Joy Kearns

Joy Kearns is a speech-language pathologist and certified auditory verbal educator who cares for children who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as their families. In addition to evaluating auditory, speech and language skills, she helps her patients navigate their paths through health care and schooling, including obtaining placement in educational and therapy services. Her goal is to support every one of her patients in reaching their personal best.

In her research, Kearns focuses on language outcomes in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. She has a particular interest in how teletherapy can improve listening and spoken language outcomes for children with hearing loss in vulnerable families (those at risk for health problems due to social, economic or environmental disadvantages). She is also interested in listening and spoken language outcomes in children who receive cochlear implants before age 2.

Kearns earned her master's degree in communicative disorders from San Francisco State University.

When Kearns was 8 years old, her cousin was born with a syndrome that resulted in deafness, inspiring her to want a career in health care. She has been active in educating other providers about care for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, including by serving as associate director and faculty partner for a program that trains teachers, speech-language pathologists and other professionals to work effectively with children who received cochlear implants. She also served as director of the BabyTalk Teleintervention Program, which provides online one-on-one therapy to children under the age of 3.

When Kearns isn't caring for children at work, she is busy parenting her own children.