LA Times Article

The Los Angeles Times ran an interesting article today titled "Cochlear implants open deaf kids' ears to the world". The article provides great exposure to the use of cochlear implants and the auditory-oral education technique. Click here to read the complete story.

L&T Family Featured on King 5

One of our Listen and Talk families was recently featured in a segment on King 5 news. Here is a link to their story- http://www.king5.com/video/childrenshealthlink-index.html?nvid=372765.

End of the Year Review

As the school year comes to a close, we wanted to take this opportunity to recap all the things that have happened over the course of the year---
In the fall we launched a new Fine Arts program providing weekly music, art and movement classes for our preschool and pre-kindergarten students. We also launched our new L&T website that features videos, online donation capabilities and of course, the new blog.
This winter we opened a new morning preschool class to accommodate growing demand and hired a new SLP to provide Parent Infant and therapy services. We also hosted our 3rd Annual Hearts of Love breakfast, raising $40,000 for our programs.
In the spring, we held two fundraising events- a team at the Kirkland Half Marathon and a Document Shredding event, which combined grossed nearly $2500. As in the spring, Legislation was passed that reorganizes state services to children with hearing loss.
More recently, Listen and Talk announced that Audiological services will be offered starting in the fall. And last week, two new raised garden beds were installed, so the preschool and pre-k students will have the opportunity to grow flowers and vegetables.
It has been a great year full of exciting changes and growth and we thank all our families and donors for their support.

Audiological Services Coming to Listen and Talk

Listen and Talk is proud to announce that audiological services will be offered to our families within the next 6-9 months!
Children who are developing listening and spoken language skills must hear as optimally as possible. Their cochlear implants, hearing aids and FM systems must be in good working order and any change in hearing must be immediately addressed. Currently, when a change in hearing is suspected or if a problem occurs with a child’s equipment, the family has to seek assistance from their clinical audiologist. Often these appointments are not available for days or sometimes weeks. In the interim, precious time is lost as the child is not hearing optimally. The provision of audiological services will allow Listen and Talk staff to immediately assess the child’s ability to hear and if a problem is identified, address any problems that arise with the child’s devices so that they can return to the listening and spoken language lessons of the day.
A donated soundbooth was installed as the first step in a process to provide this essential support for our families. We are currently seeking financial support from local foundations, corporations and individuals to purchase the necessary audiological equipment. If you would like to make a donation to support the new Audiology booth, please call Barbara Bandoli at 206-985-6646.
We are thrilled that we will be able to provide this new service to our families and thank all the organizations and individuals who are helping to make it possible.

Document Shredding Event

Date: Saturday, May 16th
Time: 9am to Noon
Place: 8610 8th Ave NE, Seattle
Suggested Min. Donation: $10/five boxes

Protect yourself from identity theft! Come to Listen and Talk and have your tax documents, receipts, and more professionally shredded and recycled. You can have up to five boxes of documents destroyed per suggested $10 minimum donation. And there is no need to remove paper clips or staples (however, items with hard metals such 3 ring binders cannot be accepted). So stop by on May 16th between 9am and noon to take advantage of this valuable service!

Shredding services donated by DataSite Northwest.
All proceeds from the event will benefit Listen and Talk.

L&T Staff Presentations

Next week is the Infant and Early Childhood Conference (IECC), Washington's foremost convention for early intervention providers in the state. More than 1,000 participants from state agencies, schools and other organizations will meet to discuss the techniques and tools used to teach children ages birth to six. Listen and Talk is proud to have five staff members selected to present during the conference sessions. Mandy Frost, Rebecca Schumer and Pam Yoshihara will be presenting on the use of picture pages to develop language and recall skills. Kim Hamren and Maura Berndsen will present on the issue of unilateral (single ear) hearing loss and appropriate education techniques. Listen and Talk will also have a booth in the conference exhibit hall. Both our teaching team presentations and our booth in the exhibit hall will be excellent opportunities to share information about Listen and Talk and auditory-verbal education to other providers in the state.

The things kids say...

One element that our teachers work on with the pre-k and preschool kids is teaching them to focus on what they are hearing through their FM systems rather than other side noises, and some of them are getting quite adept at recognizing what noises they should be hearing:

Earlier this week, one of our Educational Assistants was still wearing the FM when she went to wash her hands after handing out snack. A few moments later, one of the preschoolers, very sweetly, started to giggle as she ate her snack. When the teacher asked what was funny, she said, “I hear my FM! I hear my FM washing its hands!”

Oh, the things kids say :)