There are, of course, some people that have helped me in completing this project. I'd like to thank everyone in my class and Mrs. McComas for their continued help and advice throughout this project. The suggestions that I received from them helped to guide me in the right direction. I'd especially like to thank my group members, Jennifer, Summer, and Melissa for their feedback. Their opinions helped to open my eyes to ways of bettering my project. Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my great friend and roommate, Frances, for her help and support throughout this project. It definitely helped to have someone so close at home to ask for opinions and advice. I greatly appreciate everyone's effort to help me. I couldn't have done it without the support of each of you!

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This project was developed as part of the college class, CD 315. It is a multigenre project, in which different types of writing (genres) are developed in order to address different purposes, voices, and audiences. It is important that everyone realize that the different “voices” used in this project are fictitious.

I began this project by developing an essential question in which to address. In order to do so, I had to choose a topic. After much thought and consideration, I chose to focus on how Chronic Otitis Media can cause a language delay in children. I chose this topic because I remembered briefly hearing about this in one of my classes, but the issue was not addressed thoroughly. I wanted to know exactly why this was true. Next, I had to decide which genres would best address the issue at hand. I decided to incorporate the "voices" of the clinician, audiologist, client, and parent. I begin with a PowerPoint presentation given by the clinician to a group of parents and teachers at a PTA meeting. Also provided are a referral letter from the audiologist to the SLP for a speech-language evaluation, and a letter to the parent from the SLP explaining the results of this evaluation. A poem is also provided that is written by the client with the aid of the SLP. Finally, I have included a webliography written by the clinician, which provides personal interests of the clinician as well as professional and research information.
I used journal entries written by the mother to integrate the genres. Along with integrating all of the genres, the journal will also serve the purpose of providing the mother’s reaction to the information provided in each of the genres.

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Acute Otitis Media (2000). UCSD Ototlaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Retrieved August 8, 2002, from http://www-surgery.ucsd.edu/ent/DAVIDSON/Pathway/AcutOtit.htm

Casby, M. (2001, February). Otitis Media and Language Development: A Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Retrieved August 12, 2002, from Academic Search Elite database.

Ear Infections and Speech and Language Development (1988). Ontario Association for Families of Children with Communication Disorders. Retrieved August 8, 2002, from
http://www.cyberus.ca/~oafccd/factshee/fact24.htm

Feakes, R. (1996, April). Chronic Ear Infections: The Silent Deterrent to Academic and Social Success. Elementary and Childhood Education. Retrieved August 12, 2002, from ERIC database.

Questions and Answers about Otitis Media, Hearing and Language Development (n.d.). ASHA KidSource Online. Retrieved August 8, 2002, from http://kidsource.com/ASHA/otitis.html

Roberts J., Zeisel S. (2000, July 1). Ear Infections and Language Development. Elementary and Childhood Education. Retrieved August 8, 2002, from ERIC database.

Roberts, K. (1997). A Preliminary Account of the Effect of Otitis Media on 15-Month-Old’s Categorization and Some Implications for Early Language Learning. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40, 508-518.

Watt, M., Roberts, J., Zeisel, S. (1993, November). Ear Infections in Young Children: The Role of the Early Childhood Educator. Young Children. Retrieved August 13, 2002, from ERIC database.

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