2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
4/15/2014 | 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM | It’s Not Always About the Hearing: Case Studies in a Holistic Approach to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patient Care | Grand Ballroom 6 | 5
It’s Not Always About the Hearing: Case Studies in a Holistic Approach to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patient Care
Children who are deaf and hard of hearing can have issues unrelated to their hearing status that can affect development, behavior, and cognitive success. Often, the hearing status becomes the focal point for all concerns at hand, which can lead to incorrect diagnosis and failure to implement appropriate supports and services.
This workshop uses real clinical case studies from the Family-Focused Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children at Dallas Children’s Medical Center, which uses a low-volume/high-complexity patient care model to provide assessment and ongoing coordinated care support to families with deaf and hard of hearing children. This workshop will illustrate patient scenarios that presented as hearing-related, but actually involved a previously undiagnosed etiology (including genetic, behavioral, and neurologic conditions co-existing with the hearing status).
Take home points that will be emphasized include:
• There is a tendency to “blame the hearing” for a host of behavioral and educational challenges, and lose sight of the possibility of a co-existing condition.
• Conversely, there also may be a tendency to minimize the impact of the hearing status because it’s assumed not enough to not cause problems (as is often the case with mild/unilateral involvement).
• Establishing interdisciplinary professional relationships between providers, rather than referring to an office or phone number, support a well-coordinated diagnosis and plan
• Having “buy-in” at the upper levels of clinical departments is crucial in planning for appropriate time commitment and collaboration to working with patients who have complex clinical pictures
- Recognize the clinical presentation overlap that can exist between hearing status and other conditions (genetic, neurologic, behavioral, etc)
- Appreciate conditions in which hearing status can become the clinical focus to the exclusion of other conditions
Presentation:
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Handouts:
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Transcripts:
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Presenters/Authors
Rachel St John
(Primary Presenter), UT Southwestern Medical Center, Rachel.StJohn@UTSouthwestern.edu;
Rachel St. John is a board-certified pediatrician, and a NIC-Advanced certified sign language interpreter through RID. She received her BS degree in psychology at George Mason University, completed her MD degree at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and then jointly attended Georgetown University Hospital for her residency in pediatrics and Gallaudet University for her MA degree in counseling. Dr. St. John is the director of the Family-Focused Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children at Children’s Medical Center Dallas/UT Southwestern Medical Center. The FFC provides support for families to make informed decisions regarding their child who is deaf/hard of hearing, as well as provides education and collaborative support to providers caring for these patients in keeping with national standards. She also currently serves as an American Academy of Pediatrics representative to the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -