Instructional Sessions
Pre-Meeting Sessions are $40 each unless otherwise noted.
*Some sessions have a maximum attendance capacity.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
FULL DAY SESSIONS:
CUED SPEECH FOR FAMILIES WITH INFANTS & YOUNG CHILDREN WITH DEAFNESS OR HEARING LOSS
9:00 am -3:00 pm (one hour lunch break)
Presenters: Sarina Roffe, Karla Giese
This Interactive Workshop will provide an overview of Cued Speech by presenting what Cued Speech is, how and why it was developed, including a discussion of current research about Cued Speech and literacy and language learning. Participants will understand the elements of language, how Cued Speech works with cochlear implants and the role of the family in language development. A segment will also include an overview of the adult deaf cueing community and how they function in society.
INFANT MENTAL HEALTH, EHDI & YOU, PART II
9:00 am – 4:00 pm (one hour lunch break) (*Max 25)
Presenters: Rebecca Martin, Elizabeth Seeliger
As a follow-up to last year's Infant Mental Health introductory session, we will continue the discussion, looking at interventions and supports that address the parent-child relationship. Topics may include: Early Relational Assessments & using video as an intervention tool; Adult Attachment Interview; Special Play; Watch, Wait & Wonder; Motivational Interviewing; Emotion Coaching; Assumptive Statements and more. The session will include individual, small group & large group work. Participants should be prepared to participate in discussions & have previous experience with Infant Mental Health principles (ie-attending last year's pre-session).
UPDATING YOUR EI TOOL BAG – WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT BRAIN AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN DEAF/HH CHILDREN
9:00 am – 4:00 pm (one hour lunch break)
Presenters: Michelle Berke, Julie Rems-Smario, Michelle Tompkins
What are the irreducible needs of young Deaf/HH children and how do we meet them? The ever present challenge for Early Invention specialists and parents alike is identifying needs and taking action to meet those needs. We will discuss current neurological research and language development related to foundational academic achievement in Deaf/HH children. We will then practice the tools and demonstrate the importance of understanding early brain and social emotional development and how it applies to young D/HH children. Participants will enjoy and be actively engaged in numerous hands-on opportunities to practice eye contact games, visual rhymes and reading methods that correlate with academic success. Early Intervention specialists (and parents) that attend the workshop will leave with a better understanding and develop a better skill set for using the research-based tools and techniques such as shared reading skills, child directed language, eye contact and language play and have a deeper appreciation of their correlation with future academic success.
MORNING SESSIONS:
MEETING THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN WITH HEARING AND VISION LOSS
8:30 am -12:30 pm
Presenters: Tabitha Belhorn, Susan Wiley
In the U.S., there are roughly 10,000 children who are deafblind. Deafblindness is a low incidence disability and within this population of children there is great variability. Although the term deafblind implies a complete absence of hearing and sight, in reality, it refers to children with varying degrees of vision and hearing loss. The key feature of deafblindness is that this combination of loss limits access to auditory and visual information and creates unique challenges for communication and education. As a result, families often face difficulties in securing the knowledge and resources needed to support their children. Students who are deafblind require special teaching methods and accommodations to succeed as learners and because the majority of these children receive their education in their local schools, there is an increased need for specialized professional development to train teachers and service providers.
This session will provide information about deafblindness and discuss: the definition of deafblindness, how to identify deafblindness, an introduction to vision impairments, vision loss simulation, causes of deafblindness, early intervention techniques and strategies to support communication and early literacy development, family supports, and preschool transition services and supports.
We will review a series of checklists and flowcharts created through the Ohio Center for Deafblind Education (OCDBE) to help identify the combination hearing and vision losses. And discuss the importance of continued monitoring for hearing and vision loss in infants, toddlers, and young children.
We will discuss Ohio's regional statewide system of support and how Ohio's federally funded deafblind project (OCDBE) collaborates with EI providers, school districts, and medical providers to identify infants and toddlers and young children who are deafblind. We will review OCDBE needs assessment data and describe the approaches being used to meet these needs of our stakeholders, such as parents and EI providers.
EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE PRE-SCHOOL HEARING SCREENING: ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL EHDI
8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Presenter: Jay Hall
A successful EHDI program must include detection, diagnosis, and appropriate timely management of hearing loss in children beyond infancy. Children who pass newborn hearing screening may subsequently acquire hearing loss that interferes with speech and language acquisition, communication, and later educational achievement. The 2007 Joint Committee on Infant Hearing has identified 11 risk indicators for permanent congenital, delayed-onset or progressive hearing loss in children. Evidence from large-scale research studies confirms that the likelihood of permanent childhood hearing loss increases substantially in preschool years from birth to school entry. The prevalence of hearing loss in the school-age population may be two to three times higher than the prevalence in infancy.
Widely accepted guidelines for preschool hearing screening and diagnosis are lacking. The presentation begins with a description of techniques available for preschool hearing screening, followed with a brief critical review of literature on preschool hearing screening. The review includes a comparison of pure tone versus otoacoustic emissions techniques in hearing screening of preschool children, along with presentation of an evidence-based hearing screening strategy. The remainder of the session focuses on procedures and protocols for accurate diagnosis of hearing loss in preschool children. The practical discussion highlights the valuable role of objective tests, specifically acoustic immittance measurements, otoacoustic emissions, auditory brainstem response (for air-and bone conduction click and tone burst stimulation), auditory steady state response, and electrocochleagraphy.
FAMILY-CENTERED PRACTICES FOR SERVING CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF & HARD OF HEARING
9:00 am – 12:00 pm (*Max 65)
Presenters: Katie Brennan, Cathy Carotta
This seminar will present a model of family-centered service delivery for children who are deaf and hard of hearing founded on a blend of early intervention practices and developmentally appropriate principles promoted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Division of Exceptional Children. This seminar will outline the importance of relationship-based practices to support early auditory access, consistent use of hearing technology, and the auditory-to-visual continuum approach for developing communication competency. As families transition away from early intervention into center-based school programs, professionals struggle to maintain a high level of collaboration with families to continue supporting auditory and communication development. Participants will have opportunities to use planning and reflection tools to support implementation of asset-based and capacity-building coaching and assessment skills. Participants will have opportunities to analyze home visits and therapy visits using self-assessment tools to identify key elements of best practices.
LEADERSHIP AND PASSION: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR LONG TERM SUCCESS IN EHDI SYSTEMS
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Presenters: Janet DesGeorges, Terri Patterson
Whether you are a parent, deaf adult, and/or professional in the work of establishing sustainable and successful EHDI systems, this workshop will explore some essential elements of LEADERSHIP (Are you a 'boss' or a leader?) and PASSION (why you 'stay in the game'). This workshop will not only explore the theory and concepts of these necessary ingredients for success, but also concrete examples, tools, and strategies to ensure that wherever you lead within the EHDI system, whatever your challenges may be –you can support the future generation of families and children who are Deaf/Hard of hearing.
AFTERNOON SESSIONS:
CONSIDERATIONS FOR ASL AND SPOKEN ENGLISH BILINGUAL DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING: AN OVERVIEW
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm (*Max 40)
This workshop will provide participants with an overview of considerations for facilitating American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English bilingual development with young children who are deaf or hard of hearing (including children with cochlear implants). This interactive workshop will explore the evidence documenting the benefits of bilingual development in two modalities. It will include concepts integral to the language planning process and strategies essential to establishing an environment (at home and school) that values both languages and modalities to meet the needs of children with diverse language and communication characteristics.
ARE YOU READY FOR ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE?
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm (*Max 14)
Presenter: Jim Jellison
The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at CDC has partnered with the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) to improve EHDI efforts by enhancing state and territorial public health agencies' capability to exchange information with electronic health record systems.
The increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs) is leading to dramatic advances in public health surveillance and interventions. State public health EHDI programs are adopting techniques to make their systems interoperable with EHRs to improve screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. However, significant barriers to interoperability between public health systems and clinical EHRs remain. These include insufficient adoption of standard coding systems and data exchange approaches. When EHDI and EHR systems are not interoperable, opportunities to assess hearing loss prevalence and assure care are lost. For this effort, we are defining interoperability as the ability to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use the information that has been exchanged.
During this pre-meeting session, PHII staff will guide representatives from state/territorial EHDI programs through an organizational self-assessment activity designed to improve their readiness for electronic information exchange with clinical partners. Agencies completing the assessment will have a better understanding of current capabilities for EHR- EHDI interoperability and what practices and resources could be adopted for more effective information sharing with clinical partners.
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVERSATIONS FOR EHDI PROFESSIONALS
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm (*Max 30)
Presenters: Mary Ellen Nevins, Kathy Sussman
Whether conversation are crucial (Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler, 2012) fierce (Scott, 2011), or pertain to coaching (Cheliotes & Reilly, 2010), it is undeniable that well-developed conversational skills will be of value to all members of the EHDI workforce. The nature of EHDI conversations is diverse: conversations by EHDI screeners in birthing hospitals who share results of UNHS with families are empathic; conversations by EHDI administrators who share data and funding requests with state agencies are strategic; conversations by EHDI interventionists with novice professionals that guide development of coaching skills are reflective. Despite these seeming differences, there are commonalities to successfully participating in the many intentional conversations occurring in the workplace that can be identified and explicated so as to improve the likelihood that exchanges will be successful and meet the needs of all participating individuals.
This interactive session will explore the elements of conversational structure from the perspective of both the sender and the receiver. Emphasis on the thoughtful preplanning that increases the likelihood that conversations will be productive is an essential component of the presentation. Role play activities and simulated conversations will contribute to the development of new knowledge and skills that can assist in more effective professional (and personal) conversations.
BEYOND EARLY INTERVENTION: SUPPORTING DEAF CHILDREN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Presenter: Susan Nittrouer
Twenty years ago coordinated efforts were undertaken to find ways of identifying hearing loss at birth and initiating appropriate intervention. The bases of those efforts were the related theoretical positions that a sensitive period exists for language learning very early in life (i.e., the first couple years), and, if missed, language acquisition will be irrevocably hampered. These efforts led to newborn hearing screening procedures that are almost universally applied across the country and enhanced provision of early intervention. Without question, these programs have improved language outcomes for deaf children. But as beneficial as the efforts have been, deaf children continue to lag behind their peers with normal hearing. In this session it will be argued that the reason is the fact that there is much language learning that happens during middle childhood, and deaf children need the same kinds of support they received as infants and toddlers to navigate that later developmental process. Specific suggestions will be offered for how that later intervention should be designed.
HOW DO WE KNOW IF TECHNOLOGY IS DOING WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO?
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Presenter: Jane Madell
This session will discuss how to evaluate and select hearing technology and ways to monitor the technology to be certain it is providing sufficient auditory access. A particular focus will include discussion of the role of the family, the pediatric audiologist, early intervention provider, speech-language pathologist, and teachers, working as a team to monitor technology and the development of auditory skills. Practical suggestions to facilitate the critical communication exchange between all stakeholders will be emphasized to be certain that children are maximizing their potential.
USING THE BRIDGE TO BETTER COMMUNICATION FOR EARLY INTERVENTION
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Presenters: Christine Pett, Lyra Repplinger
MED-EL has many wonderful resources for auditory habilitation for children ages birth-3, many of which are appropriate for either HA kids or CI kids. In this workshop, MED-EL's Bridge to Better Communication tools for early intervention will be analyzed/discussed, including the Parent Guide, Little Listeners and Music & Young Children, among others. This is a hands-on workshop for using these tools where we will discuss the application of these tools and role-play.
A CROSS CULTURAL APPROACH: THE PATH TO ADDRESSING HEALTH DISPARITIES AND ACCESSING AND BENEFITING FROM EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Presenters: Sally Tannebaum, Alejandra Ullauri
This session will discuss the Cross-Cultural Approach and research from Project ASPIRE in order to impact early intervention services delivered to families from a vulnerable population. Now is a golden age for children born with hearing loss. Because of universal newborn hearing screening and technological advances, a child with hearing loss can achieve the same outcome as his typically developing peer. Tragically, children with hearing loss born into poverty do not always share in these amazing gains. Furthermore children from families from low-socioeconomic status whose primary language is not English are at even greater risk. There exists a significant achievement gap mirroring their typically developing peers, but with more profound consequences. Our efforts concentrate on continuing to improve quality of care and quality of life for young children with hearing impairments from disadvantaged populations through a blend of our cross-cultural health care services and our research. A Cross-Cultural approach is a patient centered approach and it refers to an exchange of cultures: the patient's individual culture and the local culture. We believe this interaction would lead us to empower families with knowledge and a better understanding of the early intervention system. At our center we have implemented the ROADMAP plan, which aims to help families navigate our organization and improve their access to the services in place for them.
One of our leading research projects at the University of Chicago is Project Aspire which stands on the principal of early language development through early experiences highlighting the key roles parents play in language and cognitive development. We will discuss Project Aspire's objectives, curriculum and methodology for the birth-3 population.
