The LENA digital device to make the data collection realistic in these previously noted fields came out on the market Spring 2008

Feel free also to visit the LENA booth for detailed information on the device, including demos.

In a past research life in the field of education I did conversation data collection and analysis in Spanish small groupwork activities.

That rsearch experience was quite useful in examing patterns of dominance and silence but it was manual labor tracking the turns. Painful.

LENA has made me want to return to that type of data collection and analysis.

For more details regarding a Freirean perspective, visit the Paolo Freire Institute at UCLA.

I was introduced to Freire's(pronounced Fray-ree) work by Prof Torres while I completed my MA in Latin American Studies at UCLA.

I later found his theories pertinent to first/second language learning and education. I began applying his ideas in the fields of education

...humanities, and interdisciplinary studies since 1994. For this project I found it also relevant in our work under ASHA umbrella.

Which clients? Those with hearing loss of any degree. Bess' research shows those with mild loss are falling through the cracks academically.

Which other clients? Those with severe verbal expressive skills eg cas, dysarthria, autism...

Teaching a visual language alongside a verbal one empowers those individuals to participate in conversations.

Verbal approximations can be shaped in therapy using a variety of techniques/methods, etc. Eg Kaufman

And language skills can grow visually. Since this stimulates the same portion of the brain as verbal language per neuro research,

Skills will transfer. Bilingualism will emerge.Two communities of support aid the confidence of these children because of

Participation ability both receptively and expressively. The conversation turn is one way to measure increases.

Some sources cite difficulty in learning sign, but those sources have yet to explore sign taught by developmentally appropriate instruction.

Child development specialists with sign expertise; sources like Signing Time, Sign2me, Signingsmart are consumer product/teaching ways.

For ASHA info re linguistic diversity, visit ASHA website to download it's position statements.

For any further questions feel free to email or text found on poster. Thank you.