ACIA CEU Courses

This course focuses on referral, candidacy, and the evaluation process for cochlear implantation (CI) in children with single-sided deafness (SSD). Expected outcomes and factors that could influence performance in this population are discussed.

This two-part series covers considerations in the cochlear implant (CI) evaluation process, including outcomes, benefits, and quality of life for those with single-sided deafness (SSD). Both the adult and pediatric populations are discussed. A background on how CI utilization and perspectives for CI in SSD have changed and expanded in recent years are covered.

This course covers best practices for evaluating adult cochlear implant (CI) single-sided deafness (SSD) candidates, including the insurance elements that need to be considered with this population. Additionally, the outcomes and benefits of the technology with this population are discussed.

This two-part online series will emphasize the key role of parents in fostering language in children who are deaf and hearing. With the implementation of newborn hearing screening and accepted practice that state early intervention agencies complete diagnosis and initiate services (including fitting amplification) for children with congenital hearing loss by six months of age, we now recognize the “power of parents.” The role of professionals has shifted from professionals working with the child to supporting the entire family unit in utilizing the language of the home and heart—whether that language is English, Spanish, ASL or another. These two sessions will explore how to fully support parents in language learning for their children with hearing loss.

Permanent hearing loss affects 2-3 per 1,000 newborns. When not identified early in life, children who are deaf or hard of hearing lag behind their peers in language, social, and cognitive development, fail more frequently in school, and have difficulty being successfully employed. Family engagement has been critical in the development of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) that have made it possible for most children who are deaf or hard of hearing to develop similarly to their peers with typical hearing. However, a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement remain. This presentation summarizes the history of newborn hearing screening, describes the current status, and discusses some of the important challenges and emerging issues that could be addressed to further improve early identification of childhood hearing loss. Lessons learned over the past decades, recent advances based on research and policy initiatives, and the crucial role of families will be used to highlight how various stakeholders (e.g., health care providers, public health officials, parents, and educators) can continue to improve outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In this session, Dr. Dana Suskind discusses how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other emerging technologies can be used to better understand and, thus, optimize the role that parents play in promoting early language and cognitive development in children with hearing loss and children with typical hearing. Dr. Suskind covers the existing literature on foundational brain development and language skill acquisition, with an emphasis on the crucial role that parents and caregivers play in this process. She also identifies gaps in our collective knowledge on this topic and explains how technology can help fill those gaps. Finally, she shares several examples of tools being developed at the University of Chicago's TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health that will help individual parents boost their children’s foundational development—and also allow society to better support all parents in this essential task.

This five-course series on adult assessments in hearing health is intended to stimulate collaborative approaches for hearing health professionals, regardless of what hearing technologies they typically provide. Ideally, professionals will support patients in their long-term hearing loss journey, facilitating transitions when appropriate and a comfortable sense of the range of ways hearing loss can be addressed throughout one’s hearing journey.

Advances in various hearing technologies have blurred the lines of rehabilitative candidacy for patients with different degrees of measurable hearing. Thus, the purpose of this course provides an overview of auditory outcomes and evidence-based practices for programming, verifying, and validating various hearing technologies including hearing aids and auditory implants.

Adults with severe-to-profound hearing loss utilizing hearing aids are typically not benefitting sufficiently from traditional amplification and often would benefit from hearing implants. This course will review ways hearing care professionals can support adult patients who may benefit from implants (either now or in the future) by presenting information on the cochlear implant (CI) option early in an individual’s hearing journey. A CI is not a last resort, but rather a means for those who fall within the guidelines to experience hearing improvement, rather than continued decline.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and specifically the Cochlear Implant Quality of Life (CIQOL) instrument suite, can enhance patient care from pre-CI evaluations to post-CI monitoring. A thorough review of these outcomes are discussed in this course.