The JTC Preschool is hunting for eggs this week! The children are building language about holiday events, socializing, negotiating, and working on reading skills.  Parents and teachers talk with the children about hunting (“Is it in the tree or in the grass?”), help the children read the names on the eggs (“Whose name is on the egg?”), discuss whether it’s theirs or not (“It’s not yours, you have to leave it for him”) and help them share with their classmates about their discoveries (“Let’s tell Sarah we found her egg!”).  Springtime at JTC is about learning and having fun!

JTC Preschoolers, Parents and Teachers pose with the visiting firetruck

John Tracy Clinic (JTC) preschoolers recently discovered that while safety officers and fire fighters may seem a bit scary when in uniform, they can be a friend when you’re in trouble.  As part of a community outreach program, local fire fighters and police officers made two separate visits to JTC to show children how they keep us safe.  These visitors with all of their gear made a special effort to befriend the preschoolers: greeting them at eye-level, giving lots of eye contact, and patiently answering their numerous questions. Read the rest of this entry →

Marieta and Tyler de Lara arrive for the first day of Preschool. Tyler’s cochlear implant story was featured on the front page of the L.A. Times, August 3, 2009.

The new school year opened to great expectations and fond reunions as the Parent/Infant and Preschool programs welcomed new and returning families for the 2009-2010 year.  New faces, new books and new activities awaited our eager young learners. For those who speak a language other than English at home, the new Dual Language Learners initiative has now become part of their curriculum. This program taps into the potential for deaf and hard of hearing children to listen and speak in more than one language.

In the parallel service of audiology, we have now taken the next step up in diagnostic capabilities with an Auditory Steady-state Response (ASSR) unit, thanks to the generosity of a major donor. The ASSR, which measures brainstem response, will allow our audiologists to further define a child’s degree of hearing loss, which can be a great help to teachers and parents in developing and refining spoken language strategies.

Read the rest of the Fall 2009 Bulletin