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.

Sound Advice: Audiology

Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT): The Method to the Madness

Why do we use HAT?
Children are less mature and less skillful listeners in background noise as compared to adults and cannot rely on the life and language experience that adults have. They require a quieter environment and greater speech signal clarity in order to hear, listen, and comprehend what is said in a classroom. How do we help children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) hear in a noisy classroom setting? Enter Hearing Assistive Technology (HAT). HAT is intended to help minimize the adverse effects of listening in background noise and from a distance to improve the listener’s ability to understand speech. HAT can be used with almost any personal hearing devices, including hearing aids, cochlear implants and bone-anchored hearing aids; however, some specific models may not be compatible with certain devices. There are many different types of HAT and a seemingly endless list of different pieces of equipment that your child may be using at school. This is often difficult to digest and can be overwhelming, but understanding fundamental HAT components will help give parents/caregivers a clearer picture of their child’s needs and help them to best advocate for their children in the classroom.

Let’s break it down.
The following are descriptions of some of the most common types of HAT that children may use in the classroom:


Transmitter: The microphone worn by school staff to transmit their voices directly to the child’s personal hearing devices (i.e. hearing aids). It is important that school staff wearing a transmitter receive appropriate training on its use. The transmitter can also be used to help your child connect to external audio sources in the classroom (e.g., computer) in lieu of wearing headphones over their devices.

Receiver: Piece that attaches to your child’s personal hearing devices and receives the signal (i.e. teacher’s voice) from the transmitter. Receivers may be dedicated for specific devices and connect only to specific hearing aids or implants, or they may be universal and may be used with many different devices via an audioshoe or adapter.

Audio Input Shoe/Adapter: Used to help connect the receiver to a hearing aid (HA). The type of audioshoe required will depend on the type and manufacturer of HA technology and receiver your child is wearing. A special adapter is also commonly used to help connect receivers to CI processors. Your child’s managing audiologist and Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) can help determine the most appropriate equipment for your child.

Induction Loop: Universal neckloop receiver that can receive sound from a compatible transmitter and deliver it to any personal listening device with a T-coil. Can also be used in-lieu of an audioshoe by plugging an FM/DM receiver directly into the bottom of the induction loop device. The FM/DM receiver receives the sound from the transmitter and the sound is then transmitted via the induction loop to the child’s T-coils in their personal hearing devices when the setting is activated.

Remote Microphone: Microphone worn by the teacher that sends their voice to the child’s personal hearing device via a streamer worn around the child’s neck or a Bluetooth connection in the child’s personal device.

Streamer: Worn around the child’s neck and streams (transmits) audio/voice directly to their personal listening devices. Can be used with remote microphones, TV, phone or any other media with Bluetooth technology.

Putting it all together:
Hearing Aid with Audio Shoe and Universal Receiver

CI Processor with Adapter and Universal Receiver

Other Examples of HAT:

Information gathered from the Educational Audiology Handbook, 2^nd Edition (Johnson & Seaton)

Staff Spotlight: Sarah Leathers, Educational Consultant

The Center is pleased to welcome Sarah Leathers as our newest educational consultant!

Sarah will provide educational consultation and technical assistance to schools, parents and students statewide. Additionally, she will serve as the teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing for school districts that have contractual service agreements with the Center.

Sarah received her bachelor of science degree in special education and deaf education from Illinois State University. She has 14 years of experience as a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing. Her broad experience encompasses teaching, interpreting, guiding families, and making community connections, showing her commitment to children who are deaf and hard of hearing and the families. She will be a valuable asset to the Center’s mission of promoting positive outcomes for all deaf and hard of hearing children through information, services and education.

From the Director, Bethany Colson

Resolution: a firm decision to do or not to do something (Oxford Collocations Dictionary)

Happy 2019! Welcome to a new year, a time of resolutions ― some that fall by the wayside quickly, others that linger but do not take root, and some that become part of our routine, lifestyle and vision. Resolutions are challenging to maintain, especially when they are distinctly different from our current situation. The far-reaching goals that can move us a great deal often do not succeed without clear planning and effort.

Our Center is in the process of making resolutions through our strategic planning process. We have gathered information on our services and programming, from our Advisory Committee, staff and you, our stakeholders. We received a large response from the online stakeholder survey and want to share our gratitude for the time taken to provide this feedback. Stakeholder survey responses were overwhelmingly positive, giving us confidence that what we are doing is making an impact on deaf and hard of hearing children in our state.

In addition to requesting feedback on our programming, we have sought ideas about how to move our Center forward, looking to the next four years and how we can accomplish our mission more succinctly and with greater achievement. I am proud to lead our staff in this process of envisioning our future while maintaining the success we have found thus far.

We continue to review programs, focusing on the attributes that have led to success for deaf and hard of hearing children. In addition, we are considering how to implement additional programming to best provide resources, information and services statewide.

We are excited about setting our resolutions and wish you the best as you determine your own resolutions and see them through all year.

Language and Literacy Corner: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills vs Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

Two types of language exist in human interaction. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are the language skills needed in social situations. It is the day-to-day language used to interact with other people. A student may use their BICS on the playground, in the lunch room, on the school bus and playing sports. These social interactions usually include context cues and occur
in a meaningful, experiential setting.

The language required to participate in the social exchange require minimal thinking. While interpersonal communication is important to child development, schools and families need to take care to not to assume a social student has adequate language to develop literacy.

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) is the formal academic language required for listening/seeing, speaking/signing, reading and writing about content material. Having age level CALP skills is essential for students to succeed in school. Academic language acquisition is not just the understanding of content area vocabulary; it includes skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating and inferring information read from a textbook or presented by the teacher out of context.

As a student gets older, the context of academic tasks becomes more and more reduced, requiring the ability to use of different cognitive skills. 

Deaf and hard of hearing students are best served when their language is monitored by formal testing annually until they demonstrate cognitive academic proficiency; both receptively and expressively (written, oral and/or sign). When language skills are regularly monitored, educational programming can be tailored to the student in a more precise and focused manner.

Center staff can consult with you about language and literacy including:

• Consult on goals
• Share techniques to help DHH students
• Brainstorm ideas to improve a student's language development 

Therapists Actively Consulting & Knowledgeably Leading INdiana (TACKLIN') Assessment

As another school year gets into full swing, you may have questions about why some of your students are not demonstrating progress as their typically-developed peers. Our Center Assessment Team is available to assist in various capacities, such as file reviews, consultation, onsite observations and assessments. Assessments can occur at any one of our facilities or onsite. We complete comprehensive assessments as well as work collaboratively with professionals at the servicing school.

Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: I’m a parent. Can I request an evaluation, observation, or consultation?
A: Yes. Parents as well as legal guardians are encouraged to reach out for assistance with their children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in addition to referrals from any educational or medical professional team members.

Q: Does the Center have to do all the testing?
A: No. The Center can conduct all the testing or only strategic components of an assessment, such as one or more of the following areas: audiology, speech, language, motor, sensory, achievement, cognitive, social-emotional, etc.

Q: Can I choose the location of the testing?
A: The Center Assessment Team conducts a thorough file review and determines the staff members who need to be involved to best answer the referral question, as well as the geographical location for the assessment of the child/student. This information will allow the team to recommend whether testing can occur at the local school or at one of our Center offices (Central-Indianapolis, Northeast-Fort Wayne, or Southeast-Scottsburg).

Q: How frequently can I refer a child/student for testing?
A: Standardized testing can occur as frequently as once a year or annually if needed to assist with monitoring progress.

Q: How long does it take to get an assessment scheduled with the Center Assessment Team?
A: Depending on the comprehensive nature of an assessment, appointments could be scheduled as far as three months out from the file review, once all paperwork (completed Center Referral, Center Release, IFSP/IEP, audiology/ENT records, previous speech and language assessment results, psychoeducational assessment re-ports, etc.) has been submitted to the Center as part of the referral.

Q: Once testing occurs, how often does it take to get a report?
A: The Assessment Team informs families, schools, and other referring parties that it generally takes six to eight weeks to finalize our comprehensive, integrated assessment reports. However, we acknowledge and do our best to work within the local school’s IEP timelines.

Q: Will the Center Assessment Team share their information in a case conference?
A: At least one representative from the Center Assessment Team will be available to participate in case conferences to share the testing results and recommendations. Participation may occur in person or via the telephone when we are notified of or invited to case conferences.

Q: Can parents or legal guardians invite professionals from the Center to a case conference?
A: Yes. We request that parents and legal guardians to inform the servicing school of their intention to include the Center as part of the Case Conference Committee.

Q: How much does an assessment at the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education cost?
A: Our assessment services are provided at no cost to schools, providers or families.