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A collaborative team of faculty from The University of Akron (UA) in Akron, Ohio, and Kent State University (KSU) in Kent, Ohio, were awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a specialty area in the graduate speech-language pathology (SLP) programs of UA and KSU that would train a total of 32 SLP students (trainees) over a period of 4 years (eight per year) to work with children who have hearing loss and are acquiring listening and spoken language. The Grant Program is conducted by a faculty of eight professors, four from each university, with a co-director for the Grant Program assigned to each university. The Grant Program has an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary framework that includes specialists in early intervention, special education, psychology, social work, and preschool education as well as SLPs, audiologists, and auditory-verbal therapists certified as listening and spoken language specialists (LSLS). In addition, university and community-based professionals highly experienced in providing services to infants, toddlers, and children with hearing loss and their families mentor and supervise practicum experiences while providing classroom instruction. Personnel who are involved in supervision and instruction have an extensive background working with students with hearing loss and have established consistent records of positive course ratings from past students. The Grant Program's primary goal is to improve the quality of SLP pre-professional training to ensure that trainees are capable, upon graduation, of accurate assessment and management of the listening and spoken language needs of infants, toddlers, and children with hearing loss.

This article discusses the AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language--an organization designed to build capacity of certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists (LSLS) by defining and maintaining a set of professional standards for LSLS professionals and thereby addressing the global deficit of qualified LSLS. Definitions and descriptions will be presented as the journey to identifying professionals highly qualified in auditory-based practices unfolds--a journey that will prepare professionals to better serve children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families now and in the future. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

A survey of parents of 54 school-age children with prelingual hearing loss being taught through the auditory-verbal approach revealed that 85% of children were estimated to read better than or as well as average normal hearing children. Of 37 children for whom standardized test scores were supplied, 30 scored at the 50th percentile or higher. (JDD)

Studies 54 children with hearing loss using the hypothesis that children with hearing loss who learn standard language through using their hearing will learn to read in the same predictable ways as children with normal hearing. Finds that hearing losses do not make the normal acquisition of reading impossible. (MG)

Hearing loss is primarily a brain issues, not an ear issue. Technology, e.g. cochlear implants and hearing aids are necessary to reach the brain of a child with hearing loss in order to create a neural structure for listening, language and literacy. The brain requires a great deal of auditory exposure and practice to develop the strong neural connections that serve as a platform for knowledge acquisition. By integrating research from multiple fields, this article links experience dependent plasticity with the amount of auditory practice that is necessary to generate and change neural pathways for children with hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]