Elaine Smolen, PhD, CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Special Education: Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research work centers around language and literacy development for young deaf and hard of hearing children who use listening and spoken language. Current projects include investigations of parent-child interactions, reading development, and parent support in early childhood. Smolen received her PhD in deaf and hard of hearing education from Columbia as a National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities scholar. An experienced teacher of the deaf and certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Smolen has served young deaf and hard of hearing children and their families as a head classroom teacher and in an itinerant role. She is proud to be hard of hearing.