Post on 27-Mar-2015
Family and Community Needs
A Team Building Approach
Stephanie Disney, M.S. CCC-A
Michelle Niehaus, MSW, CSW
The Perfect Storm
A familiar situation
Limited facilities for Speech/Language Services, counseling services, and educational services
Limited training programs for all professionals Poor alliances between professional
communities Limited physical funds and resources
Made worse by:
Maternity leave of several professionals
Administrative staff turnover
Slow notification of families about resource limitations
Results
Children without services Professional
communities at capacity No contingent plans No additional services
available Families desperate for
services
A careful plan, to combine:
Speech and Language pediatric services
Speech and Language student training
Speech Pathology professional training
Deaf Education outreach Family support and
counseling services
Involving
What Families Saw:
One evening a week they came to a family friendly location. The children received therapeutic services from Speech Pathologists, Audiologists, and Deaf Educators
The parents participated in a concurrent family support group and psycho-education session
What else happened
An audiologist experienced with working with children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing coordinated planning meetings with professionals who wanted more information and masters level students
A weekly home therapy packet was created
What else happened
A social worker created a curriculum integrating information on the grief, loss, and adjustment model to hearing loss, behavorial development and communication strategies, educational options, and seeking deaf role models.
Both professionals and members of the Deaf community participated in sessions
Additional Benefits
Children were placed in mixed groups and were able to learn from true peers
A variety of communication options were freely presented
Graduate Students gained access and competence with equipment and protocols
College Students and professionals gained tools that transitioned to real world practice
Community Benefits
Students graduate with practical Deaf/Hard of Hearing experience
Local capacity to provide services to Deaf/Hard of Hearing children increased
Alliances forged between previously non cooperative entities
Time and money saved through concurrent planning and goal implementation
Family Benefits
Opportunity to interact with parents who made a variety of choices
Open environment for discussing concerns and questions
First contact for many families with successful deaf adult role models (Deaf community, oral, etc)
One stop shopping-reached families that would have not sought counseling or support
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes,
and having fun
-Mary Lou Cook