NC ELSSP-HI Newsletter
Fall 2016
North Carolina Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Children With Hearing Impairments
NC Department of Public Instruction Office of Early Learning
RUTH ANNE EVERETT, Director
Each child will be honored, respected, and empowered to achieve success in school and life.
Highways and Byways
Contents
Cute Corner
Something to Think About
How to Make a Referral
NC Walk4Hearing
Staff Development and Save the Dates
Opportunities and Resources for Families
Triple P Parenting
The CARE Project Family Retreat
Fall Birthdays
Student Spotlight
Where Are They Now?
Director's Spotlight
Quote of the season
Cute Corner
Justice the Lion
Royston reading a book
Something to Think About....
How to Make a Referral
NC Walk4Hearing
The Walk4Hearing is a nationally coordinated effort to increase awareness about the causes and consequences of hearing loss and to raise funds to provide information and support for people with hearing loss. It is the largest walk of its kind taking place in multiple cities across the country. Every spring and fall thousands of walkers - children and their families, young adults, young at heart and everyone in between - form teams and walk in their communities to increase public awareness about hearing loss, help eradicate the stigma associated with it and raise funds for programs and services. The NC Walk4Hearing is part of a national movement.
Walk Chair:
Ronnie Adler
radler@hearingloss.org
http://hlaa.convio.net/site/TR/Teamraiser/NorthCarolinaWalk?pg=entry&fr_id=2380
Date:
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Location:
WakeMed Soccer Park
940 E. Chatham Street
Cary, NC 27511
Directions
Schedule:
11am - Registration/Check-in
12pm - Walk begins
Distance: 5K (3.1 miles)
Staff Development and Save the Dates
Fall 2016 Smart Ears Online Workshop Series
The BASICS
Learn the basic principles, concepts, and techniques to get you going right away!
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
10 AM - 5 PM Eastern Time
Reg Fee: $79 per attendee
ASSESSMENT of AUDITORY SKILLS
Get the current auditory skills profile of the child, to formulate goals and strategies!
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
11 AM - 3:30 PM Eastern
Reg Fee: $89 per attendee
GETTING STARTED
So the child’s got his hearing aids/Cochlear Implant and is ready to go! Now what?
Thursday, October 27, 2016
11 AM - 3:30 PM Eastern
Reg Fee: $89 per attendee
AUDITORY ACTIVITIES
How to plan a session, translating your goals into fun, auditory activities; see them in action!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
11 AM - 3:30 PM Eastern
Reg Fee: $89 per attendee
Developing SPEECH through AUDITION
Using Listening and Speech Hierarchy, help your kids achieve intelligible spoken language
Thursday, November 3, 2016
11 AM - 3:30 PM Eastern
Reg Fee: $89 per attendee
COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
How do you work with a child with cochlear implants? What’s different?
Thursday, November 10, 2016
11 AM - 3:30 PM Eastern
Reg Fee: $89 per attendee
WORKING WITH BABIES
Working with Infants and toddlers (0-3) with hearing loss and their parents; a hard-to-find workshop!
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
10 AM - 5 PM Eastern
Reg Fee: $129 per attendee
FOR MORE INFO & TO REGISTER, GO TO http://smart-ears.com/workshops.html
NC Department of Public Instruction's 66th Conference on Exceptional Children
November 8 – 10, 2016
Koury Convention Center, Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons
Self-Assessment: A Journey of Change is the theme of the 66th Conference on Exceptional Children, North Carolina’s largest gathering of educational professionals and parents of children with disabilities. The Exceptional Children Division is pleased to invite colleagues from across the state to join us for this annual synergistic event to share and learn about innovations and exciting practices to help exceptional children achieve. Please join us for numerous enriching activities: an uplifting Plenary Session with inspiring keynote presentation, more than 90 informative Instructional Sessions covering the broad spectrum of exceptional children education, the Teachers of Excellence reception honoring outstanding North Carolina special educators, a Poster Display of innovative programs and practices, the School-Based Enterprise Bazaar showcasing products being created and marketed by North Carolina Public School students with disabilities, and an Exhibitor/Vendor area that offers interactions with organizations and companies specializing in serving exceptional children. Come be an integral part of this annual gathering in Greensboro of more than 3,000 professionals and parents, all working together to improve educational outcomes for all students!
To register: http://ec.edreg.com/registration/
Resources and Opportunities for Families
Spring Camp Cheerio ---https://springcampcheerio.org/
Located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the weekend is held at Camp Cheerio, a family camp with board, lodging, and recreational activities for all ages. The weekend is designed for individuals and families interested in learning strategies for spoken language and sharing experiences as they relate to hearing impairment.
During this camp weekend, children are placed in age-appropriate classes where they participate in activities such as crafts, games, hiking, canoeing, archery, a hillside waterslide, and more. While the children are in their classes, parents attend educational sessions such as Cued Speech classes, advocacy training, technology updates, and issues on raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
Camp Woodbine — http://www.campwoodbine.com/
Camp Woodbine is a free, one day event designed as a retreat for hearing impaired children and their families. The Camp was founded by John T. McElveen, Jr. MD in honor of his father, a decorated WWII P-51 fighter pilot, whose "call sign" was "Woodbine 80".
Camp Woodbine will provide socialization, language stimulation and communication opportunities in a safe, fun and convenient environment for children and their families. The families will have the opportunity to interact with each other, share experiences, and exchange information. The camp will also allow parents to network with other families that are facing similar issues as well as attend educational classes while their children enjoy the camp activities.
Other groups, including children with disabilities, pediatric cancer patients and children facing other life-threatening or debilitating ailments will also utilize the camp.
Camp Woodbine is about making new friends, sharing experiences, strengthening the family unit through better communication, making memories and not worrying about being different due to disabilities or illness.
Triple P Parenting
The Care Project
BEGINNINGS & The CARE Project
Saturday, November 12, 2016
9:30 am – 2:00 pm
Hickory Grove Baptist Church
Latin American Campus
It will be an opportunity to meet other Spanish-speaking families and be able to share and learn about the experience of living with a hearing loss. This event is without cost.
Lunch and childcare will be provided.
Registration is required on-line or by
calling 704-615-6809 by November 9th.
https://saturdayretreat-november12.eventbrite.comOctober
7 - Cindy Boyd
16 - Emily Reeves
20 - Meg Locklear
21 - Valerie Best
23 - Terry Smith
November
13 - Anna Ownbey
21 Sara Gibson
December
10 - Kristen Steele
11 - Stacie Polk
15 - Gil Medina
26 - Chris Czajkowski
Student Spotlight - Colette
Colette’s Journey from Silence to Sound
Submitted by Colette's mother
Our daughter Colette was diagnosed with bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss when she was three weeks old. As a parent, you are never prepared for that type of news. We grieved the loss of the life we had pictured for our daughter but decided early on that we would do everything in our power to provide her with the same opportunities as those of her hearing peers.
We did many hours of research and considered all modes of communication for her. We decided that cochlear implants were the best fit for our family. From the articles we had read and per the advice of our ENT and audiologist, research suggested that the earlier the implant was in place the better chance our daughter would have to develop normal speech and language. Our goal became to get her implanted and activated before the age of one.
Colette was fitted for her first pair of hearing aids when she was six weeks old. We struggled with getting a “good fit” for her due to how small her ears were and spent many days battling the feedback that was inevitable from the high-powered hearing aids. We tried many different retention devices and finally were successful using a specific brand of headband.
Colette never liked wearing her hearing aids. When we would try to put the ear molds in her ears, she would fuss and try to turn away. Our audiologist stressed the importance of keeping them in as much as possible despite her protests. We knew that no matter how little, any sound that could stimulate the auditory nerve would better prepare Colette for the day when her cochlear implants were activated. So we persevered and continued to use them until she was 10 months old. She was then able to undergo surgery for bilateral cochlear implants.
The three weeks prior to her cochlear implant activation were full of anticipation, nervousness, and excitement. We were ready to start teaching her to listen. We had been preparing Colette for this with the help of our early intervention teacher, Renee Barnes. With her hearing aids, Colette was only able to detect very low frequency sounds like the beating of a drum. We utilized her small amount of hearing as best we could and had taught her to turn and look over her shoulder when she recognized a sound.
The changes we saw in our daughter post-activation were almost immediate. It was clear that her implants had opened up a world of sound she had not yet experienced. We had high hopes for Colette, but her quick progress surpassed even our expectations.
Within a week of activation Colette was able to locate a variety of sounds. Not only was she able to detect the drum, but she was now able to hear the sound of a clapper and shaker as well, both objects with frequencies she had never noticed before. With her hearing aids, Colette was only able to detect sound within a three feet radius. After one week with her implants, she was able to detect sounds from at least twelve feet away.
Prior to her activation, Colette’s baby babble consisted of one monotone sound – “ah.” After listening with her implants for one week, we began to notice changes in her pitch. She no longer had only one sound. She started to squeal and vary the intensity of her babble. Our early intervention teacher, Renee, also noticed that she was beginning to use a diphthong that we had never heard before “aI”, as in the word “bye”.
It was apparent that Colette loved this new world of noise around her. When she would wake up in the morning, she would sit patiently and wait for me to attach the batteries and connect the coils to her implants. It was almost like she knew what was coming. When her coil would fall off, she would crawl to me and show me that something was wrong. She wanted me to put it back on her head. When her hearing aids would fall out, she would simply ignore them or put them in her mouth to suck on. With the implants, it was different. She wanted to hear.
By the following week we were noticing even more changes in her behavior. When we would read stories to her, she would sit patiently in our laps to listen whereas before it was hard to get her to focus for more than a few seconds on any type of book. If we connected her processors to our TV streamer and put on music, she would begin to bounce and smile. When our dog would bark, she would sign “dog” and point to her ear as if to say “I heard that!"
We can’t wait to introduce Colette to all of the sounds around her. It’s a joy to watch her discover the small things in life that most people take for granted. We know that she has a long road ahead of her and that it will take time for her to catch up to her hearing peers, but the fact that she will be able to do so is a miracle for which we will always be grateful.
Where Are They Now?
Director's Spotlight
Submitted by Ruth Anne Everett
Newsletter Committee
Jen Dunn
Donna Snipes