Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education: May 2018

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

From the Director

From the Director
Bethany Colson, Interim Director

Staff from the Center recently had the privilege of attending the 2018 EHDI Annual Meeting. This conference is an excellent way for our staff to interact and learn from other stakeholder groups outside Indiana. We brought back new tools and information about provider self-assessment, audiological management, IDEA and ADA, parent support, language development, trauma-informed care and so much more.

The opening plenary of this meeting was given by Beth Wolfson, a master trainer with VitalSmarts. Her talk centered on the book Crucial Conversations. The definition of a crucial conversation is when differing opinions, strong emotions and high stakes exist. In these conversations, Beth shared that effective discussion can occur when participants are 100% honest and 100% respectful. As we interact with other professionals and families, crucial conversations may occur. We can engage with one another honestly and respectfully, finding our mutual purpose to reach an agreed upon objective.

Ms. Wolfson shared techniques to candidly and respectfully engage in crucial conversations. These included managing our own emotions, getting our motives right and separating fact from story. She reminded the EHDI attendees that our emotions are our own — emotion is not forced by others in conversation. Managing these can create a more productive environment for crucial conversations to occur. Being aware of motivations also keeps the conversation on track. Unproductive motivators include being right, avoiding conflict and blaming/shaming. Productive reasons for dialogue include learning options, producing results, and strengthening relationships. Getting away from the “me” and entering into the “we” dialogue. As we engage in these conversations, we begin to tell a story to ourselves. It is key to keep our story, or judgment, separate from the facts.

There are opportunities for crucial conversations along this journey. Let us all strive to respectfully engage with one another in these crucial conversations to enhance the resources and services for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Staff Spotlight

Deyda Salazar, Administrative Assistant

The Center Assessment Team would like to welcome Deyda Salazar as its newest team member. Her role as the assessment team’s administrative assistant involves serving as the point of contact for all assessments, performing intake and scheduling families for assessment services, as well as coordinating with schools and medical providers to obtain needed information.

Deyda has relevant personal and professional experience. Her working knowledge of Indiana Article 7, experience working as an intake specialist for the Children’s Bureau of Indianapolis and significant background in customer service has been invaluable to the team. Deyda is the mother of triplets and has had first-hand knowledge of the First Steps system.

Deyda is bilingual and fluent in both English and Spanish. She exudes high energy in her position at the center and has a love of sports, especially soccer, during her free time.

Sound Advice: Audiology

Road Safety Tips for Children

Here are some friendly reminders and suggestions for keeping children with unilateral hearing loss safe as the weather becomes milder and children increase their outdoor activities and play.

Children with unilateral hearing loss (hearing loss in one ear) often experience difficulty locating where sounds are coming from. In order to localize (locate) sounds, we need sound to be heard by both ears. With normal hearing in both ears, our brain receives the sound signal from both ears and is able identify where a sound is coming from with good accuracy.

With unilateral hearing loss, a child’s brain may only receive the sound from the better ear. The child may hear the sound but not be able to tell where it is coming from. The greater the degree of hearing loss, the more difficulty the child may experience in localizing sounds. The most noticeable difficulty for families is when calling their child. Their child may not respond due to not hearing or not knowing where their parents are calling from.

Teaching good road safety should start early

Children learn from watching their parents, so set a good example from the start:

· Cross roads at traffic lights and adhere to pedestrian signals.

· Don’t cross the road between parked cars. Children cannot see an approaching vehicle, and the child with a hearing loss may not hear a car or know which side the sound is coming from.

Teach and modify as necessary the “Stop, Look, and Listen” road strategy.

Remember

Generally, children younger than 10 need active adult supervision when crossing the road. They have difficulty judging how far away a car is and how fast it is going. Children also find it hard to identify when and where it is safe to cross the road.

Learning to cross the road safely takes time and practice. Walking with your child to shops or school is an ideal time to teach how to cross the road safely.

Bicycle Safety

All children need to be taught cycling safety. Start teaching them good riding habits when they get their first bicycle. Children with unilateral

hearing loss may experience additional difficulties when riding their bikes:

When riding on pavement, they may not hear when a car is pulling out of a drive way and the driver may not be able to see them. They need to be taught to be cautious in the driveway.

They may not hear another bike or car coming from behind or be able to decide which side to move when another bicycle rider rings their bell or a car honks its horn. It is important that they have rear view mirrors installed and are instructed how to use them. In addition, they should be taught to ride on the appropriate side of the path or road to avoid unnecessary accidents.

Talking to your child about their hearing loss and the extra precautions they need to take will help them to understand their responsibilities and keep them safe.

HAAPI - funding cycle

Check the HAAPI website for other potential resources to receive financial assistance for hearing aids: http://www.haapindiana.org/about/press-release

Brain Builders' Corner: Early Intervention

The CDHHE EI Network: SKI-HI Parent Advisor training

Cindy Lawrence, Early Intervention and Transition Coordinator

Our CDHHE Network, the specialized Network for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children serving children and families in the birth to 3 year age range, is in need of more SKI-HI Parent Advisors to empower and educate parents about such topics as infant and toddler development, audiology testing and results, auditory and visual technology, use of natural environments and routines, and navigating information about communication.

Parent Advisors provide ongoing early intervention home visits utilizing the SKI-HI curriculum and resources for families learning about early communication, listening, assistive technology, American Sign Language, visual communication, spoken language and more.

SKI-HI Parent Advisor training will take place again June 8, 9 and 10 (part 1) and July 12, 13 and 14 (part 2). Please contact Cindy Lawrence at 317-232-0899 or e-mail at clawrence@isdh.in.gov if you are interested or want to know more about qualifications to become an early interventionist with our specialized CDHHE Network.

The Joint Commission on Infant Hearing (JCIH) position statement indicates that timely access to quality early intervention (EI) providers who have the core knowledge and skills necessary is a critical component of a successful Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) System.

Our EI team works closely with the EHDI and First Steps system to close the gap of time from identification to implementation of those early services. During the spring months, we have also presented to each of the Indiana System Point of Entry clusters — sharing information about our network and best practices for deaf and hard of hearing early intervention services. This increased awareness and support for deaf and hard of hearing children and families has led to a greater need for more qualified EI providers,

Our purpose in early intervention is to empower parents and families to build a strong foundation in the brain. Communication and language connections promote future academic, social, and emotional development. Child-adult relationships that are responsive and attentive — with lots of back and forth interactions — build a strong foundation in a child’s brain for all future learning and development.

One helpful resource for families regarding strong child-adult relationships comes from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.

These videos demonstrate how parents encourage that back and forth interaction with their children. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/5-steps-for-brain-building-serve-and-return/.

If you are interested in joining our CDHHE Network or have questions about the qualifications to become a First Steps provider, contact Cindy Lawrence at 317-232-0899 or CLawrence@isdh.in.gov.

TACKLIN' Assessment: Therapists Actively Consulting & Knowledgeably Leading IN

April is Autism Month

The Center Assessment Team works with all children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing no matter how unique of a profile they may have either medically or educationally, including children with autism.

One child with autism may present with different characteristics or symptoms which is why we use the term autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Identifying ASD has important diagnostic and treatment implications. There are numerous websites, journals, blogs, and books that address behaviors, strategies, and interventions for autism. However, one thing in common is the focus on early identification and the provision of supports to address any of the needs observed or expressed by the families. Families are encouraged to share their observations with their child’s doctor, First Steps providers, and educational team so as not to delay supports at crucial times of development.

There is a shortage of professionals who have experience working with deaf and hard of hearing individuals who have ASD, which can lead to possible misdiagnosis (both over and under-diagnosis). This makes the expertise of the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education Assessment Team so critical in determining the variables that impact a student’s progress. Accurate identification of ASD can be difficult if there is a lack of language development that could mimic or be misconstrued as possible ASD. Variance in linguistic input could lead to differences in the rate and order of language acquisition impacting social, emotional, and academic progress.

It is imperative to recognize additional diagnoses such as the high co-occurrence of ASD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which also means a higher likelihood of some executive functioning skills weakness. Children with the combined presence of ASD and ADHD may need different treatment methods to achieve better outcomes. Assessments can be done that further exam the neuropsychological characteristics and profiles of children with ASD and/or ADHD to help facilitate the identification of additional areas of need as well as inform intervention and treatment. Targeting specific skill weaknesses or behaviors will be more successful than using an overgeneralized approach to teaching a student who qualifies for special education services under ASD or Other Health Impairment (OHI) due to attention and impulsivity.

Did you know…

· Autism now affects 1 in 68 children and 1 in 42 boys

· Autism prevalence figures are growing

· Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the U.S.

· Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average

· Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism

There is no medical detection or cure for autism

Statistics from www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/facts-about-autism

Language and Literacy Coner

The Language and Literacy Connection

Jacqueline D. Hall-Katter, M.S. CCC/SLP

Whether you are a parent or an educator, it is important to note the significant link between a student’s language ability and their reading ability.

In my work with a students, sometimes a teacher states that a student’s language is fine; they are simply struggling to read. In some cases, that may be true; however, in other instances, a student who has reading struggles also presents with language difficulties.

A student’s reading level cannot surpass the student’s language level. Students who have partially developed cognitive academic language proficiency often plateau at 2^nd grade reading level and struggle to continue to gain ground in literacy.

For our deaf and hard of hearing students, many times the child’s language skills are impacted by the access to information. Only 10-20% of language is directly taught and the rest is overheard or acquired through incidental learning. If our students do not have full access to language, then they will not continue to grow and thus their reading levels will not continue to improve. To graduate from Indiana with a diploma, a student currently needs to show 10^th grade reading proficiency. This means student’s language and literacy skills need to be monitored very closely to ensure they are not falling behind their hearing peers.

Here are some ways parents and schools can help to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing students do not fall behind their peers in literacy development:

· Closely monitor a child’s language growth and ability to use language for thinking.

· Consult with professionals versed in DHH education early and often, before the student shows any signs of struggle.

· Develop an interest in books early and read to your child every day in the child’s accessible language.

· Use books without words sometimes and encourage the student to tell creative stories.

· Engage the student in stories through predicting what may happen.

· Keep books and print in the child’s environment beginning at a young age.

· Experience the world: go to the zoo, taste new foods, talk about new things- help your student to expand their world knowledge through hands-on experience,

· Purposefully expand your own vocabulary to describe the environment around you; engage the child in experiencing and talking about things.

· If you are at all concerned, obtain a speech language evaluation that includes an investigation into the student’s cognitive academic language proficiency.