2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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3/10/2020  |   3:45 PM - 4:15 PM   |  A Statewide Approach to Audiological Support   |  Chicago B

A Statewide Approach to Audiological Support

One challenge in supporting children who are deaf and hard of hearing in many states is the presence of multiple agencies providing support but who may not have clear communication or collaboration with one another. In the state of Maine, one state agency (the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) is tasked with providing support to all children birth to five enrolled in the state’s early intervention system (Child Development Services). MECDHH provides support to students from birth to 21 years of age, through both on-site and outreach based services. MECDHH is also the state agency that currently holds the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant, and through that grant, provides direct support to the Maine Newborn Hearing Program, Maine’s EHDI system. MECDHH’s role, through collaboration with multiple agencies and by providing services across the age span of children who are deaf and hard of hearing, allows for comprehensive support of the whole child, from birth to transition out of high school. An even more unique aspect of this system is the position of one educational audiologist who supports all components of this system. This presentation will review the complexities of this role and how its reach across multiple departments and agencies helped to support the growth of a statewide system to serve children of all ages who are deaf and hard of hearing. Key aspects of this role, including the development of statewide audiology service guidelines and oversight of a statewide program for providing hearing assistive technology for the birth to five population, consultation with teachers of the deaf across the state, and the facilitation of a pediatric audiology community, promoting improved collaboration among this group, will be shared to demonstrate how this role is integral to the success of Maine’s seamless service delivery.

  • Participants will be able to identify two ways in which collaboration among multiple state agencies results in effective support for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
  • Participants will be able to describe two ways to encourage the development of a statewide pediatric audiology community.
  • Participants will be able to list the variety of roles an educational audiologist can fill in order to support statewide service delivery.

Presentation:
21060_12672KatherineDuncan.pdf

Handouts:
Handout is not Available

Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference


Presenters/Authors

Katherine Duncan (), Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, katherine.duncan@mecdhh.org;
Katherine Duncan obtained her doctorate of audiology (Au.D.) from The Ohio State University. She is currently in her ninth year as an educational audiologist at the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Falmouth, Maine. She supports outreach programs for both the birth to five and K-12 populations. She is also the coordinator of the hearing assistive technology program for Child Development Services, Maine's early intervention system. Katherine is the Audiology Consultant for the Maine Newborn Hearing Program, and she serves on the Maine Newborn Hearing Program Advisory Board.


ASHA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -

Nonfinancial -