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