Group Access – Building Conversational Skills for Preschool Students

Audience: Preschool teachers and teachers of the deaf, early interventionists, pediatric speech-language pathologists, parents

As they build language and vocabulary, preschoolers also develop conversational skills. At this age, even outgoing children with hearing loss can struggle to socialize. Conversations can trail off after a turn, or may not get started at all.

Typically, children who are deaf or hard of hearing have inadequate opportunities to overhear and observe how others converse. They may not know the words to initiate play or to maintain a conversation with a friend.  They don’t naturally know the cues to look for and give that will allow them to take turns.

There are so many skills we don’t think about while we’re having a conversation. This course, Building Conversational Skills for Preschool Students, outlines how conversational skills develop and how they can be improved in preschoolers. It presents specific developmental goals and ways to achieve them. Examples are presented using classroom video.

This course features Nancy Tye-Murray, PhD, a renowned expert on aural habilitation and conversational skill development, and Ellie White, MS, MAEd, CED, a CID preschool teacher and curriculum director, describing issues and successful strategies.

If you’re a teacher or SLP charged to move one or more students with hearing loss from structured grammar and vocabulary lessons to conversing with friends during play, this is the course for you.

Every member of the team will benefit from learning ways they can help foster conversational skills in a young child with hearing loss.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

• Identify factors that contribute to conversational difficulties
• Teach strategies for developing conversational skills in preschool students
• Implement activities with preschool students to build conversational skills
• Identify opportunities for students to practice conversational skills throughout the day
• Collect and analyze data on student outcomes for developing conversational skills

Length:  30 minutes

Continuing Education Credits

.5 LSLS CEUs, AG Bell Academy

Disclosure Statement

Financial: The presenter, Jennifer Manley, MS, CED,  is on the teaching staff at CID – Central Institute for the Deaf.

Non-financial: Ms. Manley is a co-author of the SPICE for Life auditory learning curriculum. CID holds the copyright to the SPICE for Life. Ms. Manley receives no royalties or financial benefit from its sale.