Family and Community Needs A Team Building Approach Stephanie Disney, M.S. CCC-A Michelle Niehaus, MSW, CSW.

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