Every Child Hearing; Every Child Learning: Auditory Access (PM Session)

Typical mainstream classrooms are auditory-verbal environments where instruction is presented through the teacher’s spoken communication. If children cannot consistently and clearly receive spoken instruction, the major premise of the educational system is undermined.

Detailed speech sounds have to reach the brain in order for neural development and learning to occur. Therefore, we need to consider the environment of the classroom – a place where interfering background noise is generated by the students, where that noise can be mitigated by architectural design features, and where the noise barrier can be overcome with classroom audio distribution systems (CADS) – in order to provide the brain access to spoken instruction.

This presentation will explain, from a Universal Design perspective, how children “learn” to hear, and how acoustic environments affect their literacy achievement and academic progress. Strategies to achieve acoustic accessibility must recognize the fact that teachers, along with administrators, need to be given critical tools for implementation.

Presenter: Carol Flexer, PhD, CCC-A, is a internationally known professor. She earned her PhD in Clinical Audiology, aural rehabilitation, and psychology from Kent State University. She held a position at the University of Akron for 25 years as a Distinguished Professor of Audiology You can learn more about the many accomplishments of Dr. Flexer on her website (www.carolflexer.com).

Target Audience:  Speech/Language Pathologists, District Administrators, Principals

Time:  1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Cost: No charge.

Contacts:  Details: Shelly Elkin, Au.D., 715-720-2061, selkin@cesa10.k12.wi.us

Registration: Shari Owen, 715-720-2060, sowen@cesa10.k12.wi.us

For more information, check out this short video clip at https://www.cesa10.k12.wi.us/index.php?Prog=SDocument&Task=Init&ID=53