Communication Disorders Professor Shares Tips for Parents in Video

In this “screen grab,” Teresa Caraway of Hearing First (left) interviews University of Arkansas professor Rachel Glade for a Facebook Live video.

For most parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, a diagnosis of hearing loss comes as a complete surprise. In her clinical work with families affected by hearing loss, Rachel Glade, clinical assistant professor of communication disorders at the University of Arkansas, helps parents navigate the emotions and treatment decisions that accompany a diagnosis.

On Nov. 15, 2018, she sat with Teresa Caraway, chief executive officer of Hearing First, to discuss her work and share practical tips with parents. The “Ask Me Anything” interview was broadcast on Hearing First’s Facebook Live channel while Caraway and Glade attended the 2018 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in Boston.

In the video (which begins at the 2:28 mark), Glade shares insights from her paper “Incorporating Informational Counseling in the Treatment of Individuals with Hearing Loss and their Families,” published in ASHA Perspectives in August 2018. The paper offers a framework called PATH, which stands for prepare, achieve, team up and help. It’s a guide for professionals and parents to help them adapt the informational counseling approach as children grow.

“It’s critical that families team up with other families that have had this similar experience. They need a good support network,” said Glade. “And luckily there are great organizations like Hearing First that have communities for families where they can connect. It’s important for families to know that if you’re not quite ready to meet face to face, these online communities are great options.”

Hearing First’s online communities for families and Listening and Spoken Language professionals are platforms to help members connect with one another and share tools, resources and practical advice. Launched in 2015, Hearing First is an initiative of the Oberkotter Foundation to empower children with hearing loss to reach their full potential with LSL.

Glade earned a doctorate at the Fayetteville campus, master’s at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and bachelor’s at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A certified speech-language pathologist, she also is a listening and spoken language specialist as well as a certified auditory-verbal therapist.

Caraway holds a doctorate in speech pathology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.