[00:00:00] Announcer: Welcome to Episode 26 of EmpowEAR Audiology with Dr. Carrie Spangler.
[00:00:17] Carrie: Welcome to the EmpowEAR Audiology Podcast. My name is Dr. Carrie Spangler, and I am your host, a passionate audiologist with a lifelong journey living with hearing challenges in this vibrant hearing world. I wanted to have an empowering audiology podcast for all of my listeners. Many of us learn and grow by being in communication and connecting with others.
[00:00:42] It is my hope that all of my listeners will learn something new and be empowered after each episode, whether you're a professional, a parent, an individual with hearing challenges, or just want to be inspired. I am glad you are here with us today, and I am extremely grateful that you're with us for today's episode, which is a recap of the live Facebook event that took place on August 24th, 2021.
[00:01:13] If you didn't catch us live. No worries. Today you're with us on this podcast and you will get the recap of everything that happened on the live event. This live event was , featured two incredible individuals, Dr. Cheryl DeConde-Johnson and Dr. Lisa Cannon. And the topic was back to school, hot topics and serving students who are deaf and hard of hearing in the school setting.
[00:01:45] You can find more information about the empowerEAR Audiology podcast on the three C digital media network based website. And you can also find the transcripts on the website as well. So without any further ado, let's get started with today's episode. Okay. Hey everyone. Welcome to the empowEAR Audiology live Facebook event.
[00:02:14] I'm really excited to have this event today. We are going to be talking about back to school, hot topics for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. And I think this is a great topic as we get into, um, the new school year. So for those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Dr. Carrie Spangler, and I am an educational audiologist.
[00:02:38] I also have a lifelong journey of living with hearing challenges. Um, vibrant hearing world. I have a cochlear implant and I also use a hearing aid and I am the host of the empower Audiology podcast. And one of the reasons we're going live tonight is because we are celebrating one year anniversary of empowEAR Audiology with 25 episodes over the last year.
[00:03:06] And we thought we would have another great event tonight. And so if you haven't listened to the empowEAR Audiology podcast, I encourage you to go to apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts and you can find it there, or you can visit that three C digital media network web page, and you can get online and listen, and there are transcripts available online as well.
[00:03:36] So I just wanted to introduce, I had two amazing guests with me tonight, and we are going to have a conversation with all of you about back to school, hot topics. And I have Dr. Cheryl DeConde Johnson with me today, and she was brave enough to be my first guest on the empowEAR Audiology podcast. And brave enough to be the first guest on Facebook live tonight.
[00:04:01] And she. Has such a, uh, bring so much experience to the field of educational audiology. And I'm so excited to have her tonight too. And then we have Dr. Lisa Cannon, who is, um, the president of the educational audiology association. And she also has her boots on the ground running as an educational audiologist in the Denver public schools.
[00:04:28] So, um, she's going to have a lot to add to this conversation because she has been running about just like I have, I'm trying to get, uh, the year set up. So welcome Cheryl and Lisa, thank you for joining me.
[00:04:46] Lisa: Great to be here. Thanks for having us good.
[00:04:50] Carrie: And I just want to welcome everyone who is joining us live today or tonight or wherever you might happen to be you, but the time of the day it is.
[00:04:59] And, um, and could any of you to, um, give us a thumbs up emoji, write a comment, um, the, whatever you feel as we're having this conversation tonight, we're going to try to pay attention to the comments and, um, make sure that whatever you're thinking about you are engaged as well. And, um, so those of you who are listening or paying attention on the replay, um, we hope that you will engage with us on the empoweEAR Audiology, Facebook page, um, as we kind of keep this conversation going with this view beginning.
[00:05:36] And so, um, I think just start, um,
[00:05:44] That's okay. That's why won't lie, but we have technical difficulties sometimes it's kind of a good segue. Um, so last year was a crazy year. I think we can all admit that. And we had no idea going into last school year, what to expect. Um, so I think my first question would be going into this year, I think was still going to be in a very flexible mode.
[00:06:13] We don't really know exactly what to expect for the whole school year, but what can you guys think of that happened last year that we can bring positively into this year as we begin the new school year that we want to bring forward and keep doing.
[00:06:34] Either one,
[00:06:35] Lisa: I will start because I think there are quite a few positives that we can take forward. I actually, as I was thinking about it and talking to a lot of our colleagues and listening, I really think that we are going to, um, continue the amazing connections. That's what I kept hearing. Like the ability to connect with families.
[00:06:58] Um, during COVID even, even during the shutdown while challenging, it was also in a little bit improved than a traditional school year. You know, we were able to get more parents were able to join in their kids' IEP meetings. And more professionals were able to join in those meetings. And we were, we were just a little bit more connected and I don't know if that's because of like the efficiencies of virtual meetings then while we're all sick of zoom.
[00:07:28] I think that zoom and zoom and Google meet those kinds of virtual meetings are here to stay. Um, at least there are in my district, we're still having virtual IEP meetings this year. So, um, I think that's a positive. And even though I'm sick of looking at the screen,
[00:07:49] Cheryl: I cannot have some, yeah. Um, I think we learned so much in the last year and a half about technology and how to make technology work for our students and what kind of support that teachers needed. So I think our toolkit grew a lot over the last year and a half and hopefully. We don't have a lot more, we have to learn because we've kind of done it all.
[00:08:15] And so I think we're just better equipped for whatever brings, whatever technologies come our way. We've kind of done it all in the last year and a half. And so hopefully it's not as challenging this year as it has been in the
[00:08:28] Carrie: past. Yeah. We definitely have some tricks in our toolbox this year and moving forward as far as what we needed to do and flexibility and, and things like that as well.
[00:08:40] So I think one of the greatest things about technology too, is it makes you think outside of the box. And we've had so many, I think, advancements with, um, some of our technology, whether it's, uh, you know, some of the automated captioning and being more available on different platforms. And I think I was telling both of you, um, before this, one of the things that I, um, did was record, uh, like kind of front loaded overview inside of it.
[00:09:10] It's about hearing and, um, hearing challenges in the classroom that really applied to any of our kids, um, to be able to share with, with whole teams of teachers and just be able to send that out. So have you heard or talked to anybody who've been doing things like that?
[00:09:30] Lisa: Definitely. I think, I think teachers are a little bit more open to it.
[00:09:36] It's easier to get them a message or to get them the information electronically these days. Um, and then, you know, showing up in their classroom and doing an in-service. And so I think those resources, like you said, that we created are where they're sticking around, for sure. We're still we're using them.
[00:09:56] And I, what I do love is that I think, um, going forward throughout the year, rather than me running over to do some troubleshooting, um, for kids in person, which for me, it's only a 20 minute drive maybe to my furthest school, but some, some for some of our educational audiologist, it's like an hour and a half, so that they can get on a video.
[00:10:16] You can hold up the device, it can talk through it. And I'm, I'm loving that even in a, you know, even just having. Get not be in my car quite as much for small issues. And that's, I I'm excited about that for this year.
[00:10:32] Carrie: Yeah. I just had that happen to me yesterday when I had a teacher who, um, texted me and she's like, I, I can't get the boot on.
[00:10:42] And I was like let’s face time. And so she should just show me and I'm like, oh, so-and-so got new hearing aids. That's why you can't get the boot on. So it solved the problem really quickly. So we could move forward instead of me driving over there and realizing like I'm going to need some other pieces and parts in order to get this fixed.
[00:11:04] And, um, but it was a great way to quickly figure out the problem and go on with the next step.
[00:11:13] Lisa: Because everyone is so comfortable with the format that, you know, with the video format. Now you can do it on your phone, on the fly. If everyone's comfortable with that. So I think it's, it's, it's kind of a cool thing.
[00:11:27] Carrie: It is. Yeah. So kind of thinking about, I mean, I think they've learned so much. Am I going to take so much forward moving forward. I haven't, but I think we also have a lot of hot topics that we can talk about as we move forward into the end of the school year. And I know Lisa you've been on the ground running as we started at the school year.
[00:11:52] Is there any hot topics that really have stuck out? Um, so far.
[00:12:01] Lisa: I'm trying to think, you know, I can't pinpoint one particular hot topic, but I just want to like address kind of the, the mood, right? The mood that's out there. Like there's this, um, there's this kind of, I think kind of like, uh, it's, it's cautious, but it's so hopeful. Everyone is really happy too. The kids are so happy to be back in school.
[00:12:28] The teachers are so happy to be back in person, but yet there's so much unknown about where we're all going, like you mentioned. So I think that, um, That I noticed myself the first few days, I was just grinning ear to ear just from seeing my kids and starting a new school year. And their parents were so happy and nice.
[00:12:51] And it was just, um, that's, that's kind of been refreshing, you know, it, it reminded me of kind of what I love about my job and what's, so it's not necessarily hot topic, but COVID, and where we're going, that is where we're going this school year. I mean, that is the big unknown. And I guess we can chat about that here real quick.
[00:13:14] Cause we're S we're still in masks, at least in my part of the country. And that's, um, was a challenge last year and that is still a big challenge. Um, so that audibility in the classroom, that visibility of speech reading, that seems to be probably the one that's sticking around, you know, the most from last year,
[00:13:37] Carrie: Yeah, that's sticking around for us too.
[00:13:39] And I cover quite a few different districts and every district has their own policy right now. And so it, you know, figuring out what their policy is and, you know, the level of comfort with teachers and students and what they're coming in with. So it is kind of hard. There's no one right way to do things.
[00:14:03] Um, so I think we have to take a lot of what we learned last year, which is, I think it came down to at least what I think. Individual kid and evaluating each individual kid and determining what type of setup is the best for them, because some of our kids did really good with a clear mask and some didn't do so good with a clear mask.
[00:14:29] Um, some of them needed, we needed to really, um, reintroduce, maybe technology that they may not have wanted to utilize in the past. And now they're realizing that they really need that technology. Um, so I think those, those were some of the things that I've seen so far. Cheryl have you heard anything like nationally?
[00:14:55] I know you kind of sit more on national level, um, consulting.
[00:15:00] Cheryl: I think it really has so much to do with what the, uh,the infection rates are in the communities that you live in. You know, I, I know in some states there's so many kids that are being quarantined because if you do our tests a you're positive, and of course there's no shots for our younger kids, then they have to stay home and quarantine for 10 days.
[00:15:24] So I think it's going to, it's just challenging. Um, and you know, we just have to. Go with the flow, be flexible, have some grace, um, and just know that this is still a very challenging time. And while in Colorado, where Lisa and I are, things look pretty good. The elementary new elementary school, where I live is everybody's back on board.
[00:15:45] And, um, they're not even wearing masks, but yet at another location, other school districts in Colorado, it's very different. And as Lisa said, and then in other states, the thousands of kids that aren't in school because of exposure. So, you know, um, we'll talk about this more, but I just think our teachers are angels for what they do.
[00:16:07] And they, um, you know, they're responsible for so much and they have to deal with the various viewpoints and what parents want for their children. So kids may be flowing in and out of school. I don't know. I just think that our teachers are really needing lots of kudos and support for everything that they are challenged with.
[00:16:34] Carrie: Yeah, no, I agree too. Um, so I think this kind of goes along with the mask, but, uh, most, you know, all of our kids and all of us are having more difficulty understanding because the, the mask are going, gonna be around. Um, and it really decreases audibility to any kind of sound. So, uh, what have you guys seen as far as classrooms go and trying to improve that signal to noise ratio?
[00:17:09] Lisa: Well, I've seen a number of, of things, you know, since my services are directed at students who, um, who do have reduced hearing I'm going in and I'm, you know, I'm, uh, implementing our hearing assistance technology. Um, and oftentimes that is, um, so lately that has been so welcomed by teachers. When they see me bring, um, a classroom audio distribution system with speaker system in there, they are like, Ooh, please.
[00:17:40] Thank you. They're so happy. Um, I've, uh, I know that that has, um, at least in my last couple of years, while teachers are, um, excited to have that. Uh, have that assistive tech. So that's basically improving the signal for all the kids, typical and reduced hearing and, uh, saving their voices. Um, so I've heard a lot of teachers just talk about, I just pass the teacher in the hall yesterday.
[00:18:07] She's like, oh, I'm not going to be able to talk at the end of the day. You know, there's, there's so much that we can do as educational audiologists, to support teachers with, with that. I've also seen some. Um, creative, you know, when I, our, of course our budget is designated for kids, um, on our case loads that we're serving for either 504 plans or IEP, but I have, um, I have seen some schools where they've gotten creative and, um, Carrie, you and I were talking about this, but the little mini PA systems that hang around the neck with the little boom mic, that is one of the more popular things I've seen just off of, you know, I think a $40 lift off of Amazon and it gets the job done in some, in some ways for the average everyday kind of struggles that the masks bring because, um, it is a challenge.
[00:19:04] Yeah. Uh, and, you know, just speaking personally to Carrie, cause I have, I have a moderate hearing loss as well. Um, and I find myself walking into buildings and turning, you know, putting my hearing aids all the way on the speech and noise, highest program they'll go on and, and I'll be a little bit behind and hearing kids and teachers, and it's just, it's just, uh, it's a lot of effort to a lot.
[00:19:32] It's a lot harder and everyone's more tired than I think, um, you know, in a regular listening environment, you know, before masks. So what about you? What have you, have you seen some creative, like sound field solutions? I have,
[00:19:50] Carrie: and I think one of the things is, you know, um, Making sure that our teachers and educators and the teams that we work with realize that kids who are deaf and hard of hearing that, those specific technology, that it needs to be prescribed for them based on their hearing needs and that the, you know, creative solution from Amazon is really not going to be appropriate for those students.
[00:20:20] Um, so I think that's one thing, cause we've had some. Uh, you know, directors who have asked that question, can we use this? You know, because I get it. It's a it's affordable. Um, however, I think, you know, when, uh, when we're talking about our kids, that's probably not going to be a solution that they, um, would be appropriate for them.
[00:20:44] I, but I have seen that. I think one of the things too is, um, some of the, um, classroom, audio distribution companies, and, um, some of the, you know, for the personal technology, we're seeing a wait time there, not in stock. And so then what did we do? Because we have a student or a student who need this improved signal to noise ratio, but we're 90 to 120 days out before we can get it.
[00:21:15] We're like halfway through the year. So what did we do then?
[00:21:22] Lisa: Well, I was shocked to hear that and I don't know what I would do. I honestly, I'm not sure, you know, I'd be digging in the back of my closet for some old, old stuff. Maybe I think, you know, that brings up another point too is just that there's this, you know, we, at least in my, we were lucky enough in our district to use some of the CARES act funds last year to get some of those added to our department.
[00:21:47] So we kind of used last year to, um, and I feel really fortunate when I hear what's going on now, but we weren't able to, you know, kind of pad our inventory a little bit so that we would be ready to go this year, but I really feel for, yeah. Feel free. You guys that are it's on back order.
[00:22:06] Carrie: Yeah. So Cheryl, I know you mentioned like by more of a national perspective, you've seen some districts, so, um, stapes be able to use funding that way.
[00:22:16] Um, how, how has that come about.
[00:22:20] Cheryl: Well, I think it requires the audiologist and the district to understand what monies are available through the American rescue plan or the CARES act. But there is a portion of money in the, um, American rescue plan that is specifically for technology and districts are spending money on technology, but it's up to us to give input, um, on what kind of technology is needed.
[00:22:47] And hope that, um, you know, they'll get, get their place in, in, in the line of how that money's going to be spent. So much of that money is not, it's a one-time thing. So it's not ongoing money that they can hire a lot of staff with. They can do some short-term maybe catch up activities for kids who missed a lot of school during COVID.
[00:23:08] But, um, technology's a big part of that. So I think as audiologists, we need to make sure we're on the administrative agenda about that. And then I worry about the districts where there is no educational audiologist and, um, yet schools know they have technology money and they may be unaware of appropriate equipment.
[00:23:30] And just order some of these things, they just see online where maybe there's guys out there, guys, gals, whoever. Going to schools and selling equipment that perhaps doesn't meet the needs of all kids. It may be great for class, but then if you have a deaf and hard of hearing student in a classroom that also needs to be connected, or you've got remote students at the same time who need to be connected.
[00:23:53] I mean, I think our role as educational audiologist is more critical than ever. And I think we've been able to show the value. Um, but, but I think there's so many school districts that don't have that resource and where do they go to get that kind of support? So, um, you know, looking we're fortunate in Colorado, um, you know, with Lisa, we've got great coverage in our schools, but there's other states where having the educational audiology there might be one for the whole state, um, So maybe that's something EAA can do more for, is something more general for school districts about how to promote this equipment, but yet what you need to do to contract with audiology services to ensure that it's being used properly.
[00:24:39] Because I always say our technology is great, but it's only as good as how well it's implemented. And so, you know,
[00:24:46] we
[00:24:47] Cheryl: need to be right up there with in helping and supporting teachers that it's implemented correctly.
[00:24:55] Lisa: That's so true. And I just want to just shout out to our EAA advocacy committee, um, who was Cheryl was our previous chair of that committee for many years. And Kathy Riley, um, is now at the helm and Cheryl's still on the committee, but I know that that our, um, we have also a really active group of state reps, um, in the EAA.
[00:25:17] And you do hear the differences, um, around the country. Um, and. And really, I think a good focus, I think both for EAA. And I think Ash has tried to do so is really how can we get, get our voices heard in a school district level? It's, it's not easy to ask for money in already strapped public education. And I think that, um, that as you mentioned, the value has never been, you know, I, I, that was one of the things I wrote is what have we learned and what was positive, I think is that our value as educational audiologist has really sh shine.
[00:25:56] You know, it's been shining throughout this time, but I think there's so much more we can do. And so developing some resources and, um, outreach materials and especially getting the word out about how to advocate for audiology services. So,
[00:26:11] Carrie: yeah, no, I think that's, um, Important information to, to have to. And then, um, I just want to say anybody that's joining us live.
[00:26:22] Um, please comment if you guys have some more to hot topics and give us some thumbs up, but if you agree with us, but one of, um, live participants that just kind of, uh, also wanted to, um, try chime in to just say, Hey, when we're ordering like those, you know, equipment as an educational audiologist, um, to remember like, Hey, why aren't you using, you know, service?
[00:26:46] And, um, that customer service part is going to be important to think about too. So, um, Yeah. Some of the, the $40 equipment from Amazon is not going to have any kind of, uh, quality support or one to use and is probably not going to be compatible or will not be compatible with any type of, um, equipment for a deaf and hard of hearing learners either.
[00:27:10] So just kind of being aware of that. So thanks for that shout out there. So any other kind of think about it? I think we've talked about the role of, of educational audiologist and how important they are with, um, especially in this time. What about shortages though? What can we do about that? I know just that one of, uh, um, districts that are nearby us, um, they had a full-time opening for a long time.
[00:27:42] Um, so, you know, how do we, how do we get more audiologists and teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing to be part of that team? Because we know our students really need us at the table.
[00:27:58] Lisa: Well, I killed here's another plug for EAA. We have a fabulous effort going on right now to get a graduate student or get students, audiology students, undergrad, and graduate students involved.
[00:28:10] And, um, I think the more that we can do, and of course, Cheryl, Cheryl has been. Instrumental right in getting educational audiology course work in, you know, various, uh, programs, but not all pro not all audiology programs have, um, the awareness of what, what a, um, what a career in educational audiology might entail.
[00:28:34] So I want to shout out to our student rep Brandon and a task force that is working hard, like to constantly working, to get the message out, to graduate students, to say, Hey, this is a great place to come and work. And, um, and here's why you, um, if you want to be a pediatric audiologist, great. Consider, you know, going to the schools, they need you.
[00:28:56] And I, you know, as Carrie, I don't know about you, but I've spent my entire career in schools and I would never go back and you'll hear that you hear that often. So we're, we're definitely a good, like the best kept secret that needs to just keep, get shared a little widely, but don't get, I hear you. It's, it's, it's hard, um, to fill the positions and I, I do worry about that.
[00:29:20] So, and our teachers of the deaf too, so it's, it's both, um, both of our low incidence kind of fields here in school.
[00:29:29] Cheryl: Yeah. And I think, you know, w we here for those audiologists working in the schools, all of the rewards of working with children through the whole educational process and the relationships that, that we develop.
[00:29:42] Um, but there's so many perks and I, you also, as a school employee, you pay into a public retirement system. And I have, I just got my letter yesterday from the Colorado public employee retirement system. And it reminds you how much you put in, in your careers working and how much you have taken out. And I have.
[00:30:06] Retirement. That's like 10 times what I ever put in. So, you know, you have to look beyond just that sort of role of the audiology, but the comradery that you get with the congeniality reality, with the team that you work with and the families that you work with, um, it, the re the rewards are unmet unmeasurable in, in my mind.
[00:30:28] Um, Over time, especially. And then, you know, so many of our audiologists are seeing children of the children that they supported in school. So it just kind of goes on and on and on and on. And it's, it's great.
[00:30:43] Carrie: Yeah. So if there's any, um, students listening live on the replay, um, please reach out to the educational audiology association.
[00:30:54] We would love to connect with you and, um, give more benefits of being in the schools. And I think that's another thing too, uh, for, I mean, as a seasoned, I say professional that educational audiology association, what a network of people, I mean, talk about hot topics and things that are going on. As soon as we have a hot topic, there's somebody that has some kind of a solution for it.
[00:31:21] So again, another reason why I think, like you said, Lisa, what kind of the best Um, kept secret. And when we talk about audiology and being able to be connected, um, with each other,
[00:31:35] Lisa: while you're speaking of shortages, um, you know, Cheryl was wanting to really just pay attribute to teachers. I have been seeing.
[00:31:43] In Mo in a lot of my schools right now that school nurses are really going through a hard time right now, I think being a school nurse in the time of the pandemic is not obviously easy. So, um, I just want to like throw out there that school nurses are, you know, they're invaluable and hopefully we're, you know, we really, as audiologists work really closely with school nurses, um, for universal hearing screening and that sort of thing.
[00:32:13] So shout out to our school nurses and, um, gosh, I hope they, they are probably even experiencing greater crisis them, you know, than we are. So it's just a, it's, it's kind of a, it's a, it's a challenging year to, to go into, I think in a lot of educational fields and just the. The climate and education is it's a little bit of a downer sometimes I think, but the kids are what keep us going.
[00:32:44] And you get a, you, the kids are definitely like, keep it. I just, before the podcast opened my email and I had emailed one of my sixth grade students this morning just to check in and say, and he emailed me back and it was adorable. Um, and that's the kind of stuff I'm like, he's like, no, but I got new hearing aids and I don't need the microphone.
[00:33:07] And, you know, he's just talking me through his needs. And it was just, it's just kind of a reminds you of why you're in the field of educational audiology. It's it's about the kids and you get to see them from, you know, preschool to graduation in their kids sometimes. And it's, it's just pretty awesome.
[00:33:29] Carrie: I agree, 100% too.
[00:33:32] So kind of going back to the school nurses and like hearing screenings. And I think about last year when a lot of our schools were remote all year and maybe didn't get a hearing screening or the ones that are remote and have academic loss, just being online and virtual, what are your, I feel like that's going to be a hot topic or kind of bubble up as we get into this new school year of being possibly in person for most of the year.
[00:34:08] What have you, what do you guys think about that?
[00:34:13] Cheryl: I think there's been some districts that have been very, um, um, proactive in terms of doing summer programs this past summer that, um, not necessarily are focused on deficits, but are creating ways of enrichment to get kids caught up. And, uh, I think that's been great.
[00:34:36] I think kids were ready to come back to school, even though it was summertime. Cause they felt like they'd been isolated for so long and there's there's money to support all of those, um, different initiatives. You've got. Teachers that are available to do this, the training. But I think there's a lot of kids that are going to fall behind or have fallen behind.
[00:34:58] They also already have some data on test scores and the loss I've heard about our kids who are in that last year with their transition, um, situation. And basically they lost all of transition because there was no school. And so will their, will the government allowed districts to extend. 2 22 or whatever the states time is for that transition year to fill in some gaps.
[00:35:26] So I think, I think teachers are creative if they're supported by their administrators about different things that that money can be used for to help close gaps. The mental health needs, um, is huge. That's a huge umbrella over all of this. And I have always felt that a child's self esteem and wellbeing.
[00:35:50] Totally impacts how they do academically. And we have to look out for those social emotional needs in our kids. And I think school districts may be hiring short, short term or social workers or psychologists for a year or two. I forget how much, how many years they have to spend this money. It's like three years maybe.
[00:36:09] Um,
[00:36:10] Cheryl: so, you know, they can do some short-term, whether it's instruction, social, emotional support, counseling, whatever it might be. I just hope schools are looking. And I think they are, they understand what our kids have been through. So I'm hoping to see a lot more social, emotional support also for our kids.
[00:36:31] I don't know. I either be aware of programs in your districts that are expanding on the mental health.
[00:36:39] Lisa: Well, I was just reading an article today. That's what our district has definitely been putting. A lot of the resources have been going as far as, um, focusing on mental health and I have good friends in the field and it's, it's definitely, um, taken a forefront, you know, I kind of feel like it should, and it obviously should.
[00:36:59] It is, um, it's on everyone's mind and kids need kids, mental wellbeing and emotional health far supersedes. I mean sure. Yes. Access is critical to instruction, but they're not, you know, that, that emotional, um, wellbeing even supersedes access in some ways it's pretty critical. So I think we'll see the spending there continue, um, for a few years to come.
[00:37:30] Cheryl: So.
[00:37:33] Carrie: Yeah. I think sometimes our kids, uh, you know, before COVID were they're at risk versus some of the social emotional, just due to the communication, uh, difficulties at times and, and, um, language, you know, and all of that. So then you add in this whole year of COVID, um, on top of it, I think paying really close attention to our students who are deaf and hard of hearing and what their social emotional needs are, is going to be critical in this upcoming year.
[00:38:09] Cheryl: And I think it's an opportunity because certainly we've seen in a variety of areas of COVID how those who are having more struggles are falling further behind. So it's really brought forward the needs of kind of our underserved kids or the kids that fall through the cracks because maybe they got by or did well enough.
[00:38:29] But, but you add now that layer. Access COVID has caused and they have really fallen for the behind. So it'll be interesting to see if we have more kids moving off of 504 plans back into IEP, you know, what's, what's the relationship
[00:38:46] Lisa: there. Um, so we'll see. I think that totally will be interesting. Cause I hadn't thought about that.
[00:38:53] Exactly. Cheryl, you know, Carrie, you mentioned screenings, I heard you talk about screenings and the bubble up. I, um, that's a really scary topic, a little bit for me now because we've gone a long time without our universal, um, hearing screenings. And so I do worry about the kids that are out there that have not had the opportunity, especially our little ones that might be coming through, um, our, uh, child find process.
[00:39:28] So I am kind of gearing up, I guess. I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna go. Um, I think I've seen it kind of can go both ways. I've seen our school-aged hearing screenings, uh, go from, you know, just screening are mandated grades this year. They say they're going to scream. Every single school aged kid in the district will get a, a hearing and vision screening.
[00:39:50] So they're looking for, they're looking for volunteers and they're looking for grants or, um, students to come in and they're trying to figure out a way to make that happen. And we'll see if that happens, but then I'm kind of seeing in the ch in child's mind and early childhood, there's a lot of still. Um, stuff going on in our part C agencies here in Colorado.
[00:40:14] So there's, we haven't fully opened up our screenings at that level. So, um, you know, I see that maybe losing some ground there, actually in what we've built up in, um, and awareness for the need for a hearing screening at that age. So I'm not really sure how screenings are going to go. I think we're audiologists are going to be busy though with a lot of follow up, um, from what I've heard.
[00:40:40] Yeah.
[00:40:41] Carrie: Yeah. And then there's going to be a lot of, um, gap catch up too, because we're going to be back to before we were screening and catching them early, and now we're going to have this, you know, late identification.
[00:40:59] Yeah. So another deep breath, right for that,
[00:41:06] Lisa: my audiometers aren't calibrated yet, so we haven't had them calendared. Their calibration was coming up. So I
[00:41:14] Carrie: got
[00:41:21] whoops,
[00:41:22] Lisa: frozen. Did we lose Carrie? We blew the internet up talking about screenings,
[00:41:31] Cheryl: which is really a hot topic because those have been on hold in most school districts.
[00:41:38] Lisa: And I still, I'm still getting questions about being in like infection control around doing universal screenings. I've had a number of people reach out and say, what are you recommending for, you know, protocols?
[00:41:52] And I'm like, well, it's not quite like it was last year. We're not sanitizing every single surface or, you know, there's so it's, it's definitely a hot topic and a lot of ways, Hey, Carrie, you're
[00:42:05] Carrie: back. Oh, I don't know. My internet got unstable for a second, so I'm glad I got back.
[00:42:14] Lisa: Awesome.
[00:42:17] Carrie: Well, I think one of the questions I wanted to ask you guys as seasoned professionals is what kind of advice would you give, like either a starting teacher of the deaf or a educational audiologist who was going in, um, to a more mainstream type team, educating the team about a student that they have, who has these different things on their IEP or their 5 0 4plan and the team, um, or maybe a particular person on the team does that.
[00:42:55] Want to do some things, um, whether it's like wear the microphone or wear maybe a clear mask of that was something that was recommended. Um, but what kind of advice would you give someone that kind of just starting out, getting their feet wet, trying to establish rapport with, with the school?
[00:43:20] Cheryl: Go ahead, Lisa,
[00:43:23] Lisa: just going to let you go. Um, that's hard one I, um, a couple of things come to mind because like we, we do as audiologists. I think we're all, um, we, we give a lot of information, you know, we're very, there's a name for that. I'm not thinking of it, but we like to give out information. We like to give out, um, Talked about all of the, you know, the areas of our expertise.
[00:43:51] Right. So I think it really is about building that relationship and that rapport. So listening and hearing the concerns of the, of the teacher, because they're probably coming from a place, you know, probably just not understanding fully. So, um, I would probably just, I would suggest that, you know, providing an article or providing, you know, the law in front, that those things are, might not really work in this situation.
[00:44:22] That's going to push that teacher a little bit further away when you say, oh, it's in their IEP, you have to do it. Um, I would not recommend doing it that way. Uh, although I think we've had to say, you know, occasionally it has to come down to that, but. Um, but really listening, perhaps, um, putting them in touch with another teacher, who's tried it, um, when it comes to wearing the mic, for instance, that's a good one, uh, doing some sort of demonstration, like you could even demonstrate with a clear mask versus.
[00:44:55] A cloth mask and show them, I am, I think they probably need to feel heard and supported. And, um, and there's, like you said at the beginning, Carrie, there's totally not always one right way. And although, um, we think that we, we all went through that learning process last year, if you remember the clear masks, right.
[00:45:18] And the versus the cloth masks or the surgical or in N95 and there, and subsequently various researchers and studies, um, really showed that, you know, the clear masks don't, don't have this good of audibility. And so you really have to take it, you know, student by student. And so I think, you know, we, we have learned.
[00:45:43] That things aren't always better just because we think they're going to be better. So I don't know, working with the teachers working with, um, in a collaborative way, Cheryl, what would you do
[00:45:54] Cheryl: ditto to everything you've said? I think I'm trying it as let let's see what works for the child. So let's try this and if that doesn't work, let's try, um, a clear mask.
[00:46:06] If that's not going to give enough audibility, let's try a Mike look at the difference between a mic. If it's sitting on your waist versus a mic that's appropriately placed. Um, so I, again, I think many times it's fear. Um, because they aren't sure they're going to do it right. Or they don't want the student to look different because they're doing something.
[00:46:28] So giving them lots of different strategies for and support. It's all that is going back to I'm. Um, I'm right here by your side to help you do this. Tell me what your fears are telling me what your concerns are. Let's talk those through. So it's that, you know, the relationship, the knowledge, and then the evidence that it makes a difference for the kids.
[00:46:52] Carrie: Yeah. I think we have, you know, we want a new, um, Educational audiologist and teacher of the deaf they'd be successful. Um, but it also, you know, we know that teachers, I like just rockstars and they are the ones that are with our kids every single day. So we definitely want to appreciate them in whatever way we can.
[00:47:16] And like you said, show whatever we can do to support them, um, along the journey, but also that support our kids too, to make sure that they have the access that they need in the classrooms. Yeah. And I
[00:47:31] Cheryl: don't think we do a good job in our training program. I mean, I can speak for the university of Arizona where I teach the audiology course for our masters degree, teachers of the deaf, you know, I'm sitting here thinking my gosh, am I giving those teachers the strategies they need to problem solve this with.
[00:47:50] Another specialist or the general classroom teacher, whomever, and you know, maybe I'm not giving them enough strategies. Cause when you're the newbie, either you're over exhibit over producing what it is, because you've learned that you got to teach advocacy and you got to advocate on behalf of these kids and you sort of bypass the relationship part or you just don't want to step on anybody's toes.
[00:48:17] And so you think, oh, well, okay. I guess I won’t push that. Um, so I mean it's hard. So maybe, you know, we need to think more about that in our training programs,
[00:48:29] Lisa: I would call those the soft skills, right. That we all need for a lot of working relationships. Right. I definitely see the value of, and I'm much better at it now that I'm old.
[00:48:41] I walk in, I walk into a classroom and I don't just say, Hey I'm and then start I'm like, how are you? You know, just starting with what the personal exchange I'm always sets and a smile, right. Always sets you off, um, on a really good, um, because you're, you're walking into a classroom and I walked into a lot of them the last few days and you get a variety of kind of, um, responses from teachers.
[00:49:08] And if you go in with that smile and that like just personal level, they're, um, much, much more receptive. So. That it's hard. It's hard to do, to do our job. Right. Cause that's one of the most challenging things walking into the classroom cold and you know, maybe unannounced. And, but if you're the person there to help, you know, I'm, I'm just, I'm here to support you then.
[00:49:35] How can they, I noted that really.
[00:49:38] Cheryl: So, you know, you have to be a little bit persistent, but with grace.
[00:49:45] Carrie: Yeah. I know. And it's that balancing act. And I think like what you said, Lisa, like over time, you just learn these different ways of, of balancing that and being supportive and. Um, inclusive by teachers too, which I think I wanted to bring this up too.
[00:50:04] Cause I know Cheryl, we had talked that ahead of this, the, um, program, the live event too, is how can we show more appreciation for teachers who are those rock stars who are, you know, learning this new equipment and, um, accommodations. And if they have an interpreter in the classroom, I mean, they learning all these new strategies that they have to incorporate into their everyday teaching.
[00:50:31] So what I know you had a great idea.
[00:50:35] Cheryl: Well, I'd love to see us have a teacher appreciation day. And, you know, even if it's a card that just acknowledges, we understand you're under a lot of pressure and that you're meeting the needs of so many different children. Um, and we're here to help, you know, maybe one day you bring a little box of cookies, you know, it can be anything.
[00:50:55] I think just the act in itself that reminds that teacher, somebody does appreciate who I am and what I do is huge. I don't think it has to be a big thing, you know, with as educational audiologist and we support so many teachers. So, you know, how would we spread that out over time? But, you know, we can, um, given my, trying to remember, I have the cutest, I love you stickers and.
[00:51:23] Somewhere on my desk, know even a little sticker like that, that
[00:51:27] Lisa: says Cheryl, building on your idea there. I think that EAA I've talked to our, um, our VP of public relations and she is going to check with our advocacy committee and EAA is going to consider a fall event called thank a teacher day. And maybe we can, I, for one, can think of like going into a classroom, taking a selfie and post with some of the teachers that I work with, who I just adore and think the world of and doing and all getting together as an organization and doing something like, like writing a card or, or taking a photo and posting it on Instagram or a sticker or.
[00:52:14] You know, a box of candy or something like that. There kids there's so many, just little things and I think they would, um, it would, it would be a great way for us to stay positive and really show appreciation for the teachers because they are the ones carrying the weight, a lot of the weight most of the time.
[00:52:32] And it's not an easy shining job that they have
[00:52:38] Cheryl: and they're doing our work for us.
[00:52:42] Lisa: That's true. We, we go in as the designated consultant, the expert, but they're carrying out the, the, the they're meeting the needs. They're the ones implementing. And I think we do, we do need to show them our appreciation.
[00:53:02] Thank a teacher Day
[00:53:04] Carrie: I love it. Stay tuned. I hear a lot of ideas coming out of this whole conversation too, if I have maybe some little marketing, we could have little stickers is something that EAA people could print them out and put them on a card. And like you said, just something simple like that, to know that you're appreciated.
[00:53:24] I know, even if I just get an email from someone that says, Hey, listen, you know, this really helped me. I'm like, oh good. Somebody appreciated something that I did. And then just that little, it wasn't anything monitored. I mean, I, it was just something as simple as getting a refreshing email from someone or a text.
[00:53:45] So, yeah. Great.
[00:53:48] Lisa: And I, I, I love the focus on positivity, Carrie, cause I think we're. You know, we, we feel, I heard it described kind of in a way that made sense to me what this school year is like, it's kind of a little bit like, not that you guys have know anything about this, but, or me, but it's kind of like a hangover, you know, you've had too much fun the night before, but the year sort of feels like a little bit of that, right?
[00:54:20] It's just a little, you're, you're a little bit weary. It's dry. It's dragging on because of the situation with the pandemic and not going away because we thought, you know, we might be in a different place now and we're just not, so we're not quite. But yet we're still pushing on through our, through our day, through our school year.
[00:54:41] And so I think that by staying positive and doing some positive things that we can really just, um, get through this, uh, get through whatever it is we're going through and, um, and keep ourselves going. Cause we need to do that.
[00:54:57] Carrie: All about the mindset.
[00:55:02] Well, as we kind of wrap up tonight, I just, we're kind of getting up to an hour and I thought I would give you guys an opportunity, um, because you guys have been so involved on so many different levels with educational audiology association, which I just think is an amazing organization. Um, and everybody should join the association, but there are lots of great resources, um, for advocacy and just resources in general, that even if you are not a member, if you're a teacher or a speech pathologist or a teacher of the deaf or a parent, you could get on.
[00:55:41] Um, do you guys want to highlight just a couple of those with in conjunction with all of my hot topics today?
[00:55:49] Lisa: Sure. And I want to just give a shout out to membership because with membership comes one of our greatest, um, benefits, which is our listserv, which has just our email, uh, Q and A and support group.
[00:56:06] It's so, um, active. And so many of our members say that was one of the best things about, um, EAA membership. So shout out to our lists listserv. I also, um, we also have great and I'm going to let, I'm going to save Cheryl, you, you point out the advocacy resources. I'm going to point out the fact that we also have some great, um, we have a discount code for if you're a member for the educational audiology handbook and some other great books from our summer conference, we have some, uh, we have great professional development by and for.
[00:56:46] Uh, just for educational audiologists. So I think that's, um, one major perk in those that's of course it's open to members and non-members so, um, the, the last thing I'll say too, I think. I want to get, we have great scholarships for students, and that is something I think is a little bit of a kept secret.
[00:57:10] We are in the process of trying to fund an endowed scholarships. So we're in the middle of a scholarship drive, but we're trying, we have a donor who's matching all dollars up until the end of this year, up to $20,000 for our student scholarships. So they're just, we are here to support the educational audiology community, the community of professionals who work with deaf and hard of hearing students.
[00:57:35] And, um, and so, and, and I think our advocacy resources are fabulous. So I'll let Cheryl talk about that.
[00:57:44] Cheryl: Well, and in addition to those, we had a great summer conference. And if you're looking to either get some new information or want to get some continuing education credit, you can still register and have access to all of those talks.
[00:57:58] It was all, um,
[00:57:59] Lisa: that might be over actually. Yeah, but we are looking at possibly re. Well, we may reshow a couple, one or two of the sessions, but they were amazing. And, um, and we were going to continue virtual a virtual event. I think even when we go back in person and I forgot to mention the summer conference too, which is amazing.
[00:58:24] Yes.
[00:58:25] Cheryl: So, um, we have position statements and we have advocacy statements, position statements, go into a little more, uh, depth. And they're really for the professional, for the audiologist or teacher of the deaf, the advocacy statements are short, maybe two pages and they are developed for a more novice, um, listener.
[00:58:46] Great to give your administrator or a general ed teacher about a certain practice. And we just finished one on hearing screening. That includes what we need to do for children who are difficult to assess. And so as we get back into hearing screening, remembering that we have children that may have difficulty participating in their regular school screening program, but the audiologists may be able to screen those children in their own way.
[00:59:16] So that one, we just finished up last night because so many of the disorders that are out there in special education have a concomitant hearing component. And so remembering that, so there's a whole variety of we're in the process of reorganization of the website. So that's going to change the accessibility to some of these, but anyway, there's a lot of just short advocacy statements that you can use with parents, teachers, administrator.
[00:59:47] Carrie: Uh, so definitely check out. EAA, or we have a Madam president here with us tonight, Lisa Cannon. So thank you for being with us too. And if you're
[00:59:59] Lisa: interested in getting involved on a committee or our board of directors, please just reach out.
[01:00:07] Carrie: Yes. Well, I think we're kind of up on an hour and I just want to thank both of you guys.
[01:00:13] Cheryl, and Lisa for joining and the hot topics as we get back to school. Cause I know we're going to have a lot of those, um, that just continued to evolve. So I think having the conversation now and, um, I thank you, but everybody that's joined us live tonight and who are on the replay. I hope you got a lot from that.
[01:00:34] Um, I encourage you to like the empowEAR Audiology Facebook page and we will continue to post some information on the Facebook page, um, including some of these amazing resources that we talked about. Today and the, so that you will have that link. Um, and there's, um, some videos and Cheryl was just involved in a video that is promoting, um, classroom amplification.
[01:01:00] So we can definitely highlight that. So that, uh, individuals who are in the schools who want to take advantage of some of this funding that's available, um, maybe able to watch that and get some great ideas, um, in order to go to their administration and advocate on behalf of, um, improved acoustics mask type classrooms and even moving forward, we know that the benefit of all of that.
[01:01:26] So is there anything that you guys want to add before we like log off with the night?
[01:01:34] Lisa: I just wanted to just say, I love your podcast. I like go on my morning walk and I'm like, wait, I'm just going to listen to my friend, Carrie, on her podcast. It's so cool. So I love it. That you're doing that. Keep it up and can't wait to hear what you've got coming out.
[01:01:54] Carrie: Thank you for that shout out
[01:01:58] Cheryl: It's nice to have podcasts that are in our own profession.
[01:02:02] Carrie: Yeah. It's not a lot of fun of doing it and getting to know a lot of people
[01:02:07] Lisa: people have happy one year anniversary.
[01:02:12] Carrie: We have a celebration as well. Thank you guys, both for being part of the conversation. And we look forward to more hot topics throughout the year, and we will definitely, um, I'll be in touch so that we can, uh, be positive and motivated and creative with all of our problem solving.
[01:02:32] So thank you guys.
[01:02:35] Lisa: Thanks Carrie.
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