Announcer:	The Missouri State Journal, a weekly program keeping you in touch with Missouri State University. 
Nicki D.:	Not being able to communicate effectively, or understand people can be so discouraging and frustrating. It can leave you out. In the dark. I'm Nicki Donnelson. Today I have Lauren Jones, Director of the Speech Language and Hearing Clinic at the Missouri State University, as my guest. She says parents usually become concerned around age two that their toddler isn't talking as much as other children they know. Jones says that signs can be evident before that as well. 
Lauren Jones:	If you have questions about your child's speech and language development we really encourage you to begin looking at those developmental milestones early with your pediatrician. There are plenty of resources that the American Speech Language Hearing Association can provide regarding speech language milestones. We would say around age two we hope that a child has at minimum 50 words in their vocabulary.
Nicki D.:	The clarity or intelligibility of speech for a young child is another common concern, she noted.
Lauren Jones:	Speech pathologists know what ages certain sounds tend to develop, but that's not the only thing we look at. We do look at the child's intelligibility overall. A speech pathologist is really the best person to contact if you have questions about the clarity of your child's speech. 
Nicki D.:	In addition to speech services, the Speech Language Hearing Clinic offers audiology services for people of all ages. 
Lauren Jones:	Most adults will experience hearing loss at some point in their life. We tend to live longer now, so the likelihood of hearing loss is even greater. It's good to have a baseline if you've never had a hearing test as an adult even if you don't suspect that you have a hearing loss, so that in the future if you notice you start having trouble in conversations in noisy environments there's something to look back to. Since our hearing evaluations can be performed at no cost to the client it never hurts to just get that hearing evaluation done, so you have that information. 
Nicki D.:	If hearing loss is detected the audiologist works with the client to find the right amplification device for his or her lifestyle. This individualized approach is similar to how the team works with families in the pre school for the deaf and hard of hearing. Jones elaborates. 
Lauren Jones:	Our pre school for children who are deaf and hard of hearing is really unique because we have different approaches all going on at one time. We have children who don't sign. We have children that do sign. We have the students in that graduate program, and the instructor that really communicate with all of those children along that spectrum. The family has a lot of preference in what that communication style is with their child, and we're able to meet those different preferences. 
Nicki D.:	This approach of meeting family's individual needs really differentiates the program. She says it's especially important for those who identify as being part of the deaf culture. 
Lauren Jones:	If a family they identify themselves as culturally deaf or in the deaf community they may choose not to have their children use any kind of amplification and their first language is American sign language, which has its own structure and grammar and is a complete language. Our faculty in the pre school do provide both ASL, or if a child's using total communication where they are both signing, and learning spoken language they will get that input simultaneously also. 
Nicki D.:	The clinic hosts groups that meet regularly to work on certain skills. They also serve as support for those participating. If interested or if you'd like to set up an appointment, or evaluation you can call (417) 836-5275. No physician referral is required. More information is available at missouristate.edu/csd/clinic. That was Lauren Jones. I'm Nicki Donnelson for the Missouri State Journal. 
Announcer:	For more information contact the Office of University Communications at (417) 836-6397.