turning into a bad night. i am pretty sure i am not cut out for slp. and i seem to be having more miscommunications with kevin than ever.

Deaf- and/or SLP-related notes

Ok, I reallllllly do have a lot of information/reflections I want to post! So keep checking for more info as time goes by. I am officially making it a New Years resolution to be more consistent here.

Right now, as I "study" for orals, I am finding SO many great sources online for SLPs. I just wish I knew what I should be memorizing instead of everything.

cool handouts (with a free registration):

http://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspx

cool stuff for SLPs doing IEPs (in Wisconsin...) - see phonetic development chart and normal curve statistics sheets...

http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/pdf/slguide.pdf

LOADs of stuff - from reference info to activity ideas:

http://speech-language-therapy.com/whatshere.htm

my new favorite blog! free materials with subscription:

http://www.speechtherapyideas.com/

"You know a lot more than you think you do"

I hear this sentence often. Everyone in my program does. And I believe it, don't get me wrong. Of course it's all relative. I know more than the "average" parent about the typical language development of someone their child's age... whatever "average" means. And I get that I have more knowledge of what's going on in the body related to hearing loss, and how that affects language development, not to mention social-emotional development and the cultural components that you can't ignore. But do I really know anything?

When I talk to non-SLPs or people naive to the Deaf world, I get a lot of respect. "I can see you are really passionate about this!" People understand what I am saying and appreciate my level of sensitivity and concern.

Perhaps this is because I step out of student/SLP/professional mode and step into a casual/informal/sincere mode. I'm noticing it can be a challenge in itself to be professional and confident at the same time. "Not my thing," as I usually say when discussing anything out of my scope of being (i.e. alcohol, sports, cars, etc. ;-)

When I talk to my peers or supervisors or faculty, I fall apart, I guess. A wise friend once said to me, "Fake it til you make it"... referring to confidence, in case you haven't heard that line before. And I honestly try! I walk out of my meetings feeling great, thinking I ask intelligent, provoking questions, thinking I left the impression that I knew what I was doing and expressed an appropriate level of rational thought, creativity, knowledge, depth, consideration, etc. But it seems that without any exception, the truth of the matter is that I walk away, and the supervisors more than likely discuss how I couldn't possibly have been more disappointing.

Okok, well, maybe not that far. I always get positive + negative feedback. Though I think that is an SLP thing. "I like how you said your good /s/ sound on the first one, but I didn't hear it for the next 29 words!" yeayeayea. okok. Again and again, I just get slammed to the floor. This isn't for me, I get it. Story of my life.

My CI textbook.

"In a comparative study of parental stress in mothers of preschoolers from three groups (i.e. healthy, hearing impaired, seizure disorders), mothers of children with sensationalist hearing loss reported the highest level of parenting stress on a standardized instrument and the greatest number of depressive symptoms"

"Preliminary data on the impact of cochlear implants on the family indicate a substantial reduction in parental stress and depression in this group, although there is considerable variance in stress ratings likely modified by a range of factors.... Given the data indicating that maternal stress and depression directly impact children's emotional and behavioral development, it is critical that aspects of family function be considered and addressed with objective studies of outcome achieved with cochlear implantations."

Nancy Mellon, MS from Chapter 9 "Parental Response to the Diagnosis of Hearing Loss" (p. 147 & 148) in my Cochlear Implants textbook (Niparko Ed., 2nd Ed., 2009)

She refers to: Quittner A, Glueckauf R, Jackson D. Chronic parenting stress: moderating vs. mediating effects of social support. J Personality Social Psychol 1990;59:1266-1278.

and to: Quitter A, Steck J, Rouiller R. Cochlear implants in children: a study of parental stress and adjustment. Am J Otol, 1991;12(Suppl):95-104.

I just thought this was... interesting.... But it should be noted that this textbook is RIDDEN with biases! And just mean comments about the Deaf world. But I suppose any CI textbook would be. You can borrow it if you want!

So I need to remind myself DAILY that it is VERY ok to not love every (thousands of) aspect of speech-language pathology. Deaf, stroke, TBI, early intervention, language delay, autism, PDD, elderly, hearing loss, NICU, sensory stim, alternative audmentative communication, blahblahblah

It's OK!

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The Value of Baby Sign

ASHA CONVENTION OR BUST!

Come see us- 2220

SA 9:30AM-10:30AM, Seminar 1 HR, Marr/Salon E

About Baby Signing

Brenda Seal, Gallaudet U, Washington, DC; YK

An, James Madison U, Harrisonburg, VA; Michelle

Brown, Gallaudet U, Washington, DC; Alison Gannon,

Gallaudet U, Washington, DC

Abundant anecdotal, but little empirical, evidence

promotes baby signing for a language-literacy

“advantage” in typically developing infants. This

session addresses previous and current research

directions and offers suggestions and cautions for

working with parents on signing choices, approaches,

and probable outcomes. Potential generalization to

clinical populations will be suggested.

As I do more research into the success of Baby Sign, some research hypothesizes why babies who sign have an advantage (see Goodwyn, Acredolo, and Brown, 2000). Fascinating! What it comes down to is scaffolding and reinforcement. What does this all mean? The developing baby brain is learning to interpret the world he is experiencing through interaction. Go read about Vygotsky's ideas. The babies who learn some sign can express just a little about how they are experiencing the world. And with that, parents can focus on their babies' expression, reinforce the vocabulary and elaborate and expand on their "utterances." This also allows for a child-centered approach, building on what the infant is interested in rather than telling them what they should be interested in.

The article highlights that Baby Sign allows babies to have their needs met without crying (WATER), to express how they feel (the doll is SCARY), clarify their needs (using specific signs, e.g. CHEERIOS), be more active participants during book-reading, clarify their initial verbal labels (i.e. if they sign when the begin to talk, the sign can clarify what they are saying if it is unintelligible).

What it comes down to is that parents are offering more opportunity for their babies to contribute (receptively and expressively) in conversation, control their environment, and therefore, allow them to be happier babies... ? In addition, more opportunities exist for parents to respond to their babies' comments. This allows the babies more directed, scaffolded learning opportunities for language development as they hear more language in general - parents are focusing on expanding and elaborating on their child's expression. It comes down to exposure!

Goodwyn, S. W., Acredolo, L. P., & Brown, C. A. ( 2000). Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24, 81–103.