College of Education and Health Professions alumna Elizabeth Ocampo-Roman recently became the first bilingual Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Auditory-Verbal Therapist in the state of Arkansas.

Ocampo-Roman was first introduced to auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) by Rachel Glade, a clinical professor in the college's Communication Sciences and Disorders program, during her undergraduate clinical practicum at the University of Arkansas. AVT then became the topic of Ocampo-Roman's master's thesis in graduate school.

During graduate school, she was also the first graduate student to secure a clinical practicum placement with the Speech Pathology-Hearing Team at Arkansas Children's Northwest, where she worked alongside their certified AVT. Ocampo-Roman said watching her mentors navigate the world of speech acoustics and hearing technology was fascinating and inspired the work she was doing.

"I was able to make sense of this subject as I observed it being applied with real patients to ensure they had consistent access to the full speech spectrum via their hearing technology to maximize their learning potential," Ocampo-Roman said.

While she was in graduate school, one of Ocampo-Roman's nieces was born with microtia/atresia in one of her ears. She was diagnosed with conductive hearing loss and required the use of hearing technology, including AVT. Ocampo-Roman said that having a personal connection to her field only further cemented that AVT was what she was meant to do.

Auditory-verbal therapy differs from other specialties of speech-language pathology because of its emphasis on parent coaching. During sessions, Ocampo-Roman said caregivers are involved in therapy activities and are taught strategies to implement in daily routines to maximize their child's auditory and spoken language skills. By using auditory first strategies, AVT can maximize the child's listening and spoken language skills through their hearing technology.

As the first bilingual certified specialist in the AVT field in Arkansas, Ocampo-Roman says she will be able to enhance the quality of care available for Spanish-speaking patients and families with children who have hearing loss in Arkansas.

"My services extend beyond the translation of information," Ocampo-Roman said. "I am a bridge of cultural gaps for my Latino families to help them better understand their child's diagnosis and advocate for their needs."

By promoting the use of her patients' home language, Ocampo-Roman can help improve her patients' communication with their families, strengthen parent-child relationships and help provide crucial language input for her patients' development. Ocampo-Roman said that coaching parents to use their home language when engaging with their child also increases parental engagement with their child's progress in all aspects of life.

In her role, Ocampo-Roman collaborates with the child's support team, including medical providers, caregivers, teachers and other professionals, to share her findings and advocate for accommodations that ensure the child receives the necessary support to maximize their learning potential. Ocampo-Roman is also able to assist in determining skills that might be related to the child's hearing loss versus underlying delays.

Ocampo-Roman said her experience in the College of Education and Health Professions laid the foundation for her career as an AVT. Ocampo-Roman attributes her skills and confidence as a clinician to the hands-on experiences and supportive professors in the college.

"The focus on the value of knowing how to find answers through research and critical thinking is something that I still carry with me to problem solve and collaborate with families and other team members at Arkansas Children's Hospital today," Ocampo-Roman said.