Conference, part 3

Miss Kat's audiologist also gave a lecture. It was called "I'm lost, I need a MAP". Cute, isn't it! He went over exactly what happens when you MAP a cochlear implant, and how each of those things help the child hear better.

I didn't go to his lecture. He told me it would be too boring. He said that he tells me what he is doing, when he is doing it, when he MAPs Miss Kat. He said I was already too well informed, that I should go listen to something else!

So, I went to the lecture aimed at professionals. It was about using an auditory skills curriculum (in her practice, the AuSpLan) to measure and facilitate growth.

In aural/oral education, there are three areas of skill that must be developed. They are auditory skills, speech, and language. (See, Au Sp Lan....clever) All three areas need focus, and they are all important. Without auditory skills, a child will be unable to understand the things that are being said to them. Without the speech, they can not make their thoughts understood by others. And without language, well, we all know the issues of not having language....

So, back to the Ausplan. The idea of the curriculum is that it is a very, step by step, progression of skills. A child needs to master one before they can move on to the next. It goes piece by piece, in all three areas, showing goals and the steps toward spoken language fluency. I like that it gives very real, measurable things to work from, and a sort of timeline to help gauge the progress.

I ordered my AuSpLan today!


So, I learned a lot at the conference. I feel like it was a good use of my time, and I can apply the things I learned toward Miss Kat's language skills.