Somerset, NJ — More than 200 hearing care professionals from hospital, educational, and private practice settings attended the 2011 Oticon Pediatrics Conference in San Antonio, October 14-16, 2011. The three-day professional gathering focused on delivering optimal solutions for infants and children with hearing loss.

“Our goal was to create a forum in which pediatric practitioners could learn about the clinical application of best evidence in pediatric audiology and gain first-hand experience in innovative new protocols for measuring pediatric outcomes,” said Laura Shiplett, AuD, co-manager, Oticon Pediatrics, in the press statement. “Over the course of the weekend, we challenged professional preconceptions and invited participants to take a fresh look at hearing solutions and listening effort among pediatric populations.”

Conference highlights included presentation of a knowledge-to-action framework and process to help reduce practice gaps in pediatric audiology by keynote speaker Sheila Moodie, MClSc, of the Child Amplification Laboratory, National Centre for Audiology, University of Western Ontario (UWO).

L to R: George Lindley, PhD, AuD, Marlene Bagatto, AuD, Laura Shiplett, AuD, CCC-A, Erin C. Schafer, PhD, Sheila T. Moodie, MClSc, Annette G. Mazevski, AuD, PhD, Carol Flexer, PhD, CCC/A, LSLS Cert. AVT, Donald J. Schum, PhD.

Marlene Bagatto, AuD, also with the National Centre for Audiology, UWO, introduced the Western Ontario Pediatric Audiological Monitoring Protocol, a clinically feasible guideline for monitoring auditory-related outcomes in infants and children.

Carol Flexer, PhD, CCC/A, LSLS Cert.AVT, past president of the Educational Audiology Association, discussed the powerful role pediatric audiologists play in maximizing the auditory functioning of infants and children.

Breakout sessions featured expert discussion by Eileen Rall, AuD, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Linda Norrix, PhD, of the University of Arizona, and Erin Schaefer, PhD, of the University of North Texas.

“I think we all came away with a clearer understanding of the collaborative nature of our responsibility to pediatric populations and a deeper appreciation of what we can do to help families and other professionals succeed in developing a child’s listening skills, spoken language, literacy and learning,” stated Annette Mazevski, AuD, PhD, Co-Manager, Oticon Pediatrics, in the press statement.

SOURCE: Oticon