Infants and children with developmental disabilities are at risk for late or missed identification of reduced hearing. This problem exists even though many developmental disabilities are known to have a higher risk of reduced hearing than seen for the general population. To address current gaps in care seen for children with developmental disabilities, this presentation will focus on developmentally informed strategies that can be used during a hearing evaluation. After a review of the non-auditory developmental demands of standard clinical behavioral testing methods, we will discuss how to align testing demands based on a child’s unique developmental profile. Data and video examples will be shared to demonstrate how to select the appropriate response task and reinforcers, support sensory sensitivities, facilitate transitions, and promote the use of headphones. 

Learning objectives: 
After taking this course, the participant will be able to:

• Describe non-auditory developmental skills that are required to participate in standard behavioral testing methods
• Summarize developmentally informed strategies that can be implemented into clinical practice when working with children who have developmental disabilities\
• Identify a strategy that they will implement in their own practice

Speakers:  

• Angela Yarnell Bonino, PhD, CCC-A; Assistant Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
• Deborah Mood, PhD; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz, Aurora, CO

Intended audience: audiologists, speech pathologists, audiology and speech pathology trainees

Accommodations, including captioning and Spanish interpretation, may be requested during registration. Accommodation requests should be submitted no later than February 6, 2026.

Register Here