As I write this column, it is the start of our fourth year as a HRSA-funded EHDI project. How time flies!
COVID notwithstanding, we jumped into the work to review and refresh the Colorado EHDI system with great fervor and enthusiasm. During the past three years, we assembled groups of people to advise our activities. We have followed the vision of the leadership team which includes, among others, Cliff Moers (Director, Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind) and Katie Cue (Outreach and Consultative Services Manager & Deaf Specialist). Today, I write with hearty thanks to the many people who have shared their knowledge and expertise to inform our ongoing work.
In the area of screening, Becky Awad from Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO) got us started. She was “at the ready”; sharing accomplishments to date (that was as of April 2020) along with advice to promote screening activities during the pandemic. Hannah Glick, an audiology consultant for COEHDI, initiated and continues to maintain the Newborn Hearing Screening Monthly; this newsletter is distributed to all screening programs and midwives in the state. In addition, the screening task force members remain active in system enhancements including; virtual site visits and developing scripts for screeners.
Colorado has been known, for many decades, to have very strong clinical audiology programs. Our efforts to refresh the system have focused on creating equity statewide. In fact, the Screening Task Force is investigating a tele-audiology initiative to accomplish our equity goals in part. Members of our Diagnostic/Identification Task Force have promoted NCHAM’s EHDI Pediatric Audiology Link to Services (EHDI-PALS) as a repository of all clinical providers for parents to reference.
Early intervention services, currently managed by Early Intervention Colorado (aka; Part C), have a long history in Colorado. Having Christy Scott, the Early Intervention Program Manager, as the co-Principal Investigator for our HRSA-funded grant is unique among the 50 states. There are developing opportunities for collaboration among four Colorado state agencies invested in data management of and/or early intervention services for families: the Department of Public Health and Environment, Department of Early Childhood, Department of Human Services, School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB). I think it’s fair to anticipate some changes to the current structure of these systems.
HRSA is committed to offering family-to-family (F2F) support and deaf/hard of hearing adult-to-family support. We in Colorado did not need encouragement to provide these opportunities to families; we already had them. In addition to our family-based organization (FBO), Colorado Hands & Voices, we have engaged other programs, all professionally-led, that offer F2F support including; The Listen Foundation, AG Bell Colorado, Rocky Mountain Deaf School, CHCO, and the CSDB. Heather Abraham, with help from many people and a thorough review of the literature, developed The Ascent Program to offer DHH adult-to-family support. Colorado EHDI is proud to fund this robust program that has piqued the interest of colleagues in other states.
Altogether, we have consistent input from many of the 120 people who are actively engaged as task force and Alliance members. With the knowledge and skills offered by all of you, I am proud to be your EHDI director. Thank you for making this one of the best jobs of my career.
~ Arlene Stredler-Brown, PhD, CCC-SLP, director of COEHDI
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