CHARGE syndrome has become the leading genetic cause of deaf-blindness in the U.S. Though it is considered primarily a deaf-blind syndrome, every sensory modality may be involved, with associated medical problems. About half of those affected have severe-to-profound hearing loss; nearly all have vestibular anomalies; about half do not acquire symbolic language; many have neurologically-based feeding problems; phenotypical behavior disorders are nearly universal. Children with CHARGE are often very difficult to evaluate, and special clinical skills are required. This presentation describes how SLPs and audiologists can play a major role in the development of communication in individuals with CHARGE syndrome.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• describe the characteristic features and behaviors associated with CHARGE syndrome
• identify the auditory and vestibular anomalies in CHARGE syndrome and describe their consequences
• describe the communication disorders in CHARGE syndrome that can be assessed and treated by SLPs, educators, and deaf-blind specialists
• utilize resources from the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation and from the National Consortium for Deaf-Blindness

System Requirements

To complete this program, you will need the following plugins:

• Adobe Flash Player
• Adobe Reader

And one of the following browsers:

• Windows 2000/XP/Vista: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later, Netscape 7.x, Firefox 1.x or later, or Opera 7.11
• Mac OS X: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2, Netscape 7.x, Mozilla 1.x, Opera 6, or Safari 1.0 (Mac OS 10.2x or later only)
• Linux: Konqueror 3.3.1, Mozilla 1.7.3, Firefox 1.x