equipment.

For home-based LSL auditory verbal intervention the backyard plastic pool is equally as effective as play-based clinic therapy with a container of water and pool themed manipulatives or in my case, I am fortunate to have a Fisher Price Little People pool.

 A few of the pool related LSL vocabulary themed areas I’ve targeted with families involve:

• Packing a bag to go to the pool or grabbing a suit, towel, and toys for the backyard
• What’s goes in the bag or what do we need for our pool? (Towels, sunscreen, hats, shovels… )
• Putting on a swimsuit or dressing a doll (The straps go over your shoulders.)
• Rubbing sunscreen on your toes vs. nose. Body parts vocabulary expansion - forehead, cheeks…
• The weather –> sunny, too hot, cloudy, bright, humid, breezy
• The water–> warm/cool; deep/shallow; sink/float; above, below or under
• Pool/ sand toys –> and related activities (splashing, digging, castles…)
• Pool snacks or a picnic lunch –> popsicles, ice cream sandwiches...
• Swimsuit, bathing suit, bikini, trunks…
• Barefoot –> shoes, sandals, flipflops, water shoes
• Pool related words/phrases that sound similar to little listeners such as – sun, sunny, sunscreen, sunburn, suntan, sunglasses…
• Old MacDonald had a pool E I E I O. And in that pool her had a toy boat.. with a ppppp…
• Motor Boat, Motor Boat Song ( goes so fast, slow, goes around and around…)

Maisy’s Pool and Maisy Goes Swimming by Lucy Cousins

Fisher Price Little People Pool/Mattel Barbie Pool

Dave Sindrey’s pool/beach themed murals, games, and materials in The Listening Room

VocAB Scenes app by Advanced Bionics, LLC

Speecharoo Funny Directions

Pool fun is great entries in an Experience Book

What summer LSL ideas can you share?

Amazing Megan Swanson Is Back Again!

Megan one of my AVT graduates, a 2018 Netflix's Nailed It contestant, and the 2017 Miss Amazing Miss National Winner will be speaking at the AG Bell Convention in Arizona this Saturday on the "Experiences in the Workplace" panel sharing stories, experiences, and tips about integrating hearing loss, work and career. Megan will be joined by Justin Osmond and Elena LaQuatra at the Experiences in the Workplace Panel.

After years of listening and spoken language intervention, I am looking forward to being in the audience listening to Megan speak and share her words of wisdom.

 Yes, Megan is AMAZING!

A Listening and Spoken Language Journey - 20 Years Later

Dear Skye Serena,

I have many wonderful memories of week after week and year after year together with you and your family as you learned to listen and talk. I am grateful your family trusted me to guide and come beside them as your auditory verbal therapist twenty years ago. Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go.

You are amazing.

Love,

Lynn

Skye and Lynn  - June 2018

"One day our patients will be able to tell their own stories, and we will no longer have to convince naysayers that deaf children can listen and speak." Richard T. Miyamoto, M.D.

20 Years Ago

Your first long awaited cochlear implant surgery.

Children's Miracle Network - so fun to see you posted at Speedway stations!

It takes a village. Three generations of strong women!

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