The Listening Brain

K. Todd Houston, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT
The Listening Brain

For most of us, we must be able to listen in order to speak. Put another way, listening plus speaking equals successful communication. Fortunately, for children with hearing loss, listening has become less of a challenge due to the availability of testing that allows early detection of hearing loss and the early use of advanced hearing technology – like hearing aids and cochlear implants. This podcast, The Listening Brain, will celebrate listening and speaking in the context of childhood hearing loss. Hosted by K. Todd Houston, Ph.D., a noted Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist, speech-language pathologist, and Professor, the podcast will explore educational trends, new developments in technology, and advances in research. We will interview professionals in the fields serving children with hearing loss, and, most importantly, families who are supporting their children on this journey to listening and spoken language success. And, equally as important, we’ll also hear from adults with hearing loss who will share their unique stories and experiences about growing up with deafness and how deafness is now being redefined for future generations.

  1. AUG 24

    A Conversation with Joanna Trimble Smith, Co-Founder & former CEO of Hearts for Hearing!

    Joanna Trimble Smith was a co-founder and served as Chief Executive Officer from 2011 through March of 2024 of Hearts for Hearing in Oklahoma City, whose mission is to create life-changing opportunities for children and adults with hearing loss to listen for a lifetime. Joanna graduated from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and as a speech-language pathologist, she has spent 47 years improving the lives of children and adults with hearing loss or communication delays. Ms. Smith was the Executive Director of the Hearing Enrichment Language Program before co-founding Hearts for Hearing in 2003. The organization has grown from 18 employees to 165 in 2024 and the unique service delivery model developed at Hearts for Hearing has significantly improved the listening and spoken language outcomes for children and adults with hearing loss across the world.  Ms. Smith is a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist certified as an Auditory Verbal Therapist and has been recognized by the Oklahoma Speech Language Hearing Association with the Gwen Cacy Award for outstanding clinical skills. She has co-authored a periodic column entitled “The Tot Ten” in the Hearing Journal and until her retirement served as one of the Co-Chairs for the CI-PATH initiative. In 2019, she was selected to receive the Pat Potts Visionary Award by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits. You can listen to this podcast wherever you stream podcasts and at www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/the-listening-brain-podcast

    44 min
  2. JUL 13

    A Conversation with Claudia Marseille, Abstract Artist & Author!

    At age four, I was diagnosed with a severe hearing loss. With determination and the help of powerful hearing aids, I learned to hear, speak and lipread with ten years of speech therapy and lipreading training. I was mainstreamed in public schools in Berkeley, CA. After earning master’s degrees in archaeology and in public policy, and finally an MFA, I developed a career in photography and painting, a profession compatible with a hearing loss. I ran a fine art portrait photography studio for fifteen years before becoming a full-time abstract painter. My paintings are represented by the Seager Gray gallery in Mill Valley, CA. and can be seen on my website:  www.claudiamarseille.com Recently I received the Gold Medal for Best First Book in Non-Fiction from the prestigious Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY’s as they are known), a starred review with the Library Journal, and a 5 star rating with Readers’ Favorite.  You can find out more about my memoir and where to purchase at my author website:  www.claudiamarseilleauthor.com. I played classical piano much of my life; in my free time I love to read, watch movies, travel, spend time with friends, and attend concerts and art exhibits. I live with my husband in Oakland and we have one daughter.  ________________________ You can listen to this episode wherever you stream podcasts and at www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/the-listening-brain-podcast If you would like to be a guest on the podcast, please contact todd@3cdigitalmedianetwork.com.

    44 min
  3. MAY 23

    A Conversation with Louanne Saraga-Walters of Listen Foundation!

    As Executive Director of Listen Foundation, Louanne brings more than two decades of nonprofit, fundraising, and executive management experience to the Foundation. She has worked with nonprofits of all sizes and is an experienced fundraising and board governance professional.  She is a former Financial Advisor with Raymond James & Associates, and specializes in helping nonprofit organizations build their philanthropic capacity. Louanne and her wife moved from Tampa Bay to Denver in 2019, and fell in love with Colorado.    Listen Foundation was incorporated in 1969 when a group of parents came together because they shared the common experience of raising a child with a hearing impairment. These parents recognized that many other parents and professionals were unaware of technological and therapeutic options that enable children with a hearing loss to listen, speak and become part of mainstream society and that many families that might want to pursue these options did not have the financial means to pay for these services. The initial program was developed by the late Doreen Pollack, an internationally recognized author and expert in the field of Listening and Spoken Language therapy (then called acoupedics) – an innovative approach that helps children to use their residual hearing and speaking potential to communicate with spoken language. Since then, Listen Foundation has served hundreds of families with Listening and Spoken Language therapy helping children in Colorado and beyond achieve a life of independence.   For more information:   info@listenfoundation.org    www.listenfoundation.org   ___________________________   You can listen to this episode wherever you stream podcasts and at www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/the-listening-brain-podcast   If you would like to join me as a guest on The Listening Brain Podcast or have a recommendation for a guest, please contact me at todd@3cdigitalmedianetwork.com   Thank you for listening!

    37 min
  4. APR 25

    A Conversation with Mary D. McGinnis!

    Mary McGinnis is a teacher of the deaf and Listening and Spoken Language Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist. She is the former Director of the John Tracy Clinic Graduate Program, and continues to teach auditory-verbal courses for the JTC Graduate Program. She’s also a consultant for Aurea Lab in Mexico City, working with families and professionals, and helping to create assessment materials in Spanish. She has worked with children with hearing differences and their families for over 55 years, with experience teaching infants through adults, and families from around the world. She was a researcher and Director of the Fellowship Program at the House Ear Institute at the beginning of FDA trials for the single channel implant in children, and the first multichannel implant in children in North America. She has published and presented on a wide variety of topics, and is known for the world’s first published auditory skills curriculum for deaf and hard of hearing children. She continues to mentor professionals toward LSLS certification, and presents globally on various topics, from auditory skills, to speech, speech acoustics, pragmatics, reading, and family-centered education. Links: John Tracy Center: www.jtc.org John Tracy Center Graduate Program: https://www.jtc.org/services/masters-credential-program/ Mary’s email: MaryDMcGinnis@gmail.com   _____________________________ You can listen to this episode wherever you stream podcasts and at www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/the-listening-brain-podcast

    46 min
  5. MAR 29

    A Conversation with Erin Thompson, of the Children's Cochlear Implant Center at UNC-Chapel Hill!

    Erin Thompson, M.S., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert AVT has been working with the Children's Cochlear Implant Center at UNC since July 2004. She earned her Bachelors from Appalachian State University and her Master’s in Speech and Hearing Sciences from UNC-Chapel Hill. She completed her clinical fellowship year with Pediatric Speech and Language Services out of Greensboro and became a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist in 2009. Erin conducts Listening and Spoken Language parent participation sessions, speech and language diagnostics for children who are deaf and hard of hearing, as well as co-treat sessions with families and audiologists. A passion has been mentoring students and professionals across NC, the US and abroad. Erin has been a member of the Global Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss and has traveled to Vietnam on three occasions, and Mongolia on one occasion to help provide mentoring and training abroad. She also spent time coaching a team of Speech-Language Therapists in Auckland, New Zealand. Erinexpanded her interests in 2019 to 2023 to include the role of Family Care Coordinator for The Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC. She helped manage, facilitate and coordinate cochlear implant consultation referrals, supporting all families going through the CI consult process at UNC. https://www.med.unc.edu/earandhearing/ ____________________________ You can listen to this episode wherever you stream podcasts and at www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/the-listening-brain-podcast

    36 min
5
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

For most of us, we must be able to listen in order to speak. Put another way, listening plus speaking equals successful communication. Fortunately, for children with hearing loss, listening has become less of a challenge due to the availability of testing that allows early detection of hearing loss and the early use of advanced hearing technology – like hearing aids and cochlear implants. This podcast, The Listening Brain, will celebrate listening and speaking in the context of childhood hearing loss. Hosted by K. Todd Houston, Ph.D., a noted Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist, speech-language pathologist, and Professor, the podcast will explore educational trends, new developments in technology, and advances in research. We will interview professionals in the fields serving children with hearing loss, and, most importantly, families who are supporting their children on this journey to listening and spoken language success. And, equally as important, we’ll also hear from adults with hearing loss who will share their unique stories and experiences about growing up with deafness and how deafness is now being redefined for future generations.

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