Individual Therapy Sessions are for families whose children are 3 and older. Children transitioning from early intervention and school age children with hearing loss, even those who have not previously attended Listen and Talk, can participate in individual sessions with auditory-verbal therapists. Individual sessions address the intense work needed to develop listening skills and spoken language skills for children with all degrees of hearing loss by following an auditory-verbal approach. Children typically receive one hour-long session per week, which also includes active family participation.
These sessions focus on the development of speech, language and thinking skills through listening. They continue the process of learning to listen that began in early intervention and build the child's ability to learn and communicate effectively in neighborhood schools. Families remain a critical part of the team as children grow and develop. Situations requiring additional individual sessions may include, but are not limited to, recent activation of a cochlear implant, families who are learning English as a second language, families who are making transitions in their primary mode of communicating and learning (ASL to spoken language, simultaneous communication to spoken language, etc.), and children have other identified learning challenges. Certain situations may require fewer individual sessions.