Listen and Talk Blog

Save the Date! April 28

2010-04-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Landmark legislation has created an unprecedented opportunity to improve services for deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind youth in Washington. There is a forum scheduled for April 28 for parents and other constituents to share input and ideas, and help make a real difference in the lives of hundreds of children across the state!

The Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss, Washington sensory Disabilities Services, and the Washington School for the Deaf are gathering data from parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and educational audiologists, educators, and other related professionals who work with these children.

This information will be used to respond to the legislature in a report required by House Bill 1879 which mandates that all children who are deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing are served, no matter where they live or communication modality they use. It is vital to the process that a wide range of constituents are represented.

The next Seattle-area forum is scheduled for Wednesday April 28 at St Catherine's School (8524 8th Ave NE) Choose one of the following five sessions to attend depending on which best describes you:

Administrators 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Staff 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm (Teachers of the Deaf, related service providers, educational interpreters, early intervention providers, family resource coordinators, general and special ed teachers, etc)
Middle School and High School Students 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Parents 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Community, Agency and Professional Providers 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (Deaf community members, social workers, audiologists, SLPs, child advocates, adult service centers, etc)

This is a great opportunity to share YOUR thoughts and ideas about what is working and what could be improved in supporting our children. We hope you can all join us and lend a voice!

Please contact Suzanne Quigley or Paige Stringer at Listen and Talk for more information at 206-985-6646.

Hearts of Love breakfast

2010-01-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

4th Annual “Hearts of Love” breakfast
Date: Tuesday, February 23rd
Time: 7:45-9:30am
Location: Renaissance Hotel, Seattle
Cost: $50/person

Listen and Talk invites you to join us for the 4th Annual “Hearts of Love” breakfast. Our biggest fundraiser of the year, the event begins with a silent auction that includes such fun auction items as a Nintendo Wii, a private tour of Theo Chocolate, a week at a condo on Maui, a wine tasting, and more! In addition to a delicious sit-down breakfast, the program will feature singing by our preschool students, touching testimonials from two of our parents, and a special performance from one our alumni students. The Hearts of Love breakfast is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our programs and the lives that they touch, and we hope that you will be able to join us. Click here to download a registration form.

CDHL Meeting- Make Your Voice Heard!

2009-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

The first set of Stakeholder meetings is happening in the new year and your input is vital as we seek to ensure that all voices are heard ---including voices from advocates, family members, providers, teachers, and individuals who utilize listening and spoken language. If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please email suzanneq@listentalk.org.

For clarification on the January stakeholder meetings…January 12th Edmonds and Mount Vernon meetings will happen simultaneously – and January 13th Fife and Renton meetings will happen at the same time. Please attend a meeting that is convenient for you.

We hope that you can attend one of these events. Here is a summary of the January meetings and attached you will find additional detail about other meetings in the coming months across the State:

January 12, 2009
Edmonds Community College (Triton Union Bldg)- 20000 68th Ave W, Lynnwood WA
7:00-8:30pm (Parent Group Meeting)

January 12, 2009
Mount Vernon High School (Cafeteria)- 314 North 9th St, Mount Vernon WA
7:00-8:30pm (Parent Group Meeting)

January 13, 2009
Renton Technical College (room H102-105)- 3000 NE 4th St, Renton WA
7:00-8:30pm (Parent Group Meeting)

January 13, 2009
Fife School District (Board Room)- 5802 20th St E, Fife WA
7:00-8:30pm (Parent Group Meeting)

LA Times Article

2009-08-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-10T14:33:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

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 :)

Legislative Update II

2009-04-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Since the last Legislative Update post, several key things have happened in the state legislature that will affect early intervention for children with hearing loss.
First, House Bill (HB) 1161, also known as the Infant Toddler Equity Act, unfortunately did not make it out of committee this session.
While that bill did not pass, there is another piece of legislation still active. HB 1879 would establish the Washington State Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss to provide statewide leadership in the regional delivery of education services to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. There will be a report back to the legislature which will include recommendations for the establishment of 2 regional programs providing service in the full range of communication modalities (including oral communication).
On March 26th, L&T Executive Director Suzanne Quigley testified before the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education in support of the bill.
For more information about House Bill 1879, click here.
**Update** The bill has passed the Senate and is now in conference committee.

Join Listen and Talk for the Kirkland Half Marathon and 5k!

2009-03-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Calling all runners, walkers and joggers! Join Listen and Talk for the Kirkland Half Marathon and 5k Run/Walk, to be held on Sunday, May 10th at Kirkland's Juanita Beach Park.

This is not an exclusively L&T event, but a great way to increase public awareness about auditory-verbal education and to raise funds for the school.

Check out our group page-http://www.firstgiving.com/listentalk, for all the details.

We hope you can join us for this fun event!!

Quality of Life Study

2009-03-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Quality of Life Group at the University of Washington is currently conducting the Hearing Loss and Quality of Life of Children and Youth project (Project HQL). The Group is looking for children between the ages of 11 and 18 years old who deaf or hard of hearing and parents of children between the ages of 5 and 10 year old who are deaf or hard of hearing, to take a 45 minute survey about hearing loss and quality of life.
The goal of Project HQL is to better understand what things are going well in the lives of children and youth who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) and what things aren’t going as well. They will use this information to develop questionnaires that parents or children can complete to help guide teachers, clinicians and other professionals in meeting the needs of the child, which could potentially impact the ability for Listen and Talk students and alumni to manuver in the hearing based world.
For more information on how you can particpate in the study, click here.

Legislative Update

2009-02-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

Let your voice be heard! Important legislation is being considered in Olympia right now and it has the potential to impact families and providers of early intervention services. The bill is sometimes referred to as the Infant Toddler Equity Act. It is House Bill 1161 and its companion Senate Bill number 5373, which are titled, “Concerning early intervention services for children with disabilities.” If passed in its current form, the bill will create a more comprehensive services system so that all families with infants who have disabilities can receive quality early intervention. It will also provide for a more effective and consistent system of payment to early intervention providers such as Listen and Talk. At the present, the funding Listen and Talk receives for providing early intervention services falls far short of what the true costs are to provide those services. In January a public hearing was held on the bill in the House Committee on Human Services after which the committee referred it to the House Ways & Means Committee where a hearing has not yet been scheduled. If you would like to encourage the Committee to hold a hearing on the bill, please contact the Chair, Representative Kelli Linville, at 360-7867-7854 or via email at linville.kelli@leg.wa.gov.
If you would like to share your thoughts on the passage of this bill with your legislator, please visit http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx to find out who represents you and drop them an email or call them with your opinions. Let your voice be heard!

3rd Annual Hearts of Love breakfast

2009-02-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

Join us for the 3rd Annual Hearts of Love breakfast!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Renaissance Hotel Seattle
7:45-8:30am Registration and Silent Auction
8:30-9:30am Breakfast and Program
Tickets: $50/person or $500/table

Click here to download a Registration Form
Less than 2 weeks left to register, so sign up today!
Complimentary on-site childcare and free validated parking in the hotel garage are available.

This fun, educational event will start with a silent auction featuring great items including handmade quilts, artwork by L&T students, restaurant gift certificates, wine, vacations and more.
After the auction we will have wonderful program that will include a video song medley by our preschool and pre-Kindergarten students, insight on what it is like to have a child with a hearing loss from one of our Listen and Talk parents, and special book reading by L&T alumni student Emma Braden. Our featured presenter, Paige Stringer, will deliver a heartwarming speech on growing up hard of hearing.
All proceeds from the event will go to support Listen and Talk’s mission of teaching children with hearing loss to communicate and learn through spoken language.

Questions? Please contact Listen and Talk Development Director, Barbara Bandoli at barbarab@listentalk.org, or at (206) 985-6646.

Thank you for your support!

Shop to Support Listen and Talk

2009-01-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

One of our Listen and Talk parents is a sales consultant for Southern Living at Home. She has generously offered to donate her sales commission for the month of January to Listen and Talk.

Southern Living offers a wide variety of decorating and entertaining products that are beautiful and unique. To see all the great items that Southern Living has to offer, visit https://www.southernlivingathome.com/.

To place an order, simply call Heather Curry at 253-380-7523, and she will assist you.
Order by January 30th and 20% of the value of your purchase will go directly to Listen and Talk.
Thank you for your support!! Happy Shopping!!

Changes at Listen and Talk

2009-01-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

In response to the continued growth and demand for our services, Listen and Talk is expanding! We are pleased to announce that we will welcome children to a new morning preschool class starting on Monday January 12th. The new class will be led by Betsy Twist, who joined our staff in the Fall. Betsy will be assisted by Dustin Hamren, a frequent Listen and Talk substitute and past Education Assistant. In addition, we will soon welcome a new Speech Language Pathologist, Kristin Porritt Wilson, to the Listen and Talk team. Kristin will see families in our Parent Infant and Individual Therapy programs.

A historic first for a Listen and Talk family

2008-12-31T10:28:00.000-08:00

Last night’s King 5 News special report “For the First Time, a Children's HealthLink Special” featured a segment on a Listen and Talk family, the McKittrick’s, whose son Dalton recently became the youngest child ever to receive bilateral cochlear implants at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Another of the McKittrick’s sons, Connor, is also profoundly deaf and attended Listen and Talk.
Click here to see the McKittrick’s story visit. (Their segment begins around minute 18 in the video).
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On a side note, as 2008 comes to a close, Listen and Talk would like to take this opportunity to thank our many friends who have supported us this year. We are very grateful for your generosity.

Giving the Gift of Listen and Talk

2008-12-10T15:21:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is upon us, and with that in mind we wanted to share with you some great Listen and Talk gift ideas:

Give the gift of charity by donating to the school in honor of that special someone: http://www.listentalk.org/support.html
Support a cause and give a gift with great L&T gear for your whole family: http://www.cafepress.com/listen_talk (a portion of each sale goes to Listen and Talk)
Brighten a teacher’s holiday by donating one of the many needed items on our Wish List: http://www.listentalk.org/teacherwishlist.html
Shop online using GoodShop.com, just select "Listen and Talk" as the charity you shop for and GoodSearch will donate up to 30% of your purchase value to our school: http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx

Your support of our programs now, and throughout the year, is greatly appreciated.

**Because of the Winter Break holiday, we will be posting the next Listen and Talk Blog entry early; so check back here on Monday, December 22nd for our final post of the year.**

Being thankful

2008-11-26T16:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so in the spirit of the holiday, we asked our students and teachers what they are grateful for.

I am thankful for….
“Momma” --Jacob, age 3
“My amazing husband” --Mandy, staff
“My Elmo bike” -- Amy, age 3
“My sister Hannah” --Lucy, age 3
“Jacolby” --Elyze, age 3
“Lindsey and Mommy” --Jacolby, age 3
“My family and wonderful friends” --Mona, staff
“Max and Reddy" (the classroom fish)--Owen, age 3
“The loving and caring people I have the privilege of working with everyday” --Kim, staff
“My family, my home, my friends and my puppies” --Pam, staff
“My assistant Becky; I don’t know what I would do without her!” --Rebecca, staff
“Mommy, daddy, Christofer, home and bike…3 bikes” --Julyanna, age 5
“My supportive family and friends, for love and for health” --Katie, staff
“Stickers!” -- Caroline, age 4
“My Valdo, my grandpa and Christofer!” --Christofer, age 5
“That all three of my grown children live in the Seattle area” --Becky, staff
“Morgan, Mommy, Daddy, and Aiden” --Addison, age 5
“My brother and my family” --Ronin, age 4
“That my daughters are in college and doing well” --Kitty, staff
“My mommy, daddy, Emily and Katelyn” --Olivia, age 4
“A happy and healthful family” -- Andrea, staff
“My scooter” (when asked if he was thankful for anything else, he replied “no, not today”)-- Jack, age 4

New Listen and Talk Website

2008-11-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the newly improved Listen and Talk website! We have added several great new features to enhance your visit to our site. You can learn more about the L&T experience through some wonderful video clips of parents and students on the "Voices of Listen and Talk" page. We have also made some significant changes to our "Ways to Give" page including the addition of an online donation capability and a Teachers Wish List. For our families, we also have a new "What's Happening" box on our home page that will have current information on school closures, etc. And of course, we now have a Blog. Every two weeks here on the Blog page we will add a new post about topics ranging from technology and education to Listen and Talk events. So check back here again on November 26th for our next post.