Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education

From the Director Christine Moody       Welcome to a new year! We hope your holidays were a special time with family and friends – a time for remembering and a time for making new memories. Now, it’s January and full steam ahead into 2018 as every department of the Center works to promote positive outcomes for Deaf and hard of hearing children in Indiana! Now that the Center is well-established in the state, we are providing direct services to the maximum of our ability in the central office and seeking ways to utilize our regional offices more fully. We are challenged to balance these direct services with the equally, if not more, important functions of sharing resources, information, and best practices with families and professionals alike.  This role of providing the support and technical assistance to families and professionals across the state is ultimately the way that we will help to generate improved outcomes. We can’t do it alone. We work closely with so many entities toward this mission of promoting positive outcomes. At identification and diagnoses, we work with medical and clinical providers and the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention program of ISDH. At the time of those critical years of early intervention, we work with FSSA/First Steps and private early intervention agencies around the state. Beginning at the time of transition, prior to age three, we work with other assessment professionals, the local education agency and various public and private placement options. Once children are enrolled in school and become ‘students’, we continue to work with DOE, Office of Special Education, with the many Indiana Resource Networks (IRNs), Special Education Directors, schools and educational professionals around the state.  Throughout this process, the Center values that the family and the child remain the focus.  Everyone involved needs to assess and monitor that the student is ultimately on the best path for positive outcomes. How can we accomplish positive outcomes? Where do we get our authority?  According to Gordon Training International which focuses on trainings for parents and teachers, there are four types of authority.  There is authority based on your expertise, or earned authority.  There is positional authority, which is tied to mutually understood or agreed upon duties or a job. It is sometimes called designated or legitimated authority.    There is authority related to your relationships and informal contracts or personal commitments.  And finally, there is authority based on power whereby you use power or hierarchy to control or influence outcomes. I would suggest that the Center has primarily expertise or earned authority. To a lesser extent we have authority because the state of Indiana and a large stakeholder group created our ‘job’ and duties in the state.  We can use these two types of authority to develop relationships and gain some informal authority as well.  But we have no power authority. So, accomplishing our mission mostly requires positive relationships.  The Center must define, measure, and analyze outcomes, but only by working collaboratively to build capacity across all organizations will we together have the power to influence change. _________________________________________________________________________ * Chistine Moody will be moving out of state this month with her family.  Bethany Colson, Center Deputy Director, will be the Interim Director.   The Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education staff thanks Chris for her outstanding leadership while serving as the Executive Director, and we wish her all the best!