Supporting Online Speech Therapy Modules in Arabic
We are committed to ensuring our patients receive access to speech therapy services in concert with audiological services. To do so, we are designing a scalable approach that will be customized to local family and children’s needs. Yara Harb is a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS Cert. AVT), as well as a Speech and Language Pathologist and will be leading our collaboration with Deaf Kids Code (USA), to design virtual modules for parents of kids with hearing loss. Yara specializes in early intervention for children with hearing loss; Yara’s worked with these families for nearly a decade in both Arabic and English. Currently, Yara mentors Arabic-speaking professionals and is a member of the LSL Academy’s board of directors.
We have recruited 11 volunteers who are Speech and Language professionals: all from the Levantine area. We selected 4 volunteers to focus on designing stage one.
Case Study/Problem
A family has 5 children. One of them has hearing loss & speech delay. The child receives hearing aids from 3DP4ME, but needs speech therapy. The challenge is logistics. If the Mom or Dad has to coordinate transportation to a speech therapy clinic, it’s not easy. Maybe the clinic is far away. Possibly they have 3 or 4 other children who need help with other tasks like homework. In the end, we need to send a team of 2 speech therapists to their homes, for face to face speech therapy.
Idea💡
What if? We designed an online modular speech therapy tool in Arabic? Could that remove the barriers of access. An easy to access digital experience for each child to learn from.
Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT)
Auditory verbal therapy (AVT) is a special type of therapy that helps teach an individual with hearing loss to effectively use sound provided by hearing aids or a cochlear implant to communicate verbally. This therapy involves family and stresses naturalistic conversation, encouraging the individual to use spoken language to communicate. AVT uses the residual hearing that you have amplified with a hearing aid or cochlear implant to help you learn to detect sound in the environment naturally and communicate using speech. AVT teaches children and adults with hearing loss to listen to their own voices, often leading to a more natural sounding speech pattern. Improving a child’s auditory reception is the first and most important step in assisting them to perform well academically.
