USM’s Children’s Center hosts Nationally Attended Child Hearing Loss Webinar
Fri, 02/05/2021 - 10:19am | By: Courtney Tesh
The Children’s Center for Communication and Development at The University of Southern
Mississippi (USM) hosted its annual Listening and Spoken Language conference on Jan.
15, inviting professionals and pre-professionals across the country to participate
in a free training centered around treatment techniques to better serve young children
with hearing loss.
The conference, graciously funded by the Mapp Family Foundation and typically held at the Thad Cochran Center at USM’s Hattiesburg campus, could not safely be held in-person this year due to COVID-19, thus the staff at The Children’s Center organized the inaugural Listening and Spoken Language Webinar.
With more than 130 attendees, which included parents, educators, listening and spoken language therapists, speech language pathologists, audiologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists among others, the conference proved to be one of the most well-attended events in the center’s history. And thanks to the virtual format, the location of the attendees not only spanned the state, but the country, broadening the reach of the model interdisciplinary services offered at The Children’s Center far beyond that of the typical in-person conference.
The guest speakers for the webinar were Dr. Christina Perigoe, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CED, LSLS Cert. AVT who is retired from the School of Speech and Hearing Sciences at USM, focusing on remedial strategies for students with hearing loss, and Dr. Todd Houston, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, professor at the University of Akron, focusing on the use of telepractice for school-age students.
“The Children’s Center is so grateful to the Mapp Family Foundation for making it possible to host two world-renowned speakers, Dr. Perigoe and Dr. Houston at our recent Listening and Spoken Language Webinar,” said Children’s Center Educational Audiologist, Dr. Courtney Turner. “Due to the virtual format this year we were able to provide University students, families, and professionals, literally across the country, with practical information about serving students with hearing loss both in person and through telepractice during these difficult times.”
About The Children’s Center for Communication and Development
The Children’s Center for Communication and Development at The University of Southern Mississippi is a non-profit that provides cost-free communicative and developmental transdisciplinary services to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers while educating, training and supporting families, university students and professionals. For more information, visit www.usm.edu/childrenscenter.