By Sascha Cordner
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-970294.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – The Month of May is Better Hearing and Speech Month, and several organizations came together to make sure residents are aware of disorders associated with speech and hearing as well as effective communication through a seminar. As Sascha Cordner reports, Tuesday's seminar will offer free screenings to people of all ages in the Tallahassee area.
Better Hearing and Speech Month was first initiated by the American Speech and Hearing Association, or ASHA, to promote better awareness of communication and hearing difficulties. Kenn Apel is the Director of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Florida State University. He is also a speech-language pathologist. He says both professions associated with this month are not too well known:
"Audiologists are primarily focused on hearing, identifying hearing problems and trying to help individuals compensate with that with hearing aids, cochlear implants, things like that, speech-language pathologists, they are sometimes called speech therapists, that's the old term. And, they help in essence babies to geriatrics with their speech sounds, with their language, and words, sentences and such."
He says one target for the month is children who have communication disorders, who frequently do not do well in school because they have difficulty learning to listen, speak, read, or write. Apel says parents can help their kids by playing word games or just reading a book and talking to their child about the story. He says there are ways parents can show their kids the importance of writing as well.
"Parents should show children the power of writing. SO, if they're at home and they're making lists at the grocery store, they make those lists, let the child cross them off when in the grocery store, and they see what's put on paper affects our actions."
Selena Snowden is an Audiologist, which deals with hearing problems. She says identifying a child with a visible special needs issue is much easier than identifying a child with speech and hearing disorders because it's an "invisible problem."
"It could be misinterpreted that they're ignoring you. That they're misbehaving on purpose, that they're cognitively not has intelligent as their peers, and none of it has to do with their intelligence, it's simply the fact they don't hear or don't understand the language portion. So, I would say for much of the population it's a little misunderstood because it's not as evident."
Both Snowden and Apel work together at the FSU Speech and Hearing Clinic, a sponsor of the event. Speech Language-Pathologist Apel says they're hoping to clear up misunderstandings associated with the disorders.
"We are in collaboration with some other agencies hosting a better hearing and speech month screening.. And, we'll be conducting speech language and hearing screenings there for people of any age and also there are also little different presentations, maybe a half hour each."
Audiologist Selena Snowden says after the presentations, she hopes the general public will take advantage of the free screenings.
"We will be offering speech screenings from pre-school to school age. We will be offering memory speech screenings for adults. Those screenings will not only look at memory, but it will also look at your voice production, any type of problems that may occur with your voice or vocal nodules, and then hearing screenings of all ages."
Snowden says if a person is diagnosed with hearing loss, the use of an amplified phone may come in handy. That's where Colleen Schuster with the Florida's Telecommunications Relay Incorporated, or FTRI, comes in.
"We'll have FRTI there to distribute the amplified phones if you do have a certified hearing loss. It's going to be a great community event. There's no charge and we hope to see you there."
Florida's Telecommunications Relay Incorporated is another sponsor of the event, and they provide specialized equipment and services at no cost to Floridians with hearing or speech disabilities. Schuster says to qualify, a person must be a permanent Florida resident, at least three years of age, and able to provide proof of hearing loss or speech disability. She says she hopes the event is a success.