This webinar will be hosted via Zoom for national and international attendees on Sunday, April 27, 2025 from 1:30-3:30 pm ET.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial disclosures: Dr. Secora receives a salary from her work as a full-time assistant professor at the University of Tennessee. She receives royalties from a course in the Language First Learning Library and is receiving an honorarium for this presentation.

Nonfinancial disclosures: Dr. Secora is a board member for Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists.

Course Description:

Understanding thoughts, emotions, and perspectives is critical for social and academic success. Sometimes referred to as “theory of mind,” these skills encompass a wide range of competencies within the cognitive domain (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, intentions, motivations) and the affective or emotional domain (e.g., feelings, empathy). Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children have shown difficulties with aspects of theory of mind, thought to be tied to language difficulties arising from language deprivation. This presentation will describe how language and literacy skills support and interact with perspective-taking abilities for all children, focusing specifically on DHH children. Practical suggestions for language- and literacy-based activities that can support the development of theory of mind will be presented, outlining ways that speech-language pathologists and other educators can support these critical language, literacy, and perspective-taking abilities.

Agenda

1:30-1:35: Introduction/speaker disclosures

1:35-1:45: Background on theory of mind

1:45-2:00: Connection between language and theory of mind

2:00-2:15: Connection between literacy and theory of mind

2:15-2:45: Theory of mind and language for deaf children

2:45-3:15: Practical ways to support ToM for deaf children

3:15-3:30: Q&A

Learner Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Describe the relationship between theory of mind skills and language/literacy skills

2. Summarize the key findings from the literature about ToM development for DHH individuals

3. Provide at least three examples about how to support theory of mind skills for DHH learners through language and/or literacy interventions

Registration information:

This is a digital purchase only; no physical ticket is provided. A form will populate for you to complete your registration and then your purchase will be added to your cart in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You will receive an email with instructions on how to participate as well as a Google Calendar invite with the Zoom link one week prior to the event. Registration ends one day prior to the webinar. All registrants will receive a copy of the presenter’s PowerPoint and the presentation recording. Please email info@language1st.org with any questions.