Dually Diagnosed: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Autism and Hearing Loss

Monday, May 01, 2023
7:30 PM EST - 9:30 PM EST
Location: Zoom

When a child who is deaf or hard of hearing also presents as autistic, what can audiologists do to promote appropriate care? This presentation introduced the LEND trainees to the diagnostic challenges related to dual diagnosis, screening for secondary challenges and the role of audiology, and how to successfully create an interdisciplinary approach to ensure dually diagnosed children access the support they need.

Learning Objectives: 

• Be able to define diagnostic challenges related to dual diagnosis in Deaf/Hard of Hearing Plus (DHH+) children
• Explain the role of audiologists in screening for secondary challenges
• List a minimum of two strategies that audiologists can use to successfully create an interdisciplinary approach to providing support to DHH+ children

Presenters: 

Amy Szarkowski, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and their families. She is on the LEND faculty at Boston Children's Hospital/Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Szarkowski is also the Director of The Institute at the Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD), which strives to generate and disseminate transformational ideas and practices to support children who are DHH. A founding member of Fostering Joy, she is passionate about promoting joy in families raising children who are DHH. 

Susan Wiley, MD, is the Director of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati's Children as well as the Director of Thomas Center for Down Syndrome. As a developmental pediatrician, Dr. Wiley specializes in treating children with developmental disabilities, particularly Down syndrome, and Rubinstein Taybi-Syndrome. She also treats children who are deaf or hard of hearing with developmental disabilities (Deaf/Hard of Hearing Plus). In addition to seeing patients, she conducts research to improve the quality of life for children with developmental disabilities, focusing on technology-supported language intervention. Her research team has also focused on the language and functional needs of children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing Plus.