Amplify: ND Students in Pilot Program

By Linda Ehlers, North Dakota School for the Deaf

Near the end of the 2023-2024 school year, The North Dakota School for the Deaf/Resource Center (NDSD/RC) School-Age Outreach Department participated in a 12-week pilot program with Amptify, a digital aural rehabilitation online program. Amptify’s program utilizes interactive video games designed to teach strong listening skills, cognitive skills, advocacy, and education regarding hearing loss. They are the world’s first digital therapeutic for hearing loss.

North Dakota School for the Deaf/Resource Center (NDSD/RC) worked with a total of ten school-age participants, five at NDSD/RC and five in other locations around the state, trying this auditory training program. Each participant was asked to use the program for a total of one hour per week on a variety of auditory skills such as auditory memory, speech perception, and listening in noise.

While the program was previously offered through audiology offices and geared towards adults, the Outreach Department contacted the company, asking if this program could be offered to school-age children. Amptify agreed to do a pilot program with North Dakota and quickly adapted some of their programming to better meet the needs of school-age children. The program offers guidance from a hearing health coach, who is a certified audiologist trained to support and engage participants. The curriculum contains twelve weeks of motivational quizzes, strategies, real-life practice, and hearing loss education crafted to improve participants’ skills. Video games are designed to teach strong listening and cognitive skills through fun, interactive auditory training modules. A managed peer-to-peer environment allows participants to interact, receive support, and offer guidance to each other. Haley Klefstad, one of the parents involved, said that her daughter loved using Amptify! Klefstad notes, “The games are engaging and target specific receptive skills her audiologist and speech and language pathologist have set as goals for her (pictured). Some of her favorite activities focus on hearing/recalling sequences of words and another has her deciphering words with lots of background noise.” The program started at the end of February and continued through mid-May.

Amptify, NDSD/RC School-Age Outreach Department, and the participants met online to discuss the effectiveness of this program with the school-age population. Participants gave feedback on the program, and Amptify plans to make changes to target younger participants specifically based on the feedback shared. NDSD/RC and Amptify may begin another trial in the fall of 2024 utilizing the data gathered from the initial pilot program.  ~

H&V Communicator – Fall 2024