2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
| Infusing Deaf Adults in FCEI Programs: Survey Results and Best Practices
Infusing Deaf Adults in FCEI Programs: Survey Results and Best Practices
When working with families and their deaf* children, there is a call to explicitly include deaf adults* in Early Involvement* (EI) programs.However, to date, there's no known research examining deaf adults and best practices in programs serving families with young deaf children, nationally and internationally. Survey results to the following two questions are addressed: Are deaf adults involved in EI programs serving families with children who are deaf? What are the best practices for involving deaf adults in EI programs serving families with children who are deaf? Findings shared include deaf adults are under-represented and not diverse in EI programs. Additionally, suggested best practices include resources such as formalization, education, collaboration, and infusion.
Deaf: Inclusive term “deaf” to represent all deaf individuals with different hearing levels and cultural experiences.
Deaf adults: To honor Fred Schreiber, first NAD executive director, who used the term “deaf adults” when addressing this important need over 60 years ago.
Early Involvement: Involvement used in place of Intervention to move away from the concept of intervening and toward making connections (Benedict et al., 2016).
Benedict, B, Crace, J., Holmes, T., Hossler, T., Oliva, G., Raimondo, B….Vincent, J. (2016). Deaf community support for families: The best of partnerships. A Resource Guide for Early Hearing Detection & Intervention. Retrieved from http://infanthearing.org/ehdi-ebook/2015_ebook/18-Chapter18DeafCommunity2015.pdf
- Describe why deaf adults are critical players in FCEI
- Report survey results of deaf adults in FCEI
- Discuss best practices related to Deaf Adults in FCEI
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Presenters/Authors
Elaine Gale
(Primary Presenter), Hunter College, CUNY, egale@hunter.cuny.edu;
Elaine Gale is an associate professor and program leader of the deaf and hard of hearing teacher preparation program at Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY). She is currently the chair of the Deaf Leadership International Alliance (DLIA), an organization established to advocate deaf adults collaborating with professionals and connecting with young deaf children and their families. Her research experiences include joint attention, theory of mind, and sign language development. At present, she is the Lead Investigator for the Hunter College consortium on a research project titled Family ASL: Bimodal Bilingual Acquisition by Deaf Children of Hearing Parents supported by the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Grants for Other activities from PI.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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Financial relationship with .
Nature: National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1R01DC016901.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Michele Berke
(Co-Presenter), California School for the Deaf, mberke@csdf-cde.ca.gov;
Michele Berke has worked for over 30 years in programs within the Deaf community. Her experience includes management of a rest home for deaf and deaf-blind senior citizens, directing Gallaudet University's western regional office, coordinating a US Department of Education funded project to develop an ASL Assessment tool, and teaching college-level Linguistics of ASL courses.
Berke currently works at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont as Principal in the Early Childhood Education Department. Her doctoral studies in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder focused on exploring the shared reading practices of Deaf and hearing mothers and their pre-school children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Beth Benedict
(Co-Presenter), Gallaudet University, beth.benedict@gallaudet.edu;
Beth S. Benedict, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C., has focused on family involvement in schools with deaf and hard of hearing children, early childhood education, advocacy, early communication, and partnerships between deaf and hearing professionals and early intervention programs and services. Her work has been shared in numerous publications and through her work as a national and international presenter. Dr. Benedict is very involved in different organizations and boards. She was the Chair of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing, former President of the American Society of Deaf Children, on the Council of Education of the Deaf, the Maryland Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Council and actively involved in a variety of other EHDI initiatives.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Stephanie Olson
(Co-Presenter), Children's Hospital Colorado, stephanie.olson@childrenscolorado.org;
Stephanie Olson, B.A., is the Family Consultant for the Bill Daniels Center for Children’s Hearing at Children’s Hospital, Colorado. Stephanie has been in this position for 18 years and serves as a liaison between families and the audiology health care system. Previously she worked with families and children from birth to three through the Colorado Home Intervention Program and for Hands and Voices Headquarters.
Stephanie has traveled to Northern China, London, South Africa, Brazil and New Zealand and St. Petersburg, Russia, and FCEI Austria- Family Centered Early Intervention in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022. Stephanie’s passion is to increase the understanding and impact of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the parenting journey and with the professionals who work with those families. Stephanie was identified deaf/hard of hearing at the age of three and brings a variety of perspectives into her work and presentations.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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• Receives Salary for Employment from Children's Hospital Colorado.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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Financial relationship with Children's Hospital Colorado.
Nature: Employment.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Karen Putz
(Co-Presenter), Hands & Voices , karen@handsandvoices.org ;
Karen Putz is a deaf mom of three deaf and hard of hearing kids. She worked in early intervention as a Deaf Mentor for 13 years and is the Co-Director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infusion for Hands & Voices. Karen is the author of several books, including
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Christine Yoshinaga-Itano
(Co-Presenter), University of Colorado-Boulder, Christie.Yoshi@colorado.edu;
Dr. Christine Yoshinaga-Itano is a Research Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science, Professor Emerita, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Visiting Professor, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Centre for Deaf. She has over 125 published articles and chapters with a focus on universal newborn hearing screening and predictors of developmental outcomes of children with hearing loss with an emphasis on children and families from multicultural/linguistic backgrounds, and those with socio-economic and linguistic challenges. She presented on this topic throughout the United States and globally. She received Honors from the American Speech/Language & Hearing Association and was a Jerger Career Research Awardee from the American Academy of Audiology. She serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Audiology and is a member of the Audiology committee for the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP).
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.