Teacher's DEN - Information Wearables - SMART Watches

 

Tacklin' Assessment - Celebrating Independence: Developing Self-Advocacy Skills

 

Summer months are an opportune time to continue providing opportunities for developing those all important self-advocacy skills to increase independence. Hands & Voices references the following definition of self-advocacy in their What Parents Need to Know series: the realization of strengths and weaknesses, the ability to formulate personal goals, being assertive, and making decisions.

Access to family conversations and incidental information in the home and community about thoughts and feelings are key. Restricting this access contributes to the potential for delays in social emotional development and executive functioning resulting in greater impulsivity and poorer emotional regulation, In addition, understanding and use of emotion words may not develop. in addition to an overall less developed vocabulary. It is important to establish an environment that provides access and reduces auditory/visual distractions as well as accommodates for an individual’s language level.

Tracking an individual’s vocabulary growth, social-emotional development, and self-advocacy skills is part of the whole-child perspective as everything has the potential to impact one’s academic progress. Here are two resources for tracking these skills:

• Minnesota Compensatory Skills Checklist: https://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Minnesota-Compensatory-Skills-Checklist-1.pdf
• Student Expectation for Advocacy & Monitoring of Listening and Hearing Technology (SEAM): http://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/SEAM-for-School-Success.pdf

Becoming fully independent takes time. Pay attention to your child’s/student’s development to deter-mine where they are in the process and know that not everyone at a certain age has the skills necessary to accomplish what their peers may be doing. Some might not be emotionally ready to be on their own without the comfort provided by their caregivers who establish a good balance be-tween expected independence and support.

Language and Literacy Corner - Theory of Mind - Mental State Verbs

 

Sources:

• Food for thought about words for thoughts: Why mental state vocabulary should be on our radar

• 10 Books for Practicing Theory of Mind

• Why the Theory of Mind Is Important for Social Relationships

Brain Builders Corner - Early Intervention

 A great deal of focus has been placed on transition – from conferences and trainings to publications. The Early Childhood conference in April and the First Steps annual conference in June included several sessions around transition – opportunities for our Early Intervention staff to grow in their expertise as they help families navigate transition. In addition, the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) has Recommended Practices documents and the Early Childhood Center at the Indiana Institute for Disability and Community created an Early Childhood Theory of Action document. DEC’s recommended practices include seven topic areas of guidance for professionals: assessment, environment, family, instruction, interaction, teaming and collaboration, and transition. This document defines transition as “events, activities, and processes associated with key changes between environments or pro-grams during the early childhood years and the practices that support the adjustment of the child and family to the new setting.” Check out the document for more details on the recommended practices: https://divisionearlychildhood.egnyte.com/dl/7urLPWCt5U.

Let’s see how these practices worked for a family of a 3-year-old who recently transitioned from early intervention to preschool:

Parents: “We visited the program and were informed about all of the opportunities for [our child]. The IEP meeting wasn’t as scary as we expected and we were able to participate and share our goals and dreams for [our child]. It went really well and the LEA respected our desires for [our child].” 

Early Intervention provider: “Everyone worked toward communicating processes and shared responsibilities for ensuring a smooth process for [the child’s] start at the preschool next fall.” 

Parents: “We will miss the people we have bonded with in early intervention and appreciate the bonds [our child] had with [the child’s] providers. But she is ready to ride a bus and go to preschool now to prepare to learn with other children. We look forward to continuing opportunities to connect with other families through the Center’s S3 Story times and other events that bring families together.”

Check out our transition resource, Navigating Transitions for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Indiana (https://www.in.gov/health/cdhhe/files/Navigating-Transitions-for-DHH-Children-in-Indiana-2021.pdf), for information surrounding transition from early intervention to preschool that is specific to Indiana.

Sound Advice - Children Benefit from Hearing Aids during Summer Break!

 As summertime often brings a welcome “break” from school-year routines and structured extra-curricular activities, it may be tempting to veer away from their typical schedule of daily, full-time hearing device use. Below is a list of reasons to continue consistent hearing aid use throughout the summer to cure some of the “summertime and back-to-school blues.”

• Children who are hard of hearing and wear their hearing aids full-time have grammar and vocabulary skills similar to children with normal hearing. Children who do not wear hearing aids consistently, regard-less of degree of hearing levels, are at risk for poorer spoken language abilities.
• Device use increases your child’s potential to “overhear” and learn new vocabulary and social communication skills over the summer, including manners and other social “rules.” This is important because approximately 80-90% of what children learn occurs through incidental, casual and passive experiences.
• Your child will be more prepared for the upcoming school year. You won’t have to “find” your child’s hearing aids and you and/or your child are more likely to detect a broken or malfunctioning device or poorly fitting earmold. These issues can then be addressed before the beginning of the school year.
• Expecting consistent hearing aid use will promote independence and self-confidence. It teaches your child that they are expected to participate fully in family conversations; it is their responsibility to make sure they are gathering and understanding the information they need.
• Current hearing devices are made to be worn under almost all conditions - with state-of-the-art technology to protect them from dirt, dust, sweat, humidity, and even short submersions in water. There is no need to remove the hearing aids for most summertime activities! But remember: Don’t swim with them. They won’t last long under water.
• Your child may be less tired and experience reduced listening fatigue because they hear better when they are wearing their hearing aids. Children who experience listening fatigue may be more irritable or cranky, moody, frustrated, bored, and distractible.
• Your child may be able to hear television, videos, movies, and music better and at softer levels with their devices. During group viewing and listening activities with typical hearing listeners, this may allow a lower, more tolerable and safer volume for everyone.
• Your child may be safer when wearing their hearing technology. They may be able to hear warning and safety sounds better and from a longer distance (i.e., sirens, vehicle horns, fire and smoke alarms),
• Your child may be more likely to hear the many sounds of nature as they enjoy the outdoors (i.e. crickets chirping, cicadas clicking, birds singing, toads croaking).

Staff Spotlight - Meet our newest Intern: Allison Lambert

 

Hello, everyone! My name is Allison Lambert. I recently graduated from Indiana State University with a B.S. in speech-language pathology and a minor in counseling. I am from a small town in southern Indiana called Washington. Yes, it is nothing but farmers and corn. I have exciting plans for the future. I am attending graduate school at ISU for my M.S. in communication disorders come August. I cannot wait to be a CCC-SLP! Why were you interested in interning with the Center? I originally became interested in interning here because of the lack of knowledge over Early Intervention from my studies. I felt there were large communities of individuals who are not receiving the proper care they deserve. Within my education, there were hardly any discussions over EI and the benefits created. Not to mention the fact that deaf and hard of hearing EI is rarely talked about. What are some things you have learned about early intervention for children who are deaf/hard of hearing from your time at the Center? While being here, I have learned a great deal about EI for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. I learned no two children are the same, no two families are the same, and no two IFSPs are the same. Every child is different and deserves the best care for their unique situations. One of the greatest lessons I learned was that family is at the center of it all. The family-centered approach allows for every single member of the family to feel included and a part of the journey. Everyone is in it together. What has been your favorite part of the internship? My favorite part of this internship is the exact thing people run from: discomfort. The discomfort comes from not knowing how to interact with the deaf and hard of hearing community because of the lack of understanding of their culture. Most people will turn from what they do not know and stick to what they do. Although I do not know ASL, I have grown a fire in me to help advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing communities to receive equal access to language. While being here, my education on such topic has grown tremendously. The staff I interact with daily have become some of the wisest educators. Their drive and passion for what they do has inspired me to reach out to my cohort to gravitate them to EI. This internship has solidified my dream of being an EI SLP in the future. Any advice you’d give to other speech-language pathology students? Get out of your comfort zone! Go for the uncomfortable! You may think you want to follow one path, but until you try different roles and responsibilities, you never know what you truly want. I always wanted to be a medical SLP in a hospital. Now, everything has changed. My supervisor, Cindy Lawrence, who has granted me all the opportunities to venture into many new roles and responsibilities once said, “Working in EI will allow you to wear many hats.” I want to be the person who wears many hats.

Newsletter Vol 7 Issue 3

 

IDEAL Updates

 Within the second year of reporting language and literacy scores through IDEAL, much conversation took place with early intervention and school personnel. Thank you for providing a wealth of feedback! Please ensure you check out our updated List of Tools and Assessments document that includes more detailed information about these measures, as well as links to other resources that can provide guidance on evaluations for deaf and hard of hearing children. You will also notice that the Reporting Portal has been updated – with one point of entry and ability to report multiple measures without duplication of information. Let’s continue our work together to monitor deaf and hard of hearing children’s language and literacy skills to help them reach their full potential!