Life is Bliss - Lily's Cochlear Implant Journey

Upcoming Moog Center Workshops

As you may remember we had a fantastic experience this summer attending the "Helping Your Children Learn to Talk" workshop in St. Louis. It was without a doubt one of the best couple days you can spend and well worth the investment. Well, the Moog Center is taking applications for this summer's training and offering a variety of other programs for parents and educators alike. Here's a listing. Check it out and don't forget to tell your educational professionals as well.

January 21-22, 2010 - $300 

Pediatric Cochlear Implant Programming 

A workshop for cochlear implant audiologists who work with infants and children. This workshop will focus on cochlear implant programming techniques for optimizing access to sound for infants and young children.  Protocols for monitoring progress in children at various developmental levels will be discussed.  Instruction will include live demonstrations, videos, and presentation of relevant case studies.  Seating for this interactive workshop is limited. CEU’s available.  Contact:  Connie Ciavirella at 314-692-7172 or cciavirella@moogcenter.org 

 

February 18-20, 2010 - $350 

The Earlier They Get Started, The Faster They Learn To Talk. 

For teachers and SLPs providing early intervention services to children with hearing loss. This workshop will focus on techniques for helping parents work with their own children and strategies for professionals working with very young children to develop spoken language skills.  Instruction will include live demonstrations, videos and hands-on opportunities.  Seating is limited. CEU’s available.  Contact:  Betsy Moog Brooks at 314-692-7172 or bbrooks@moogcenter.org 

 

July 7-11, 2010 - $150 

Helping Your Child Learn To Talk 

A Workshop for Parents of Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, ages 2 to 5 

This four-day workshop will provide parents with opportunities to learn strategies to help their children learn to talk while their children receive daily individualized instruction by a staff member of the Moog Center.  Each day is packed full of activities for the children and information for the parents.  Children over age 3 may receive speech and language evaluations, for an additional fee.  Contact:  Betsy Moog Brooks at 314-692-7172 or bbrooks@moogcenter.org 

 

September 2010 – Date to be determined. $150 

Strategies for Professionals of Mainstreamed Students with Hearing Loss 

For SLPs and teachers who have a student with hearing loss in their classroom. Learn effective strategies that work with students with hearing loss who are mainstreamed into your school setting.  Topics to be 

discussed include:  hearing loss and effects on language, academic difficulties, assistive listening devices, and support services. Contact:  Connie Ciavirella at 314-692-7172 or cciavirella@moogcenter.org 

 

October 2010 – Date to be determined. $300 

From Assessment to Practice:  Developing Spoken Language Skills in Children with Hearing Loss For SLPs and Teachers of the Deaf 

This workshop will focus on accurately assessing language levels, identifying areas for language instruction, selecting appropriate goals and objectives, and planning lessons for children with hearing loss.  Topics include:  Using norm-referenced language evaluation tools to diagnose strengths and weaknesses, using criterion-referenced language rating forms to select goals and mark progress, and implementing targets into a variety of language lessons. CEUs available. Contact:  Connie Ciavirella at 314-692-7172 or cciavirella@moogcenter.org 

 

November 2010 – Date to be determined. $300 

Conversational Language Activities for Deaf Children For SLPs and Teachers of the Deaf 

This workshop will focus on implementing language goals into a variety of conversational language activities for children with hearing loss.  Topics include:  Modeling and imitation techniques for correction and expansion of language, selecting appropriate language goals, planning conversational language activities to meet language goals and a variety of ideas for many different kinds of conversational activities.  This workshop will also include classroom observations and some hands-on practice. CEUs available.  Contact:  Connie Ciavirella at 314-692-7172 or cciavirella@moogcenter.org 

 

For your convenience, the Moog Center offers onsite workshops for larger groups.  If your staff or district is interested in scheduling one of the above workshops onsite, please contact Connie Ciavirella at 314-692-7172 or cciavirella@moogcenter.org 

 

Visit the website at www.moogcenter.org for complete workshop listings and information about the Moog Center’s publications.

3-D Scanner May Lead to Better Hearing Aids

Ran into an interesting article in the latest issue of Fast Company that looks at MIT's latest 3-D digital ear canal scanner. The technology will enable a better reading of the shapes and shifts in the ear canal than the traditional silicone ear molds. While the technology isn't likely to effect Lily and other cochlear implant users, it could be a big advance for those requiring hearing aids. MIT hopes to commercialize the technology by 2011.

Happy Birthday - Lily Turns Two

Lily turned two today and had a heck of a party with family and friends. She had an "Oswald" cake and way too generous grandparents and friends who filled the living room with presents. 

Last year at this time she was just beginning to use her "ears" to recognize and respond to sounds. Tonight I was filling out the doctor's checklist for her 2-year check-up tomorrow and she's meeting all of the developmental and language milestones on the list (20+ words, two-word sentences, use of pronouns, following 2-part commands, etc.). Wow! What a great birthday gift. 

Here are a couple of pics from the party. Enjoy!

Preparing For Our Advanced Bionics Trip

From the day we chose Advanced Bionics for Lily's implants we've wanted to make a visit to see the company in action. As luck/fate/karma would have it I was going to be in the area attending a trade show for my work. We decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to tack on a couple of vacation days and make it a family adventure as well. So the whole family will be making a trip to sunny SoCal in a few weeks. 

Lily's Mom made a few calls and managed to schedule a tour for us at their facilities. During the conversation, the AB rep asked if we'd be interested in speaking to the employees to share our story. We jumped at the invite to meet the people who've made such an impact in Lily's life. So we're now in the process of prepping a 60-minute presentation to be given to both the manufacturing facilities and AB headquarters. Stay tuned for updates and insights.

Speaking Gigs

In celebration of Lily's one-year hearing birthday on Wednesday, we've decided to undertake a new venture. We are currently developing a presentation revolving around our journey from initial days of diagnosis through our daily adventures in learning to listen and talk. If you have a need for speakers from the parents' perspective, contact us for availability. 

Boys Town Memorial Day Run - Join Us!

Every year Boys Town National Research Hospital holds a Memorial Day Run to raise money and awareness for its Cochlear Implant Center. It's a really well run event with over 2,500 runners and walkers. There's a Children's 1-Mile Fun Run, a 1-Mile Walk/Run and the 5-Mile Walk/Run. Here's a Memorial Day Run Video from the event.

Last year, we met several friends and pushed our kids the 5 miles in their strollers. This year, I've decided to take a run at the run, while Lily and her Mom will likely gather a group to walk the race. It's a really fun time with children's activities and trophies for winners. Here's a pic from last year where Lily got to say hello to Dr. Lusk, her CI surgeon.

If you'd like to participate or donate, here's the registration link. Hope to see you there!