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

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. 

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.

BRAIN BUILDERS CORNER: Early Intervention

Inaugural First Steps Conference Includes Presenters on Brain Development

Congratulations to Indiana First Steps for a successful inaugural First Steps Conference this month in Bloomington. Many of our CDHHE Network providers and partners attended this professional development opportunity for Early Intervention providers, families and stakeholders. As I attended inspirational sessions and informative sessions and heard thought-provoking and heartfelt stories shared by parents and other presenters, I reflected on how to share some of what I learned with others.

Dr. Rosemarie Allen shared this quote in her presentation on Implicit Bias in Early childhood: “These are all our children. We will profit by, or pay for, whatever they become.” Dr. Allen challenged us to be aware of our own cultural beliefs and values and embrace other cultures to connect with parents who are children’s first teachers. We are grateful to our families for welcoming our providers into their homes as we work to build relationships with families in their communities. Together we learn what will work with each family as they navigate the early years when language and relationships are building a strong foundation in the brain. 

We also learned more about the brain from Dr. Dipesh Navsaria as he shared research from his practice at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.  He talked about the three legged stool for a child’s developmental trajectory of the genetic, prenatal & neuro-developmental factors, socio-economic environment, and the attachment and relationship patterns that impact a child’s future.  He also talked about the 5 Rs of early childhood education that all of us can share and practice with children we work with and families:  Routines that help children know what to expect of us and what is expected of them, Reading together daily, Rhyme playing and cuddling, Rewards for everyday successes, and Relationships reciprocal and nurturing: the foundation of healthy child development, as shared by the AAP School Readiness Technical Report, 2008.  Both of the above mentioned speakers have videos available on YouTube for those who wish to view them. 

We were also honored to present a session at the First Steps Conference. We shared information about all of the services available to families with children identified as being deaf or hard of hearing through our CDHHE Network. We are connecting with families to provide encouragement, information and understanding regarding their child’s unique hearing status and ability to access language auditorily and visually. We have experts from the Center, contractors with our CDHHE Network and our partners from the St. Joseph Indiana Institute Corporation. Our expertise in specific areas as requested by families as they develop their Individual Family Service Plans (IFSP) blend together as families learn how to be their children’s first teachers and access the world around them. 

For more information on how to access our early intervention services contact us at cdhhenetwork@isdh.in.gov or 317-232-7349 or 855-875-5193 and ask for Cindy Lawrence or Michelle Coleman, CDHHE Network Lead.