Brain Builders Corner - Early Intervention - Joy, Play, and Language Acquisition

 

The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Conference took place virtually from March 13 through 15 and offered sessions reflecting on early intervention practice and sharing information with families, among a plethora of other topics for audiologists, interventionists, families and medical providers. 

We are sharing some nuggets of information related to brain building in infants and toddlers. Dr. Jack Shonkoff shares, “Building your babies’ brain sounds a little intimidating– so step back and take a deep breath. Parenting is much more of an art than it is a science.”

 Did you know that play builds brains? Play, such as peek-a –boo, patty cake and singing songs with repetition and movement is a way for children to explore and develop a sense of mastery of the world. The baby will want to continue these activities, telling you that their brain is learning. See the mini Parenting   Master Class video on Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child’s website.

Parents know it is important to celebrate their child. Resources  dedicated to fostering joy are available from Hands & Voices Fostering Joy for Families website.  Check out their tip sheets (ASL, English, Spanish as well as many other languages!) Let us know if you would like a copy of the Fostering Joy Journal, available to a limited number of families from the CDHHE Early Intervention Network. There is a separate website dedicated for Fostering Joy information for professionals.

Some of the tips that can be incorporated into our work with families are backed by science and include:

• Encouraging families to take pictures of events and activities that bring the family joy and making a “joy” album.
• Encouraging journal writing to document their joy.
• Posting or sharing on social media, or joining a group of other families interested in fostering joy. Facebook has a Family Fostering Joy group and a Professional Fostering Joy.

Family & Community

 

Navigating Special Education Today

Join us for this special four-part series that will help you understand your child's educational rights and work effectively with school personnel to maximize your child's educational opportunities.

In this webinar series, you will learn:

• What to expect in the special education process
• How an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is created
• What procedural safeguards are available to you
• Skills for effective advocacy
• How to resolve disputes 

This is a great workshop for anyone that is new to special education and a great refresher for others.

Dates: Thursdays, February 3, 10, 17 & 24
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm (Eastern)
Presenters: Cheri Dowling & Kelly Meissner
Platform: Zoom
Cost: $75*

*ASDC members, save $25 on registration. 
Email cheri@deafchildren.org to receive your discount code.
Not a member yet? Join here for $35

Our IDEAL Parent Document now includes Spanish language milestones.

  

Job Posting: Early Intervention - Educational Consultant

 

Join our team!

The Indiana Department of Health is currently seeking an Educational Consultant within the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education. This position will act as Early Intervention Specialist for the CDHHE Network serving deaf and hard of hearing children and their families in Indiana's First Steps early intervention program.

This employee will provide direct services to families through the First Steps early intervention system as well as collaborate with professionals throughout the state, assisting the center with the mission: to promote positive outcomes for all deaf and hard of hearing children through information, services and education.  The Center is seeking professionals with experience providing early intervention services, working with deaf/hard of hearing infants and children, as well as families, and collaborating with other professionals - sharing recourses and expertise. 

Early Intervention Specialist

This position provides early intervention services to children ages birth to three, facilitating high-quality service delivery through a coaching model in the family's natural environment. Travel is required to meet this need. Teleintervention will also be utilized. This position collaborates with the Early Intervention staff to plan and implement professional development opportunities and resources for our CDHHE network contractors. This position works to build understanding and capacity of provider throughout the state and represent our Center in collaboration with First Steps, Local Planning and Coordinating Council (LPCC) representatives, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EDHI) Parent Guides, and others.

Job Posting: https://workforindiana.in.gov/job-invite/307544/

For further information about this position:

Contact Cindy Lawrence, Early Intervention Coordinator

Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education

Indiana Department of Health

Mailing Address: 2 N. Meridian Indianapolis, IN 46204

(317) 232-0899 Phone

(317) 520-3301VP

clawrence@isdh.in.gov

www.health.in.gov/cdhhe

Brain Builders EDHI - Snuggle up and read!

 

Snuggle up this winter with books!

Many parents and caregivers think that children need to be able to sit, listen, and turn pages before sharing books with our youngest children. However even newborns benefit from having a caring adult share a book with them. 

Children feel a sense of security and safety when being held and enjoy hearing your voice and/or seeing your signs and facial expressions as you describe pictures or read a story. 

Don’t worry how attentive they are, just share books with your baby/toddler. As a baby becomes older they will begin to interact with the books by chewing on them and feeling textures on pages. They will eventually begin turning the pages and then label pictures and “retell stories” you have shared with them. At each age, sharing a book has a different way of impacting your child’s brain development. Most of all, enjoy cuddling up with your baby or toddler while introducing them to a love of books that will last their lifetime.

Reading aloud every day for at least 15 minutes to “feed your child’s brain” building vocabulary, growing preliteracy skills and developing social-emotional bonds. Learn more at ReadAloud.org.

Resources with tips and ideas:

• 15 Principles for Reading to Deaf Children
• FL3 Parent Tips Sheet: Early Literacy Development
• Growing Listening, Language, and Literacy Skills
• CDHHE IDEAL Parent Document Milestones

Join us Monday, January 24, 2022 @10:30am via Zoom for Stories, Signs, and Snacks!

To sign up for this event, please contact us at: cdhhe@isdh.in.gov

Save the dates for our upcoming virtual S3 events @10:30am:

• February 21, 2022
• March 21, 2022
• April 18, 2022
• May 23, 2022

Brain Builders Corner - Early Intervention

Navigating Transitions

One of the areas of service we provide through our network of specialized early intervention providers is oversight for families during the transition process—from Part C (First Steps) to Part B (school). Yet our experience with these transitions did not prepare us for the unexpected transitions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. State mandates, including quarantine and social distancing, 

meant transitioning to virtual services overnight in order to provide continuity of services for some of our most vulnerable citizens: infants & toddlers. Now, 16 months after implementing teleservices, we have been able to clearly see benefits of virtual services, ensuring more equitable services statewide. 

We are now offering a hybrid approach to services within our CDHHE network. This model consists of one in-person visit per three virtual visits. Feedback from providers and families about how best to integrate virtual services long-term has helped shape this new model. For more information about the coaching model adopted in Indiana and resources check out the Family Guided Routines Based Intervention website.

Among all of these changes, we continue to support families as their children transition out of First Steps on to the next part of their journey in school. We updated our family transition resource: Navigating Transitions for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Indiana to include links to our IDEAL documents. This navigating transition resource identifies how to utilize the IDEAL initiative, among other valuable resources as families go through the transition from First Steps family-centered services to school-based    services at age three.

We can think of this transition from early intervention to school services as part of a relay race in a track meet. The relay starts when hearing is found to be a potential barrier through the universal newborn hearing screening and identification process. The baton is carried through the First Steps system until the child reaches age three. In relay races, there is a section on the track when the next runner is poised to receive the baton and the first runner has to carefully and precisely pass it on without dropping it to the next runner. This is similar to transition—when the child’s services are passed from early intervention system to the school system. It is important that care is taken to not drop the baton—that both systems are poised and ready for this exchange. The center is supporting families in the process to ensure they are knowledgeable and confident as this transition occurs.

 

 

Brain Builders Corner: Early Intervention

 Book sharing builds connections

Why do we start reading with children at birth or even prenatally?

Reading with children exposes them to print words, including words not used often in conversation and complex language structure. We tend to talk to children in very simple language about the here and now. Early exposure to more complex language stimulates even more neural connections. 

Novelty and repetition are key strategies that are beneficial for language and literacy. Novelty stimulates arousal and gains baby’s attention while repetition confirms their understanding. Seek out new and interesting books to share but also be prepared to read them over and over. Use dialogue   and talk about words and the pictures when reading with children. 

 What is dialogic reading?

· a conversation about the pictures and words

· less answers by pointing

· increased open-ended questions

· challenge by using emotions

For an example reading and the types of questions to ask, go to this link at Blue Manatee Press titled Dogs! (http://www.bluemanateepress.com/dogs)

 Examples of books that help grownups engage in dialogic reading: 

Dogs! by Dr. John Hutton

How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens

I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs

Talk with Me!  by Teri Kaminski Peterson

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Mix It Up! by Herve’ Tullet

“Between birth and kindergarten, we want children to become familiar with book   organization, meaning, letters and words.”

“Most of all, have fun when you read books in order to create lifelong learners.”

-Dr. Laura Justice, Keynote Presenter, Promoting Positive Outcomes Conference, November 2020

 The Center is offering a new virtual event for families of young children:

“Stories, Signs, and Snacks!” 

Our providers will share stories in ASL and spoken English– modeling ways to engage with your little one through books. Plan a snack to munch on    during the story!  After, there will be discussion among the adults discussing storytelling and story sharing strategies to hold the interest of our young minds. Look for notification for the next Story, Snack and Sign on our FB page or via email to our listserv.

 For additional information & Tips:

15 Principles for Reading to Deaf Children, Shared Reading    Project, Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University

Read Together, Learn Together, Hearing First

  

 

Brain Builders Corner: Families Benefit from the Coaching Model Used During Virtual Visits

    

     Governor issues stay-at-home order in March, and Early Intervention services continue via new service delivery models: The state First Steps office staff jumped into action by issuing temporary policy changes to allow Early Intervention (EI) services to continue for Hoosier families throughout this crucial time of development for all children. This allowed our CDHHE Network providers an opportunity to hone our skills in delivering services via tele-practice, While some providers have been doing this via IHear services for many years, others  have attended seminars and webinars in anticipation to increase our ability to serve state-wide. Whether in the home or through virtual means, we coach parents and caregivers to use strategies and techniques and to apply them in their daily routines. Providers have seen families become empowered and gain confidence as they recognize their impact for growth with their little ones. After all, children learn best with familiar people during their everyday routines and  activities, and now parents as well as other family members are recognizing the benefit of the virtual sessions.  

Family tips to gain the most from their sessions
· Share information about your family preferences, goals, and dreams as you enter this partnership with your EI providers, and be willing to try new strategies provided by your early interventionist.
· Let the providers know what has changed since your last visit, and share struggles and successes.
· Record some interactions with your child and family members between visits that show his/her communication and interaction.
· Give feedback to your provider about what worked and didn’t work so you can problem-solve together.

Provider tips to further empower families
· Begin sessions by sharing information and encouraging parents to share successes and updates.
· Observe the family interacting during a routine or activity and  use reflective strategies. Partner with families to apply problem-solving strategies, as well as provide families with relevant information to make decisions regarding their child. 
· Check out resources available on the Family Guided Routines Based Intervention website as well as the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community’s Early Childhood Center website.

 

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

Our Early Intervention staff continues to develop their stills– both through professional development participation and Sibshop facilitation.

This August, several CDHHE Network Early Intervention providers took a road trip! The group attended a workshop sponsored by The Ohio State University titled, “All Hands on Deck: Promoting Family Involvement in Early Intervention for Children with Hearing Loss.” In reflection, here are some of the take-home points from the presenters:

From Dr. Mary Pat Moeller:

• If families do well, children do well.” (Luterman, 2001)
• Our job…support family Confidence and Competence
• Audibility matters for spoken language growth
• Support parents in providing rich and varied language input
• It’s ABOUT ACCESS!!
• Universal Newborn Hearing is allowing for a new generation of collaborative research opportunities to examine early stages of development and the impact of early service delivery
• Expect resilience, even in later identified children

From Jareen Meinzen-Derr, PhD

• Recognize when language development does not match a child’s ability (understanding potential)
• Novel therapeutic techniques that incorporate AAC strategies can provide children with additional tools in the toolbox

Sibshops offers an opportunity for siblings to meet one , sharing their personal experiences through interactive and engaging activities. Staff members, Cindy Lawrence and Kjari Newell facilitated a Sibshop in collaboration with the Indiana Deaf-Blind project in August. The group played fun games and shared insights, discovering there were other siblings who shared the commonality of having a deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind child in their family. This was a unique avenue to support families in their journey. Interested in more information about Sibshops? Look here: https://siblingsupport.org/about-sibshops

Brain Builders Corner: Early Intervention

Connecting new providers with SKI HI Training
After three 2-day sessions of training, we have a group of new SKI HI Certified Parent Advisors who are ready to join our CDHHE Network serving families. Our new Parent Advisors, who are already licensed to work with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, now have added training to work with families of newly identified children as they journey through the early intervention system until they transition to school services. These providers coach families in promotion of communication and language with their child in ways that best match the child’s needs. Parents learn about various strategies for language development and are given information in order to have confidence in using resources and skills to see their child reach their potential. Parent Advisors also help par-ents promote their child’s development in literacy, cognition and social-emotional development. We are grateful to our Indiana State Trainers, Michelle Coleman and Jodee Crace, as well as the entire Early Intervention team who coordinated efforts to expand our pool of providers and increase capacity to serve families.
  

We also have a new pool of Deaf Mentor candidates who completed SKI HI Deaf Mentor training the first week of June. Deaf Mentors are certified when training is successfully completed to teach families American Sign Language (ASL) and other visual communication skills, shared reading techniques to promote literacy and information about being Deaf and Deaf Culture. Deaf mentors will work with families who have Deaf and Hard of Hearing children between the ages of birth and three years, as well as work with other First Steps service providers on the families’ Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs). Our gratitude goes out to Jodee Crace and Paula Pittman, national trainers from the SKI HI Institute for their dedication to ensuring quality training takes place as we grow potential resources for families. For further information about the SKI HI Deaf Mentor Program, there is a video available at deaf-mentor.skihi.org    

Check out this resource from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. This shows key steps within the ‘serve and return’ framework between children and adults. These steps are key in brain development, social skills and communication. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/5-steps-for-brain-building-serve-and-return

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. 

Opportunity to Provide Early Intervention Services with our CDHHE Network!

We are excited to announce the next training for future SKI HI Parent Advisors. If you qualify or are already a credentialed First Steps provider with a degree in deaf education, speech and language and/or early childhood education with expertise in working with deaf and hard of hearing children you may be able to become a parent advisor. 

SKI HI Parent Advising 

What is the purpose?

A family-based home intervention program that offers unbiased support and well-rounded resources in natural environments for families with infants and toddlers who are deaf and hard of hearing.

What is involved? 

Ongoing early intervention home visits utilizing the SKI-HI curriculum and other resources, which include information and activities for families on early communication, audition, assistive technology, American Sign Language, Aural-Oral Language, emotional support and more.  In addition, the SKI-HI parent advisor connects the family to other services, entities and families.

SKI HI Curriculum Topics

First Visits & Family SupportInfants 0-12 Months
Hearing Aids
Cochlear Implants

Being Deaf, Basic Communication Issues & Approaches

Earliest Interactions

Natural Environments & Routines

Play & Concept  Development

Young Children with Special Needs &/or Challenging Behavior

Young Children with Minimal, Mild, Unilateral, Conductive, and Auditory Neuropathy Hearing Losses

Young Children with Syndromes & Other Medical Conditions

Early Visual Communication

Early Spoken~Language through Audition

Early Auditory Learning

Communication Methodologies

Literacy

Our next training series in 2019 will take place across three weekends:  Feb. 15 and 16, April 12 and 13, and May 31/June 1.  Please contact Cindy Lawrence at clawrence@isdh.in.gov or at 317-232-0899 if you would like further information about becoming a parent advisor to work with families of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Brain Builders Corner: Early Intervention

Children and Families Connecting

Why attend a playgroup?

We know that early experiences are important for brain development and that early intervention and engagement with infants and toddlers are essential for language development. We also know that:

· Connections families make with other families of deaf and hard of hearing children is  important for providing
emotional support to families.

· Meeting others who have had similar experiences is comforting and affirming.

· Children benefit from meeting and seeing other children like them of all ages.

· Siblings benefit from meeting other children who are siblings of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Playgroups offer opportunities for families to be provided with emotional support and affirmations from other families along their journey. Siblings and deaf and hard of hearing children receive the benefit of time with children like themselves. The playgroups offered through our Center are typically offered the first Saturday of the month and we work with community resources to offer various settings of family-friendly places.

Playgroups like this not only benefit the families who participate, it also gives an opportunity to educate family-friendly community locations about deaf and hard of hearing children, accommodations that will benefit them, and to understand diverse communities of children.

Have a Happy New Year and keep making those connections!


REMINDER: Our next playgroup is an exciting partnership with the Indianapolis Children’s Museum that will provide an opportunity for our families to gather in the Playscape area an hour prior to the opening of the museum, view a special production on vibrations for young children and then you can visit the rest of the museum at no cost to your family. This is a special event designed for families with deaf and hard of hearing children only ages birth through 5 years of age and their siblings. Registration is full, but watch for information on the next opportunity.