The Family Resource Group Sept 2022
August 12th, 2022
Fall has Started
Hopefully, school is off to a wonderful start for your child! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time. To be sure that you continue to receive all future updates, or information, directly to your email address, sign up on the Family Resource Group mailing list.
Erin Campion
Family Resource Group Editor
BACK TO SCHOOL: PLANNING EDUCATIONAL SUPPORTS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND
Here is an informative article written by Kristi Probst from NCDB called; BACK TO SCHOOL: PLANNING EDUCATIONAL SUPPORTS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND. It may give you some ideas and support as you and your child start this school year.
PA Partnership for the DeafBlind (PPDB) Outreach Committee
The PPDB Website has an event calendar that has details for this event...and more! See the flyers, below, for information about the Central, Eastern, and Western Region events.
The National Family Association for Deaf-Blind (NFADB): annual free family event
My Family’s Journey: Connection, Advocacy, Empowerment
DATE: Thursday October 27, 2022
Event Registration: https://www.nfadb.org/event-4866489
TIME: 4:30–6:00pmPT/ 6:30–8:00pmCT/ 7:30–9:00pmET
FORMAT: Zoom panel presentation by 7 family speakers; with audience Q&A time
PaTTAN conferences: Parent Scholarships to Attend due in Oct...Sign up NOW!
There are many conferences, through PaTTAN, during the 22-23 school year. Several of them offer scholarships for families to attend. Details will be on the separate conference pages.
- HELIX, November 14-16, 2022.
High Expectations for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities
HELIX has sessions specifically designed for students who are deaf, deafblind, blind, visually impaired, and hard of hearing . It is being held in a hybrid format with in-person sessions at State College and online sessions, too. Registration will be opening soon. HELIX: Parent Scholarship applications are due Oct 25, 2022.
- PA PBS Implementers' Forum, November 29-December 2, 2022 at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center. The focus of the Forum will be on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to improve behavior outcomes for all learners. Registration will be opening soon. PA PBS Parent Scholarship applications are due Oct 4, 2022.
- PA Department of Education (PDE) Conference, March 1-3, 2023. The PDE conference will be held in a hybrid format with in-person sessions at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center and online sessions, as well.
AG Bell Learning Experience and Adventure Program (LEAP) for Middle School Students
"Fun, interactive virtual program designed for middle school students with hearing loss who use listening and spoken language as their primary mode of communication. This offers the opportunity to meet and interact with other middle school students from across the U.S. and around the world. This is our first LEAP for middle school students! Attendance will be capped at 20 participants.
Saturday, October 8, 2022 12:30-4:30pm Eastern – registration deadline 10/1/2022"
New Educational Module from the National Deaf Center: Deaf 101
"This FREE self-paced online course is designed to provide participants with resources to increase their awareness of the ethnic and cultural diversity within the deaf community; and that there is not “one” deaf community but rather many. This module examines identity and intersectionality among deaf people from lived experiences of deaf people. This module is designed for anyone who wants to engage with deaf people. It provides participants with fundamental knowledge of identity and intersectionality as well as some tools to engage with deaf people."
DHCC Announces New Text Advocacy Hotline!
"Thanks to donor support, the Deaf-Hearing Communication Centre (DHCC) is happy to announce a text hotline for advocacy! The number is 610-756-0330 – it is monitored from 9am-5pm Monday through Friday. You can also email our advocacy department, advocacy@dhcc.org, or call 484-471-3001."
Casual Conversation with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
...offered by Hands & Voices in partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology
"Hands & Voices, in partnership with a sponsorship from the NTID Regional STEM Center at RIT/NTID, created opportunities for Deaf/Hard of Hearing teens to connect with Deaf/Hard of Hearing adults working in the STEM field. Each one of the videos is a free-flowing conversation with a variety of questions about career, home, and fun! Transliteration in Cued American English offered for all videos."
Parent Advocacy App:
A collaboration between the National Association of the Deaf - NAD, Gallaudet University Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, American Society for Deaf Children, and Hands and Voices.
"The Parent Advocacy: D/HH app helps you to understand your child’s rights and prepares you to work with the school in the best interest of your child."
Search “parent advocacy: d/hh” on Google Play or the Apple App Store
Addressing Social Obstacles for School-Aged Children
- October 11, 2022
- 7:00-8:30 pm ET
- Questions? Email commteam@clarkeschools.org
It’s a Noisy World! We CAN Improve Listening in Noise Ability
"We listen in the presence of competing noise all the time, in places like sporting events, restaurants, large group settings, concerts, work/school, or family functions. Environmental noise, as well as competing background noise from people talking at the same time, creates a big challenge in which the desired speech may be the same loudness as the unwanted noise. The ability to listen in the presence of noise creates an access barrier, especially for students with hearing loss. This article will describe the challenges related to listening in noise, and strategies for teaching students to cope in these conditions."
PaTTAN Job Opening
Family Support Specialist for Blindness and Visual Impairment (BVI)
PaTTAN is looking for a Family member of a student with blindness or visual impairment to join their staff. A vacancy exists for a Family Support Specialist for Blindness and Visual Impairment (BVI) to work for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit at PaTTAN - East! The Family Support Specialist will provide technical assistance and training related to blindness and visual impairment as part of the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN).
"If your child has both a vision and hearing loss, your family (parents/guardians, siblings and child with deaf-blindness) may be eligible to attend a weekend learning conference
(at little or no cost).
Come experience sharing, caring, and learning together with staff from the Pennsylvania Deaf-Blind Project, PaTTAN, and other families living with deaf-blindness.
Please be watching for more details in the new year!"
Welcome Letter from Patti and Molly
Family participation and engagement are key components to the success of the Pennsylvania Deaf-Blind Project. Through PaTTAN, the PA Deaf-Blind Project Initiative offers a variety of training, technical assistance and resources to assist educators and families in the areas of assessment, instruction and family involvement activities. The Project has a history of providing targeted training and technical assistance to families.
The Project has employed parents or family members of children and youth who are deaf-blind in these efforts. The two statewide Family Consultants with the PA Deaf-Blind Project are Molly Black and Patti McGowan. Both family consultants have a passion to support other families by providing information, connecting families directly to one another for support and networking opportunities, as well as promoting leadership and advocacy skills so that families are informed, supported, and can advocate for the needs of children who are deaf-blind.
Meet Molly and Patti:
Molly Black is the parent of three children, one of whom lived for 22 years with deaf-blindness due to the etiology of Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Partnership for the Deafblind (PPDB), a non-profit, family support group. She is a past Board Secretary of The Parent Education Advocacy and Leadership Center (PEAL), the Commonwealth’s Parent Training and Information Center. She has coordinated and facilitated several study groups of parents and professionals around topics concerning deaf-blindness. Molly has led and participated in leadership, advocacy, family engagement and transition training activities of the Project. She continues to be passionate and motivated to support families who live the daily struggle and joys of raising a child with deaf-blindness. She is assisting to spearhead a national effort to support families adjusting to the loss of a child. Molly resides in Irwin, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA and has been a Family Engagement Consultant with the Project for many years. Please feel free to contact Molly at mblack@pattan.net, by phone at (724) 863-1283, or by cell (412) 719-9370.
Patti McGowan is the parent of a young adult who is deaf-blind. She and her family live in North Huntingdon, PA. As a parent of a son who is deaf-blind, she is skilled in supporting other parents and families who are facing challenges. Patti is the moderator of the Pennsylvania Family Listserv which is used across the commonwealth to network, share resources, and educate families and interested professionals.
Patti has been a family consultant for the Pennsylvania Deaf-Blind Project since 2005. Currently, she holds the position of President to the National Family Association for Deaf-Blind (NFADB) and general board member to the State Affiliate to NFADB known as PPDB, Pennsylvania Partnership for Deafblind. Patti had the opportunity to be a regular contributor to the Paths to Transition site through Perkins School for the Blind. She blogs about family-related issues and provides consultation about the parent perspective.
In addition, Patti took part in the writing team for the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) Open Hands, Open Access: Deaf-Blind Intervener Modules as a module creator, contributing concepts, ideas, resources, and videos to sculpt the open-access modules. Patti has worked as a consultant assisting the NCDB in the development of content for a national website on advocacy and leadership for families. She has had years of experience in training parents and families in all aspects of advocacy and leadership. Please feel free to contact Patti at pmcgowan@pattan.net, by phone at (724)-864-2553, or by cell (724)-989-4640.
The mission of the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) is to support the efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of Special Education, and to build the capacity of local educational agencies to serve students who receive special education services.