Valerie Abbott
Co-founder of the National Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign, award-winning author, parent-advocate and champion for early childhood hearing loss awareness
Actions
Valerie James Abbott is a parent-advocate, an award-winning author, and a champion for pediatric late-onset hearing loss awareness. She is employed by the Infant & Toddler Connection of Henrico, New Kent, and Charles City as a certified Early Intervention Case Manager, and previously worked at the Center for Family Involvement at the Partnership for People with Disabilities supporting families of children recently identified as deaf and hard of hearing and leading various projects. Valerie is a past board member of Virginia Hands & Voices, past board member of the Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services CSB, and past chair/co-chair of the Virginia Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Advisory Committee. Valerie is a frequent guest speaker at colleges, universities and civic organizations about the facts and impacts of postnatal hearing loss on early childhood development.
Impacts of Unidentified Hearing Loss on Early Childhood Language & Literacy: Abbott Family Story
Incidence of permanent hearing loss doubles between birth and school age. Too often children who acquire hearing loss after the newborn period are not identified, or correctly diagnosed, until years after onset when the prime time for language acquisition has passed and developmental milestones are missed. In this presentation, parent-advocate and award-winning author Valerie James Abbott reveals how feedback from a preschool teacher ultimately led to the discovery of her child's hearing loss. She shares facts about the prevalence, risk factors, and common signs of pediatric late-onset hearing loss and free new resource materials.
Changing Mindsets: The Truth About Unilateral Hearing Loss
A short time ago, traditional thinking and old theories led us to believe that strong speech and language development could be achieved with one typical-hearing ear. Today’s research tells us otherwise. In this presentation, Robin Bliven (Director of Outreach Services for VSDB) and Valerie James Abbott (parent-advocate and award-winning author) will describe how today’s research contradicts prior understanding of how unilateral hearing loss can impact language and literacy and change neurological pathways within the brain. Participants will learn how to identify common signs and how to talk with families about their observations or concerns.
A Look at the Overlapping Behaviors of Unidentified Developmental Disorders
In this parent/professional panel conversation, led by Valerie James Abbott EICM, participants will hear true stories from Virginia subject matter experts about the subtle signs and symptoms that were first noticed before a child received an official diagnosis. In some of these examples, the children shared similar symptoms or exhibited similar behaviors, but the final diagnoses were different. Participants will discover that it is often the child's Head Start, child care or preschool teacher, or other non-family members who are among the first to notice something atypical with a child's development and the first to begin a conversation with families about a possible developmental delay.
Please note that Sessionize is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the data provided by speakers. If you suspect this profile to be fake or spam, please let us know.
Jump to top