Brain Builders Corner: Making Connections at the National Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Annual Meeting

Our last professional development opportunity face-to-face prior to COVID-19 was at the National Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Annual Meeting. The first few years of a child’s life are so critical to brain development that a national conference is dedicated to making sure that each state meets the 1-3-6 goal of screening hearing by one month of age, diagnosing hearing levels by three months of age, and enrolling families into Early Intervention Programs by six months of age.

Presentations, vender booths, and poster sessions were shared regarding all aspects of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention process. We learned more about successful strategies for programs and about current research. One of the keynote speakers shared that future directions are going toward building a healthy community centered around supporting and engaging families, incorporating technology, and looking at data systems to inform our programs. Including diversity in our workforce and infusing deaf and hard of hearing leadership in our programs also will ultimately lead to healthy children who are deaf and hard of hearing. 

Would you like to become a Joy ambassador? One of the presentations at the Annual EHDI Conference introduced participants to a movement called Fostering Joy in raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. While we hear so much information about the importance of providing interventions and identifying needs, we also need to recognize the importance of making brain connections through positive social and emotional bonds between children and supportive adults in their world.

Check out this website that encourages families and professionals to foster Joy in raising and working with children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Professionals can share the tip sheet and use the PowerPoint template available on the website to share the message. If you are a family member of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, you can also join their closed Facebook group. 

 

Also, check out these free resources designed to promote communication within families: 

ð Communicating with Baby:  Tips and Milestones from Birth to Age 5 https://identifythesigns.org/communicating-with-baby-toolkit/

ð For ASDC members:  Sign on ASL online practice with a Deaf adult https://deafchildren.org/sign-on/

ð Learn early communication milestone and apply American Sign Language strategies through https://www.gallaudet.edu/asl-connect

ð Free membership with access to on-demand streaming of over 8000 educational videos for families of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired or deaf-blind at https://dcmp.org/