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/

 

BRAIN BUILDERS CORNER: Early Intervention

Connecting at the National Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Conference

Center staff members Cindy Lawrence and Bethany Colson were to present alongside First Steps Director Christina Commons, EHDI Follow-Up Coordinator Stacy Allgeier and Guide By Your Side’s Outreach Coordinator Mariana Barquet at the National EHDI Meeting in Chicago in March. Our presentation highlighted efforts to collaborate among state agencies and entities responsible to helping families in Indiana along the early intervention journey.

We were able to share how our system helps us track how families get to specialized early intervention services. The collaborative tracking takes place between the EHDI program, Guide by Your Side program, Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education and First Steps, among other stakeholders.

Our Center staff learned and gathered resources to share with families and made connections with other state and national leaders and experts to enhance our system and update resources. Here are a couple of them: 

· 2 Ears 2 Learn, a not-for-profit organization that collects and refurbishes used sound processors and then provides them to qualified children with Microtia and Aural Atresia at no charge.  www.2Ears2Learn.org

· Described and Captioned Media Program DCMP, to gain access to on-demand streaming of more than 8,000 educational videos free of charge. 

From the Director, Bethany Colson

So far, 2019 has been a productive year for the Center. In addition to our continued services and outreach through our three program areas ― Audiology, Early Intervention and Deaf Education ― we have engaged in a variety of   opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children, their families and professionals who serve them across the state. It is a privilege for us to participate in both local, statewide and national events as a sponsor, presenter and/or      exhibitor. There are a multitude of organizations for families and professionals to tap into, collaborating with other organizations allows information we share to reach further and have deeper impact.

Here are various highlights from the first quarter of 2019:

· Engagement in a pilot project with First Steps to participate in intake meetings with families

· Presentations at national and state conferences, including the National Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Meeting,   National ASL and English Bilingual Consortium for Early Childhood Education Summit and the Indiana Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention

· Gathering of deaf educators regionally at our DHH roundtable meetings

· Arrangement of open-captioned movies for families to enjoy

· Sponsorships at events for parents and families to receive information and meet one another, including Hands & Voices Advocacy Support & Training (ASTra) event, Hearing Indiana’s Listening & Spoken Language Conference, upcoming EHDI Family  Conference and Indiana School for the Deaf’s PTCO Day

· Facilitation of trainings for early intervention providers including Ski-Hi Parent Advisor and upcoming Deaf    Mentor training

· First quarterly meeting of the new Center Advisory Committee for 2019-2020

I look forward to the wonderful accomplishments we can make in the upcoming months.