2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
3/09/2020 | 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM | What Makes a Deaf Mentor Program Succeed? | Chicago A
What Makes a Deaf Mentor Program Succeed?
In 1991 the SKI-HI Deaf Mentor Program was created to provide a program that allowed children who were deaf and their families to have access to ASL and English during the critical early intervention period. By designing a program that would be a part of an established early intervention program, the Deaf Mentor Program found success through partnership with highly trained and educated early intervention providers. The early interventionists focused on English language development while the Deaf Mentor helped the family learn and use ASL effectively and became an ASL language model for the deaf child. In 2009 we strengthened our early intervention model at SKI-HI by incorporating a new program, now called Snapshots, that added deaf and hard of hearing adults who used a variety of communication modalities/languages to meet the families early in their early intervention experience with the hope of helping parents to learn what it’s like to live as a deaf or hard of hearing person in a predominantly hearing world.
Our Deaf Mentor National Training Team have had the wonderful experience of conducting Deaf Mentor and Snapshots training in many states across the US. Some of the programs have had great success. Others have struggled a bit to get up and running. In this session we hope to give participants a clearer understanding of the SKI-HI Deaf Mentor and Snapshots program and share what we have learned is necessary for this program to be implemented within an existing early intervention system. We will share information we have gathered from states that have implemented the program with success to help participants better understand the components needed to launch and keep a Deaf Mentor Program thriving, as well as share some of the obstacles that have created challenges for programs to take root and grow.
- Participants will gain a clearer understanding of the Deaf Mentor Program and the Snapshots program.
- Participants will gather information on how to implement a successful Deaf Mentor and Snapshots program in their state.
- Participant will glean information from states who have struggled incorporating deaf or hard of hearing adults into their early intervention system. They will learn what some of the challenges were in implementing a program so as to avoid these potential roadblocks.
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Presenters/Authors
Jodee Crace
(), Gallaudet University, jodee.crace@gallaudet.edu;
Jodee Crace graduated with a M.A. in School Counseling from Gallaudet University in 1988. Since then she has utilized her counseling degree and additional interdisciplinary studies in a variety of human development field as a developmental therapist with Indiana’s Part C agency, staff therapist at a Community Mental Health Center, as a school counselor and then as the Early Intervention Coordinator at the Indiana School for the Deaf. Currently, she provides consulting, coaching, and training services in Early Education and Family Support nationwide, including being a National Deaf Mentor Trainer and a state Parent Advisor Trainer, in which both utilize the SKI-HI Curriculums. Additionally, Jodee is an adjunct instructor with Gallaudet University’s certification program of D/HH Infants, Toddlers, and Families Collaboration and Leadership, along with leading Gallaudet's ASL Connect family resources. Finally, Jodee completed her service with the JCIH, representing Council on Education of Deaf.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Stacy Abrams
(), Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, stacy.abrams@gallaudet.edu;
Stacy Abrams, MA, is the Coordinator of Training at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. Abrams grew up in Arkansas with a deaf sister and hearing parents. She earned her BA from Gallaudet University, and her MA from the University of California, Santa Barbara with the intention of working with hearing families with deaf children. For five years, Stacy taught deaf students in both mainstreamed and deaf schools. She served as Deaf Mentor Program Coordinator at the New Mexico School for the Deaf, and the Arizona Schools for the Deaf/Blind. She serves on the JCIH. Stacy’s passion of connecting families with the community on their signing journey led to her developing a social awareness campaign, #whyisign. The aim is for families to become inspired by seeing individuals share their reasons for signing. She and her husband are proud parents of two bilingual deaf children who attend the Kendall School.
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Danelle Gournaris
(), Lifetrack, Danelleg@lifetrack-mn.org;
Danelle has been at Lifetrack since 2012 as Deaf Family Mentor Program Supervisor. The Deaf Mentor Family Program at Lifetrack, based in St. Paul, Minnesota is a statewide program that provides Deaf Mentor and Language Role Model to hearing families with deaf and hard of hearing children. Danelle currently supervises 25 Deaf Mentors with approximately 145 families served since 2012. Prior to Lifetrack, she was a family counselor at a school district for one year and a deaf mentor for seven years. In 2000, Danelle earned her Masters of Arts in School Counseling from and her Masters of Science in Administration from Gallaudet University. She is also a Certified Deaf Mentor Trainer. Danelle currently serves as a board member for the Metro Deaf School, a deaf charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Paula Pittman
(), SKI-HI Institute, paula.pittman@usu.edu;
Paula Pittman has been involved in the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families for 36 years. She was one of the developers of the original Deaf Mentor Program at the SKI-HI Institute and is the director of outreach for the SKI-HI and Deaf Mentor Programs and serves as a National Trainer for both programs.
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