CEU Courses

Permanent hearing loss affects 2-3 per 1,000 newborns. When not identified early in life, children who are deaf or hard of hearing lag behind their peers in language, social, and cognitive development, fail more frequently in school, and have difficulty being successfully employed. Family engagement has been critical in the development of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) that have made it possible for most children who are deaf or hard of hearing to develop similarly to their peers with typical hearing. However, a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement remain. This presentation summarizes the history of newborn hearing screening, describes the current status, and discusses some of the important challenges and emerging issues that could be addressed to further improve early identification of childhood hearing loss. Lessons learned over the past decades, recent advances based on research and policy initiatives, and the crucial role of families will be used to highlight how various stakeholders (e.g., health care providers, public health officials, parents, and educators) can continue to improve outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In this interview, two researchers, Bec Bennett of NAL and Josefina Larsson of ORCA Europe, discuss the multi-faceted concept of empowerment, how to assess empowerment in the clinic, and how empowerment might contribute to better patient outcomes. They provide an analysis of their recently validated self-report, the EmpAQ-5, and how it can be used in clinical practice.

Vestibular diagnostics has been advancing at a rapid pace over the last 2 decades with the evolution of knowledge and technology. While these diagnostics can be readily applied in adults, in the pediatric population, they must be used with due care and interpretations might not be as straightforward as those in adults. This session offers valuable insights into the challenges of evaluating vestibular disorders in children, illustrated by examples from the author’s personal experiences.

This event will cover the underlying reasons and mechanisms of eye movements, the different functional classes of eye movements, and the various techniques for recording them. It will also delve into VNG protocols and the analysis of Saccades, Smooth Pursuit, and Optokinetic movements to offer comprehensive insight into the diagnostics and treatment processes.

In this session, Dr. Dana Suskind discusses how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other emerging technologies can be used to better understand and, thus, optimize the role that parents play in promoting early language and cognitive development in children with hearing loss and children with typical hearing. Dr. Suskind covers the existing literature on foundational brain development and language skill acquisition, with an emphasis on the crucial role that parents and caregivers play in this process. She also identifies gaps in our collective knowledge on this topic and explains how technology can help fill those gaps. Finally, she shares several examples of tools being developed at the University of Chicago's TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health that will help individual parents boost their children’s foundational development—and also allow society to better support all parents in this essential task.

This course will review the new Lumity technology designed with SmartSpeech Technology for all patients of all ages and degrees of hearing loss. In this session, we’ll explore the new form factors with the Lumity platform.

Starkey’s new Genesis product portfolio, dedicated music processing, and My Starkey patient experience app optimize audibility for soft music and restore the perception of loudness for loud music. This course will review the benefits of a dedicated music processing system, streaming music protocols, and how patients can adjust these features to optimize the world of music around them.

Attendees will learn how to successfully fit and connect to MFA hearing instruments with Bluetooth™ devices and easy-to-use solutions. We will also provide supportive tips to ensure success with connectivity to best support your patients regardless of device.

The hearing industry offers many Bluetooth compatible technologies for hearing aid wearers. This event will help attendees understand what Bluetooth languages are used with Phonak technology, how the aids interact with Bluetooth devices, and how to troubleshoot functions.

This course will introduce the new ReSound Nexia product offering and technology features. ReSound Smart Fit 1.18 fitting software updates will also be described.