2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
3/07/2023 | 9:40 AM - 10:40 AM | Supporting Parents-Same Needs, New Normal | DECC 200
Supporting Parents-Same Needs, New Normal
This presentation will focus on the importance of parent-to-parent support within a parent group model, how that support can be provided effectively virtually and tools that can be used to determine needs, plan topics and monitor effectiveness based on the experiences of one program.
It is well known that parents of children newly identified as deaf or hard of hearing need a variety of supports. Given that most children who are deaf or hard of hearing are born to hearing parents, the child may be the first one with hearing loss they have met. For many parents, the time following identification of their baby’s hearing loss can leave them feeling isolated, cut off from friends who also have new babies but who aren’t learning about hearing loss, scheduling appointments with specialists and interventionists and deciding on hearing aids and ear mold colors. The stress parents experience during this time may be exacerbated by not having access to other parents who understand what they are going through. Prior to the pandemic, parents in our Early Intervention program had access to in person parent/child groups, comprised of other parents of children with hearing loss and providing a balance of information and support. When the pandemic forced the closure of in person services, the state Early Intervention program authorized teleintervention for individual services, like speech, OT and PT but not for any group services. The presenters will share the evolution of parent support through a virtual approach, the similarities and differences to in person parent groups, the challenges and successes of this endeavor, the planning and assessment tool used and ultimately, parents’ perspectives on how this service supported them.
- Participants will be able to identify effective practices in providing parent supports.
- Participants will be able to use tools to determine needs and topics to address in parent support groups.
- Participants will be able to describe components of parent groups to use in their own work.
Presentation:
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Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Meredith Berger
(), Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, mberger@clarkeschools.org;
Meredith Berger, MS became the director of Clarke Schools for Hearing & Speech/New York, an Early Intervention and Preschool listening spoken language program, in 2008. Prior to that, she was the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Educational Specialist at New York Eye and Ear’s Ear Institute/Cochlear Implant Center. She received a B.S. in Education from SUNY at Buffalo State College and master’s degrees in Deaf Education and in Educational Leadership from Canisius College. In addition to presenting on the educational needs of children with hearing loss, she has also co-authored pieces on the Clinic-School relationship. Meredith is on the Executive Board of Option Schools as a Director at Large and is member of the Children's Hearing Institute Medical and Educational Advisory Board. In 2017, Meredith began her doctoral studies at Teachers College, Columbia University to find answers to her own questions on the needs/outcomes of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, particularly those with microtia/atresia, and their families.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (advisory committee member)
relationship for Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels.
• Has a Professional (board member)
relationship for Board membership.
• Has a Personal (parent of a child with microtia/atresia)
relationship for Other volunteer activities.
Jackie Garcia
(), Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, jgarcia@clarkeschools.org;
Jackie Garcia....
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -