Okay, so I know that sounds like a lot of jargony-jargon, so let me explain both my terms and my excitement. What is happening is that I have recently decided to continuing pursuing certification as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (the LSLS part), Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist (the Cert AVT part). An LSL, Cert AVT is someone who has specialized training, skills and experience to work with families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing and seeking listening and spoken language outcomes.

So now in plain English…When a child is diagnosed with a hearing loss, families have a lot of options for communication including ASL (American Sign Language), cued speech, total communication, and others. Every family chooses what works best for them. Some families choose to have their child focus on listening and speaking as their main way of communicating.

This is where my job and skill set comes in. Let me back up and explain a little. For babies born with typical hearing, you don’t really have to *do* anything to help them listen…they just do it. If you’ve ever seen a baby start crying when a door slams, or turn their head toward you when you say their name, you’ve seen them using their listening skills. And, unless there are other medical issues, by listening, slowly but surely they learn to speak. They first start with some gurgling, cooing, etc., and eventually move on to babbling and eventually words. We don’t usually even think about *how* these babies and toddlers learn to talk because it seems to come so naturally to them.

For children who are born deaf or hard or hearing and whose families have decided they want them to learn to listen and speak, this process needs to be a lot more intentional. A baby needs to have some sort of technology (usually hearing aids or cochlear implants) that give them access or the ability to hear sound, and then they need to have practice and experience interpreting what they hear–basically teaching their brains how to process the sounds around them into something that makes sense.

An LSLS, Cert. AVT is someone who has specialized training to do this. They help a child learn to listen, and coach parents to be their child’s first and best listening and language teacher.

Now let’s be clear–I am not yet an LSLS, Cert AVT, but I am working toward it. The process includes mentoring with someone who is already certified, completing additional continuing education and training, gaining professional experience providing listening and spoken language services, and then passing a national exam. The whole process can take anywhere from between 3-5 years. I began the process and completed a year of mentoring before my children were born. It’s been on the back burner since then, but I’ve recently decided to continue. There are many families in Sioux Falls and greater South Dakota choosing listening and spoken language outcomes, but no certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists (Auditory Verbal Therapists).

What this means for families is that I am going to continue providing speech and language therapy using listening and spoken language techniques, while also learning with you and gaining more knowledge and experience. I’m so excited to be continuing on this journey to certification!