CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION

Introduction

The development of hearing prostheses and the issues surrounding their use showcase the need for multidisciplinary approaches to human communication. It is vital to bring together researchers who are fervent about the science of hearing, who understand topics such as neural plasticity and reorganization, methods of signal processing, and the development of hearing prostheses, with those researchers who explore issues of practice and implementation, such as those related to effective assessment, the impact of early identification-and intervention, and such end-user issues as developmental biases in hearing and the phenomenology and experience of hearing loss and intervention. It is also important to provide a forum for people not directly working in these areas but who want to learn more about them and how their own research might impact on hearing prostheses.

This workshop will provide a venue for those interested in these issues, with an emphasis on bringing together the technical and practical. This collective approach to the diverse issues surrounding hearing prostheses is reflected in the expertise of the two keynote speakers:

Invited Speakers

Professor Dexter Irvine: "Auditory system plasticity and hearing prostheses"

Dexter Irvine is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine of Psychology, Monash University and a Professorial Research Fellow in the Bionic Ear Institute. His major interest is in functional organisation and plasticity of the auditory system. Professor Irvine has done much to contribute to our current understanding of the interplay between top-down and bottom-up influences on auditory system function. One major area of study has been in investigating plastic changes in primary auditory cortex of adult animals: (a) as a consequence of either receptor injury (viz., restricted cochlear lesions that result in partial deafness); (b) due to exposure to different patterns of electrical stimulation via a cochlear prosthesis (in neonatally deafened animals), or (c) as a consequence of training procedures that alter the significance of particular acoustic stimuli. He has also investigated auditory attentional processes in studies encompassing both auditory attentional deficits in stroke patients and the role of auditory attention in normal listeners.

Dr. Christine Yoshinaga-Itano: "The lasting impact of early-identification with early intervention services for children who are deaf or hard of hearing"

Christine Yoshinaga-Itano is Professor of Audiology in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder (she also serves as the Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Equity). She received her Bachelors degree in Psychology, her Masters degree in Education of the Hearing Impaired and Ph.D. in Audiology and Hearing Impairment. Professor Yoshinaga-Itano is both a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing and an audiologist. She has conducted research in the areas of language, speech, and social-emotional development of deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and children for over thirty years. Over the last 10-15 years, she has focused on the impact of early-identification and early intervention on the developmental outcomes of children with significant hearing loss.

Participation and Format

We welcome participation from those interested in deafness, hearing impairment, hearing and hearing prostheses from both academia and industry. We would like to involve as many as possible in discussion and encourage a range of interest and perspectives. Presentations will be for 20-30 minutes. Please submit an abstract of up to 300 words to Kym Buckley by the date indicated below (ky.buckley@uws.edu.au)

Registration and Funding

To register for this workshop please download the registration form and return to ky.buckley@uws.edu.au

The workshop is funded by the ARC Human Communication Sciences Network (HCSNet) and attendance is free, provided you submit a registration form by the closing date. In addition, the workshop budget provides some scope for travel support for HCSNet members who are coming from outside of Sydney. Workshop presenters who live outside the Sydney metro area will have their travel expenses covered to a maximum of $500, and up to 10 travel awards (maximum $300) will be available for postgraduate students outside the Sydney area.

To apply for the postgraduate student funding, please send a 150 word statement outlining your interests in the subject of the workshop to (ky.buckley@uws.edu.au) by 28 September 2007. You will be notified by 5 October if you have been selected for funding in either of the above categories. Please note that, if you are allocated funding, HCSNet will book your travel on your behalf (in consultation with you).

Important Dates

21 August: Call for papers participation

24 September: Deadline for receipt of submissions

08 October: Notification of submission acceptance

22 October: Camera-ready final version 300 word abstracts to be received

7 November: Registration Closes

Organisers

Chris Davis (University of Western Sydney), chris.davis@uws.edu.au

Kym Buckley (University of Western Sydney), ky.buckley@uws.edu.au