2027 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 22-24, 2027 • Bellevue, WA
3/17/2026 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Optimizing Audibility: Practical Tools for Families and Providers Supporting Spoken Language Development | St. Johns
Optimizing Audibility: Practical Tools for Families and Providers Supporting Spoken Language Development
When families have young children who use hearing technology, it is essential for providers and families to understand not only how the technology works but how it can be optimized to support spoken language outcomes. Given varying educational backgrounds, providers may not always have the tools or shared language to explain audibility in meaningful, family-centered ways. For families choosing spoken language, audibility means full access across frequencies and it is important for both early intervention providers and family members to fully understand this concept as well as understand what audibility might look like in a child using hearing technology.
Research (McCreery et al., 2020; Walker et al., 2020) demonstrates that children with unaided Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) values = .80 perform below peers with typical hearing on receptive and expressive language measures and require more consistent hearing-aid use to achieve comparable comprehension. For children with greater hearing loss, aided SII values below .61 may indicate underperformance with traditional amplification and warrant cochlear-implant consideration (Wiseman et al., 2023). These findings provide evidence for using the SII as a practical tool for shared understanding, goal-setting, and decision-making.
This presentation will share just-in-time tools and examples that families and professionals can use together to interpret audibility, monitor hearing access, and connect technology use to daily communication outcomes. Building on previous SII tutorials (Wiseman et al., 2025), case studies will illustrate how families, early-intervention providers, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and teachers of the DHH can work collaboratively to observe, measure, and promote audibility in everyday listening environments.
- Explain the relationship between audibility, Speech Intelligibility Index (SII), and spoken language development in young children who are DHH.
- Use shared tools and language to help families and professionals interpret and apply SII data to support communication growth.
- Collaborate to develop strategies that empower families and providers to jointly observe, monitor, and promote audibility in home and community settings.
Presentation:
View Presentation File
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Kristina Blaiser
(Primary Presenter,Author), Idaho State University, Kristina.Blaiser@isu.edu;
Kristina Blaiser, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is
a Professor of Speech-Language Pathology in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and directs the HATCH (Helping Adults Talk to Children) Lab at Idaho State University. Dr. Blaiser has extensive experience leading early childhood education programs and evaluating the outcomes of children who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. Her research interests include graduate training and implementation of family-centered early intervention. Dr. Blaiser serves on the national American Academy of Pediatrics Provider Education Committee and on the advisory board for the Family Leadership, Language and Learning Center.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Idaho State University, AAP-PEC, FL3, Office of Special Education Programs.
Nature: employee, Advisory Board Member (AAP-PEC, FL3), Grantee.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Caitlin Sapp
(Co-Presenter,Co-Author), University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, caitlin.sapp@unchealth.unc.edu;
Dr. Sapp is the head of Pediatric Audiology at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, NC, and the director of the Early Hearing Loss Lab. Her research interests include examining the factors that improve language and social outcomes for children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, in particular malleable clinical factors like parent counseling.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Consulting fee for Consulting from Akouos/Eli Lilly.
• Receives Other financial benefit for Other activities from ASHA.
• Receives Salary for Employment from UNC Medical Center.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional
(Advisory)
relationship for Board membership.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Akouos/Eli Lilly
ASHA
UNC Medical Center.
Nature: KIPA North America.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Elizabeth Walker
(Co-Author), University of Iowa, Elizabeth-walker@uiowa.edu;
Elizabeth Walker, PhD, CCC-A/SLP is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on pediatric aural habilitation, specifically examining malleable factors that relate to individual differences in speech perception and language outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. For the past few years, she has been an investigator on several NIH-funded research grants, including the University of Iowa Cochlear Implant project, Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss study, and Complex Listening in School Age Children who are Hard of Hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -