2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
4/14/2014 | 2:30 PM - 3:00 PM | EHDI Partnerships: The Deaf Mentor Program at NMSD: Expanding Quality Services and Building Partnerships | Grand Ballroom 3 | 4
EHDI Partnerships: The Deaf Mentor Program at NMSD: Expanding Quality Services and Building Partnerships
The New Mexico School for the Deaf’s Deaf Mentor (NMSD, DM) has been serving families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing since 1995. Within the past four years, NMSD’s DM Program has seen an almost 400% increase in the number of families served by this program. This increase is due to a variety of factors. This presentation will focus on some of the factors found to be necessary for the success of a quality deaf mentor program.
One of the factors that can be attributed to the success of NMSD’s Deaf Mentor Program is the interagency collaboration implicit to this program. The NMSD has a Memorandum Of Agreement with the lead Part C agency in the state. Under this agreement, because DMs have degrees related to early intervention, they are certified as Developmental Specialists and their services as listed on the IFSP as entitled. As such, the Deaf Mentors are an integral part of the Interdisciplinary Team and able to bill the state Medicaid program that helps fund Part C.
The NMSD DM program provides inservices and workshops at a state and national level. The DM program is also an active part of the state EHDI advisory council.
NMSD’s Deaf Mentor Program is unique to some other deaf mentor programs in that it is available to all families whose child is deaf or hard of hearing. Many children whose families receive DM services use spoken language and have auditory access. NMSD’s Deaf Mentor services augment all other services a child and family receive.
The Deaf Mentor Program recognizes the necessity of providing the highest quality of services and building strong partnerships with agencies and programs across New Mexico as the ultimate goal is shared; to see children who are deaf or hard of hearing become successful.
- Providing highest quality of deaf mentor services
- Building strong partnerships with agencies and programs
Presentation:
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Presenters/Authors
Stacy Abrams
(Primary Presenter), 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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