Jane Madell

Jane Madell, PhD, has a consulting practice in pediatric audiology. She is an audiologist, speech-language pathologist, and LSLS auditory verbal therapist, with a BA from Emerson College and an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin. Her 45+ years experience ranges from Deaf Nursery programs to positions at the League for the Hard of Hearing (Director), Long Island College Hospital, Downstate Medical Center, Beth Israel Medical Center/New York Eye and Ear Infirmary as director of the Hearing and Learning Center and Cochlear Implant Center. Jane has taught at the University of Tennessee, Columbia University, Downstate Medical School, and Albert Einstein Medical School, published 7 books, and written numerous books chapters and journal articles, and is a well known international lecturer.

What to Look for in a Pre-school Program

Now that summer is half over it’s time to think about the fall. What should parents of children with hearing loss be looking for in a pre-school program? Perhaps the first question to ask is should they be looking for a pre-school program? And, if the answer is yes, when should they start looking? Should children with hearing loss

How Often Do You Need a Hearing Test?

I frequently get contacted for assistance by families who have concerns about their child’s performance, or by families whom I used to care for and who have either moved away or who have begun receiving their services from other professionals since I retired from full-time clinical work. In the last few weeks I received a phone call from one family

Music Training and Hearing

The world is a very noisy place and much of what children learn, they have to learn listening in noise. Hearing in noise requires the ability to hear with both ears. Binaural hearing enables us to focus on the speech signal and ignore the noise. Language is a left-brain activity and the majority of the input to the right ear

Fitting Two Ears – Do They Always Match?

The fact that we have two ears does not mean that both of them hear the same way. So should the hearing aids on both ears be the same? Maybe yes, but maybe no. We really need to test to know. I wear eyeglasses and I know that my eyes are not the same. If my prescription were the same

Professionals Learning From Each Other

I have just returned from a week in England attending the British Society of Audiology, where I spoke at the Pediatric Audiology Interest Group. This group consists of a variety of people who work with children with hearing loss – audiologists, teachers of the deaf, speech-language pathologists, auditory verbal therapists, and physicians. Some parents also attended. This meeting is similar

Summer Camp and Hearing Aids

Today’s blog was written by Patricia Ramirez, Au.D. Dr. Ramirez received her undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona, her master’s degree from Arizona State University, and her Doctorate from A.T. Still University. She worked clinically and dispensed hearing aids for 5 years in the Phoenix Metro area before joining a hearing aid manufacturer, where she worked as a Customer Trainer,

What Can Parents Do To Check Hearing Aids

It is not enough to have hearing aids on. It is also essential that we know that they are working appropriately. Checking hearing aids is a two-part process. First, the hearing aids need to be checked by the audiologist to be sure all is okay. That means that the hearing aids need to be providing enough gain throughout the frequency

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How Many Hours a Day Does a Child Need to Hear?

We know, for sure, that kids need to hear all day long in order to learn language, and to be ready to read. Typical hearing kids hear 24 hours a day. Children with hearing loss hear only when they have their technology on. Here is what else we know: Typical children hear 46 million words by age 4 years Children

Can Children Understand Fast Speech?

Sometimes children have problems understanding speech and, therefore, learning language. Why? It may be hearing loss, it may be a language learning disorder. But it might be because parents and teachers speak too quickly. Little brains move more slowly than grown up brains. They are still working on developing neural connections. How fast is fast? For children 3-5 years

Do You Need a Case Manager?

Who helps to decide what a child with hearing loss needs? Who helps families manage everything? This is not an easy question. Certainly, in the end, it is parents who have to be the case managers, but are parents prepared to do it? How many parents of kids with hearing loss have information about hearing loss before they find themselves