Listen and Talk

11/09/2025

Today is National Microtia and Atresia Awareness Day!
This year marks a decade of raising awareness about this rare condition.

What are Microtia and Atresia?
Microtia and Atresia are congenital conditions where the outer ear or ear canal doesn’t fully develop, which can cause conductive hearing loss. The condition can affect one or both ears.

At Listen and Talk, we’re proud to support children with Microtia and Atresia as they learn to listen and communicate with spoken language. With the help of amazing technology—like bone conduction sound processors—sound can reach the inner ear by gently vibrating through the skull, bypassing the middle ear altogether.

How incredible is that? 🌟

11/06/2025

🌟 Listening & Spoken Language (LSL) Strategy Spotlight: Take Turns

What it is:
In order to Take Turns, adults learn to encourage a back and forth volley between themselves and the child

What to do:
✅ Wait for a verbal or non-verbal response from the child before taking another turn.
⏱ Use wait time intentionally — Wait time is a powerful strategy to encourage turn taking.

Why it matters:
Early turn-taking strengthens brain development, builds responsive relationships, and promotes expressive language growth — laying the foundation for future conversational competence.

11/06/2025

🎉 What an incredible day we shared at our annual Founders’ Day celebration at Listen and Talk!

We were delighted to welcome families, alumni, board members, staff, and our very special founder Star Leonard‑Fleckman to join us on Sunday, October 26th, at our Kirkland campus. From story time with Star to fun activities for kids, and delicious food—our time together buzzed with joy, connection, and community spirit.

This year marked a significant milestone as we celebrated 29 years of empowering children who are deaf or hard of hearing—standing firm in our mission that no child is limited by hearing loss. ✨

Read more about Founder's Day and our history on our blog: https://listenandtalk.org/celebrating-29-y…tes-founders-day/

Listen and Talk is a specialized listening and spoken language program for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

11/01/2025

🌟 You’re Invited to Join Our Parent Advisory Council! 🌟

We’d love your input as we design new parent-to-parent support programs for families across all Listen and Talk programs — Birth to Three, Blended Classroom, Outreach, and Alumni!

👋 How Can YOU Get Involved?
Join us for one (or all!) of our upcoming Informational Gathering Meetings to share your ideas, connect with other parents, and help shape the future of our community.

🗓️ Meeting Dates:
💻 Thursday, November 20 | 11:30–12:30 PM | Virtual
💻 Tuesday, December 2 | 11:30–12:30 PM | Virtual
🏫 Wednesday, December 3 | 9:00–10:00 AM | In Person @ Kirkland
💻 Tuesday, December 9 | 6:00–7:00 PM | Virtual

👉 RSVP: [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelFoCyRZxxfgGorfhV7BdQLj5SOK3M_t2-CKo9E5RMfMdY2A/viewform
👉 More Info: Contact Danielle Clarkson, Family Outreach Assistant
📧 daniellec@listenandtalk.org

10/31/2025

🦖💚 Character Day Fun at Listen and Talk! 💚🦖

Our students and teachers brought their favorite characters to life yesterday! From dinosaurs to Shrek, everyone joined in the fun while continuing to learn and grow through listening and spoken language.

We love seeing our students’ creativity shine—what a fantastic way to celebrate imagination and community!

✨ We’d love to see your favorite characters, too! Share a photo in the comments and join in the fun! 📸💫

10/30/2025

🎙️ We’re in the news.

This KUOW story highlights how nonprofits like ours are navigating a major shift in visa policy.

👉 Read/Listen to the full story here: https://www.kuow.org/stories/trump-administration-h1b-visa-fee-uncertainty-seattle-area-nonprofit

A new $100,000 fee associated with the H-1B visa and the controversy surrounding it have put organizations in a bind. It’s also created a level of uncertainty for job-seekers.

10/29/2025

Sharing a great resource for teens in our community!
Happening Monday, November 3, 2025 at 7pm EST

Registration is open for the next CI Connections for Teens webinar!

Join us at 7PM Eastern on Monday, November 3rd for "Captioning for Teens with Hearing Loss".

We will be talking about:
-Wide-ranging ways that captioning can provide access
-How to request captioning in different settings
-Ways Lexi has captioning in different settings along, and tips she’s picked up along the way

Attendees will have ample time during the webinar to ask questions. Please feel free to share with your family, friends, colleagues, or patients!

www.acialliance.org/page/CITeens

10/29/2025

10/29/2025

And our mystery matching donor is… Star Leonard-Fleckman!

We’re thrilled to share that Star—the visionary founder of Listen and Talk—made the incredible $10,000 matching donation to our Virtual Walk–Run–and–Roll fundraiser, doubling the impact of every contribution.

Star, thank you for your generosity, your vision, and the lasting legacy you’ve built through Listen and Talk. Your continued support inspires our community. We are deeply grateful for you! 💙

10/28/2025

Goal Met. Impact Doubled. Hearts Full. 💙

Thanks to YOU, we not only reached—but surpassed—our $10,000 goal! Because of your incredible support, we unlocked a matching $10,000 donation, doubling the impact for Listen and Talk.

We’re so grateful to every participant, donor, and supporter who made our very first Virtual Walk-Run-and-Roll such a success. You made this possible! 💙👟💻

Stay tuned for a recap of Founder's Day fun!