Spring Edition: Offering resources and tips to ensure uninterrupted support for students who are deaf or hard of hearing in Florida.
Resources:

  • Transition Time: Have a student transitioning to a new program or school? Plan ahead with expert guidance on what to do and when.

  • LSL Strategies at Home: Discover how to create a rich listening and language environment at home for children at all stages.

  • Strategies for Families: Find different listening and spoken language activities in the Parent Survival Kit produced by Utah State University. 


  • Hearing First supports families and professionals with free learning experiences, videos, tips and an online community.  Discover their resources today and sign-up for their newsletter to get the latest news and information.
Clarke Book Club: Through the Fog By Valli Gideons
Written by a military spouse with a great sense of humor, Through the Fog documents the challenges and joys of being parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The author shares her personal story as she slowly walked from grief to acceptance and joy.
LSL Tip: Supporting Families Who Desire a Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) Outcome
Shared by Nancy Dixon Koch, MED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, Lead Teacher-Dreamplex
  • Optimal auditory access is the most important piece to a successful LSL outcome. A team that includes audiologists, caregivers, classroom teachers, itinerant teachers, speech-language pathologists and other professionals working with a child is essential to understanding when a child has auditory access in a variety of settings (home, classroom, therapy session, etc.).

  • Communicate with a child’s team on a regular basis. We can learn from one another's point of view and areas of expertise.

  • Guidance sessions are important for parents to help reinforce that they are their child’s first and best teacher. Language develops best in a natural home environment. It is our job as professionals to empower and support parents to take on this role and understand that it is in the daily routines at home, not special teaching times, that are the best times to build language. 

Nancy has worked in the field of auditory oral education since 1981 as a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing as both a D/HH classroom teacher and as a D/HH Itinerant teacher. She currently works at the Central Florida Dreamplex Listening and Spoken Language Center in Orlando, FL—a collaborator with Clarke via the OPTION network—as the Lead Listening and Spoken Language Interventionist. She also works with Seminole County Public Schools to provide Listening and Spoken Language Therapy services and serves Florida’s Early Steps program as an Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist through Talk of the Town Therapies, collaborating with families and public schools in the Central Florida area.
Professional Development
Bright Spot Video: Meet Leighton
Thanks to her cochlear implants and a listening and spoken language education at Clarke, Leighton is an expressive child with a big personality and a budding passion for sports.
About Us and This Newsletter
"Talking About Florida" is a quarterly newsletter produced by Clarke Florida that serves as a resource for families and professionals. The newsletter is made possible through the Bureau of Exceptional Student Education (BESE)  Discretionary Project Auditory-Oral Education Grant.

Clarke Florida serves children and families by providing a wide range of auditory-oral services and programs through early intervention (birth-three), preschool-first grade, inclusive education settings and speech and language services with experts who focus on achieving key milestones at every stage. The auditory-oral program for children ages three to seven is in partnership with school districts in Florida and the Department of Education.

Have an event or resource to share?
Email Clarke Florida at florida@clarkeschools.org.
Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. As an IRS qualified charity, gifts to Clarke are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Clarke teaches children who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen and talk. Since our founding in 1867, we have prepared children to succeed in neighborhood schools and the wider world, evolving to meet the needs of children and families today. Our teachers of the deaf, audiologists and speech-language pathologists partner with families to help their infants, toddlers and school-age children develop listening and spoken language (LSL) skills to maximize their learning. In addition to our work with more than 1,000 infants and children annually, we serve families and adults through a wide range of programs and services--in homes, at our five East Coast locations, in neighborhoof classrooms and using remote technology. Learn more at clarkeschools.org.


Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech | 9803 Old St. Augustine Road #7, Jacksonville, Fl. 32257
Voice 904.880.9001 | florida@clarkeschools.org  | clarkeschools.org