SOUNDING OFFMaking Melody by Beth Haley

Audiologists have long appreciated the importance of reading to children at bedtime, not only as a bonding experience between caregiver and child, but also as a bridge to language. With more and more successes in the field of audiology and an increasing number of children benefitting from hearing aids and cochlear implants, it is time to consider additional ways to help these children reach their fullest language potential.

Speech is an incredibly complex signal full of discrete pauses and tonal changes. As such, it is no wonder so many children with hearing impairment have trouble making sense of these composite signals. And yet, understanding these complexities is essential to understanding a speaker’s message. Subsequently, having access to speech increases both communicative and incidental learning opportunities tenfold. Anything that promotes a child’s exposure to verbal communication and encourages them to “practice” listening is a highly relevant consideration for children with hearing loss.

Increasing the variety of sounds introduced to children with hearing loss has the ability to markedly improve their success in developing appropriate speech and language. This includes music, which is an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary words and concepts into a young child’s repertoire. To anyone who doubts this, simply try to repeat the ABC’s without a sing-songy tone of voice. This is so difficult to do because the brain remembers the melody associated with how we learned the alphabet. When such an important lesson is learned in the context of a song, it is engrained in the brain’s long-term memory much more strongly than when it is simply memorized.

Not only is music a teaching tool for health care professionals, music is also a fun way to highlight the importance of speech at home. No need to be a perfect singer. Even singing short tunes around the house is a great way to teach your children new vocabulary words. It can be any song with a relevant message that the parent chooses. In my childhood home it was the made-up song, “Listen for the Bing,” while I waited excitedly for my morning toast to finish cooking. The best strategy is to choose songs that are meaningful for you and your family and can be integrated into the context of day-to-day tasks to make them more fun and educational. Using singing in this way not only benefits speech and language development, but it can also help develop household routines making life easier for the entire family.

Lacking a tune? Almost any message can be sung to a basic tune such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” For example, those parents trying to help their children become self-advocates and find independence in taking care of their own hearing aids, simply try: “check, check, check your aid, with your listening scope!”

The most important goal of singing to your children is to provide them with a language-rich environment full of communication opportunities

W i n t e r 2 0 1 6

SOUNDING OFF

THE AUDIOLOGY NEWSLETTER FORNEMOURS/ALFRED I. duPONT HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN

IN THIS ISSUE

Keeping Hearing Technology On

Department News

“Hear We Go!”

PACK

Audiology Collaboration Conference

Hearing Aid News

Fun For Kids!

Keeping Hearing Technology On by Kim Fiorentino

Keeping hearing technology on a child’s ears can be a difficult task. Different ages pose different challenges for parents and

providers. For example, children under the age of 2 may physically resist putting on the technology and keeping devices

in. For older children, the difficulties may be in keeping the hearing aids or cochlear implants on while playing sports or

engaging in other recreational activities. There are some simple steps that can be taken and helpful products that can be used

to minimize the obstacles.

For younger children, try putting the hearing technology on during an enjoyable task or while the child is distracted. Make

it a part of the child’s daily routine and do not take a day off. To keep it in the ear, there are options such as Ear Gear, a

spandex sleeve that comes in many different colors that slips over the hearing device with a stretch cord and locking clip.

Other variations of this concept include Oto/Critter clips which use a plastic loop which secures to the body of the hearing

technology and has a thin cord that attaches to an alligator type clip. The clip is in the shape of a critter such as a dolphin

or a mouse which makes it fun to wear. Wig/toupee tape, which is two-sided and safe to be used on skin, can secure devices

without any strings hanging down. There are also caps that can be worn on the head to deter a young child from pulling on

the device.

For older children, retention can be an issue and often revolves around sports and recreational activities. For cochlear

implant users, wearing the processor off the ear and clipping it securely to an armband, baseball hat or a collar can keep

it safe in situations where there is a risk that it can be knocked off. For soccer players, a ski hat or cap can be used to keep

hearing aids and cochlear implants securely in place. Under football helmets, a sweatband or skull cap can be used to

protect devices. When skiing, a helmet that has a mesh ear flap can

keep hearing technology in place and make hearing through the

helmet easier for the child.

These are just a few options to

help with the never-ending struggle

to keep hearing technology on

children. There is no right or wrong

approach. With each developmental

stage new challenges may arise.

Different options or a combination

of interventions will need to be

tried to find the most successful

strategy for each child.

D E P A R T M E N T N E W S

On Your Mark... Get Set...

“Hear We Go!”Save the Date! The 7th Hear We Go Race will be held May

1, 2016, on the grounds of the Nemours Mansion and

Gardens. Mark your calendars now to join us for this

fun-filled event that supports our many programs,

research and equipment to better serve our children. Look

for more information in the upcoming months!

Parents & Audiologists Collaborating for Kids (PACK) Our PACK group was formed to provide support for families of children with hearing loss. Meetings are held every other month on Wednesday evenings from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in classrooms 1 & 2 on the third floor of the hospital. These meetings are informal in nature and designed to help participants learn from one another by sharing knowledge and receive advice in the hopes of generating relationships/mentorships between parents, professionals and children.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 20, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., in Room VC 3D-18 (third floor near the Family Resource Center). The topic will be Supporting Involvement in Sports and Physical Activities for Children with Hearing Loss by Jon Brittian, AuD.

An ASL interpreter will only be available by request. To join or obtain more information, please RSVP by contacting PACK@nemours.org.

Hearing Aid NewsWe recently began a trial pick-up service for our audiology patients at our Nemours duPont Pediatrics, Milford location, which is located at the Teal Creek Plaza in Milford, Del. This service will allow families in Kent and Sussex counties, as well as surrounding areas, to pick up their child’s repaired hearing aids, ear molds, batteries and/or other durable medical equipment. Please note, this site will NOT have any audiology services available, or drop-off service, but will only be a convenient pick-up location for our families. We hope to establish additional opportunities in which audiology pick–up services can be more accessible to patients and their families. We encourage feedback to ensure the process of picking up your equipment is fast, easy and convenient. If you should have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our hearing instrument technician, Stephanie Moudy, at (302) 651-4484.

Pick-Up Information:Nemours duPont Pediatrics, MilfordTeal Creek Plaza703 N. Dupont Blvd.Milford, DE 19963Monday–Thursday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fun for Kids!Check out the many programs that are available in Therapy Services for our children to unwind and have some fun! For information on these programs, please call the Therapy Services main desk at (302) 651-4354.

� Boccia

� Yoga

� Adaptive Aquatics

� Tae Kwon Do

D E P A R T M E N T N E W S ( c o n t i n u e d )

Congratulations to Yell Inverso on the birth of her daughter, Opal Inverso-Meyers!

� Puzzle Pieces (play group for children with autism)

� Music Class for Hearing- Impaired Children

� Oncology Fitness Group

The 4th Annual Audiology Collaboration Conference was held on October 22, 2015. This year’s topic was The Psycho-Social Aspects of Hearing Loss with guest speaker Michael Harvey, PhD, who is a renowned psychologist

specializing in hearing-impaired individuals. We were fortunate to learn many useful tips in identifying and

managing the psychological impacts a hearing loss may have on a child. The day began with a wonderful Connect

to Purpose segment in which a parent panel enlightened us all on the importance of this topic.

Visit Us!Visit us at one of our four locations:

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children1600 Rockland RoadWilmington, DE 19899(302) 651-6043

Nemours duPont Pediatrics, Newtown Square3855 West Chester Pike, Suite 280Newtown Square, PA 19073(610) 557-4800

Nemours duPont Pediatrics, Philadelphia833 Chestnut Street, Suite 300Philadelphia, PA 19107(215) 861-0650

Nemours duPont Pediatrics, Voorhees443 Laurel Oak RoadVoorhees, NJ 08043(856) 309-8508

Our Mission

To provide leadership, institutions and services to

restore and improve the health of children through

care and programs not readily available, with one

high standard of quality and distinction regardless

of the recipient’s financial status.

Your child. Our promise.NemoursduPont.org© 2016. The Nemours Foundation. ® Nemours is a registered trademark of The Nemours Foundation. 05310

Audiology StaffKim Pierson, OTR/L, Senior Director, Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Services

Yell Inverso, AuD, PhD, Director of Audiology Services

Liesl Looney, AuD, Audiology Supervisor

CLINICAL AUDIOLOGISTSSusanne Abate, AuD, CCC-A

Shanda Brashears, AuD, CCC-A

Jon Brittian, AuD, CCC-A

Annemarie Cox, AuD, CCC-A

Jessica Godovin, AuD, CCC-A

Amy Harrison, MS, CCC-A

Rebecca Huzzy, AuD, CCC-A

AUDIOLOGY TECHNICIANSShannon Francese

Stephanie Moudy

AUDIOLOGY SCHEDULERSNicole Cantres

Siedah Thomas

INSURANCE VERIFICATION REPS (IVRs)Barbara Robinson

Betty Prendergast

APPL (AUDITORY PHYSIOLOGY AND PSYCHOACOUSTICS RESEARCH LAB) Thierry Morlet, PhD, Director

Kyoko Nagao, PhD, CCC-A

AUDITORY-VERBAL THERAPISTSAmy Hoehn-Powell, MS, CCC-SLP, AVT

Melissa Stone, MS, CCC-SLP, AVT

Jessica Loson, AuD, CCC-A Paula Moore, AuD, CCC-A

Tammy Riegner, AuD, CCC-A

Stacy Szymkowski, AuD, CCC-A Sarah Zavala, AuD, CCC-A Emily Zwicky, AuD, CCC-A