I was introduced to the Hanen Centre during graduate school. During a time when we were being introduced to many different methodologies, The Hanen Approach, really stuck out to me. The Ontario, Canada based program features training programs for SLPs. Their approach focuses on training the parent in a variety of techniques for language delayed children.
This is the home page from the session!
I won't give you a huge lesson on all their programs but here is a blurb from the Hanen Website.
The Hanen Centre is a not-for-profit charitable organization with a difference. We are a social entrepreneur, operating our business for a clear social purpose – to enable young children to develop the best possible language and literacy skills. Founded in 1975 by Ayala Hanen Manolson, a speech-language pathologist who saw the potential of involving parents in their child’s early language intervention, The Hanen Centre is dedicated to addressing a pressing social problem – delays in language development in young children, including children with developmental delays and autism.
A language delay has a significant impact on the child, his family and society as a whole. Language delay is the most common developmental disorder and is 3-4 times more common in boys than in girls. Approximately 5-8% of preschool children experience a delay in their language development that continues into adulthood, highlighting the fact that many children don't "grow out of it" as is commonly thought. Language delay can affect academic performance and achievement, social relationships, can cause behaviour problems and make it more difficult for adults to find employment.
Knowing that the window of opportunity is greatest when children are very young, we must harness the commitment of parents and professionals to give children the chance to develop the language they need to succeed socially and academically.
Not content to accomplish this on a small, local scale, The Hanen Centre has developed a business model, which is designed to help us achieve our social goal in many parts of the world. The sales of our train-the-trainer workshops, educational resources and membership dues enable us to support our operations, as well as our research and development.
While I completed my graduate school internships, one of my supervisors was a Hanen trained SLP. She used It Takes Two to Talk and More than Words during our treatment and I learned a lot about treating toddlers and young children with language delays.
Maybe you're like me and you've been exposed to the program or you've had access to the materials but not able to attend the full training sessions. The people over at Hanen contacted me and asked if I wanted to check out one of their online e-Seminars. I told them I'd love to review this professional development opportunity. The opinions here are mine and based on my recent experience!
The e-seminars are available in two formats. Live seminars are watched in real-time and allow you to interact with the presenter. On Demand workshops are not interactive, but you can still watch all the questions and polls as they happened during the presentation. I chose the do the On Demand option just because it was easier to fit into my schedule! So let's look at what CEU's are available:
-Making Book Reading a Time for Interaction and Conversation
-Coaching Parents in How to Play
-Make Words Sparkle for Preschoolers and Kindergarten Children: Bring Vocabulary to Life During Book Reading and Daily Interactions
-Starting Early: Red Flags and Treatment Tips for Toddlers on the Autism Spectrum
I selected to try the Starting Early: Red Flags and Treatment Tips for Toddlers on the Autism Spectrum. The course would typically cost $85 dollars. The course was 2 hours in length and was registered with ASHA for CEU credits.
The learning targets included:
-Describe the implications of early identification of autism spectrum disorder for the provision of early language intervention to this group of children and their families.
-Describe typical early social communication development in toddlers
-Identify early red flags which place children at risk for autism spectrum disorder
-Select appropriate intervention goals for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder
-Describe specific interaction strategies from the More Than Words® Program that can be taught to parents in order to facilitate their child’s achievement of intervention goals
The seminar is available to watch with an internet connection.
When you're done you can easily submit your information for the CE registry. Once you register for a course you have open access to it for 30 days. Perfect for when 'life' gets in the way of your plans!
Pros: When I'm attending CEU courses one of the post important things to me is practicality. This is exactly the type of CEU course I look for. It gave typical development background, red flags for delays, specific intervention strategies, demonstrated interventions through video and all items cited research. During this session I was able to take specific notes on strategies for implementing with toddlers and their parents immediately in therapy next week. These included tips for foundational social communication enjoyment, joint attention, gestures, imitating and more. I also really loved the real-life videos demonstrating the skills. This might be a perfect course for those who suddenly end up with toddler on their caseload after not working with the young ones for a while!
Cons: The cost of $85 is pretty high for those self-funded SLPs. If you're able, use the group rate!
Have you attend the live workshops or done any Hanen e-seminars? What did YOU think?
Hanen wants to give one e-seminar to a professional who works with early intervention. Please only enter if you're qualified to earn professional CEUs and if you work with this age of student. Enter on the rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hanen wants to give one e-seminar to a professional who works with early intervention. Please only enter if you're qualified to earn professional CEUs and if you work with this age of student. Enter on the rafflecopter below.
