It’s football Saturday, a home game for the Buckeyes. You're sitting in the Ohio Stadium, listening to TBDBITL. Thousands of people are chattering around you — some still in their seats, while others are coming and going. It’s hard enough to hear above all that clatter. Now, imagine trying to do so with a significant hearing impairment.

That’s just one of the challenges tackled by clinicians and students from Ohio State’s Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic along with a group of persons with hearing impairments during a three-day workshop in July. The Specialized Intensive Audiologic Revitalization Conference (SIARC) provided a unique opportunity for adults with hearing loss, and their communication partners, to experience the benefits of cooperative learning and assistive technology in a social environment with Ohio State clinicians and students.