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| Mary Pat Moeller |
Dr. Mary Pat Moeller Participates in NIDCD Workshop
Mary Pat Moeller, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Childhood Deafness, was among 15 research scientists invited by the National Institutes for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) to participate in a workshop titled Outcomes Research in Children with Hearing Loss. The aim of the workshop, held December 12-13, in Bethesda, Maryland, was to determine and prioritize research needs and to discuss the design of research studies that would benefit children with mild to severe hearing loss.
Dr. Moeller presented a review of the current state of research knowledge regarding psychosocial development in children with hearing loss. She highlighted key findings and gaps in the literature, including interdisciplinary perspectives, such as studies on social cognition and the role of friendships.
After a review of research and literature on hearing loss, the group concluded that there were far more studies on children with profound hearing loss and/or cochlear implants compared to studies on children with mild to severe hearing loss. Among the priorities identified by the group was the need for multi-center longitudinal studies on children with mild to severe hearing loss.
"Because of newborn hearing screening, children with hearing loss are being identified much earlier than in the past," said Dr. Moeller. "The outcome of this workshop may lead to more grant funding opportunities for studies related to hard of hearing children."
Dr. Moeller is currently conducting longitudinal research on infants with varying degrees of hearing loss compared to infants with normal hearing. She and her team are exploring the impact of hearing loss on word learning in infancy and aspects of social language learning in infants and young children. "This work is directly relevant to the research needs identified by workshop participants," said Dr. Moeller.