Roles and Goals in Early Intervention: Meeting the Needs of Children with Hearing Differences
Friday November 02, 2018 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Participants will experience a robust presentation from a panel of experts who are extremely vital to the success of children with hearing differences, including an audiologist, teacher of the deaf, speech language pathologist, parent, deaf adult, service coordinator and other professionals. Panel participants will provide a presentation on what their “role” is in the life of infants/toddlers who are DHH and what goals they might be working on with a family so participants gain a better understanding of how we can meet the needs of infants and toddlers with hearing difference.
- Discuss the importance of Early intervention services for infants with confirmed hearing loss being provided by professionals with expertise in hearing loss even when the hearing status is not determined to be the primary disability.
- Detail the importance of ensuring families are aware of all communication options and available hearing technologies (presented in an unbiased manner) so that informed family choice and desired outcome guide the decision-making process.
- Explain that in order to ensure informed decision-making, parents of infants with newly diagnosed hearing loss should be offered opportunities to interact with other families who have infants or children with hearing loss as well as adults and children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Describe to families why it is important to meet the needs of children with hearing difference for optimal language outcomes.
- Discuss that the most important role for the family of an infant who is deaf or hard of hearing is to love, nurture, and communicate with their baby.
This workshop is intended for early intervention service coordinators, providers, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, teachers of the visually impaired, early childhood education teachers, speech & language therapists, audiologists, special health care needs consultants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, and parents of infants and young children who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or at risk for deaf-blindness.