Winter Edition: Offering resources and tips to ensure uninterrupted support for students who are deaf or hard of hearing in Florida.
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Hearing: It Takes More Than Ears! |
Open to all families and professionals! Join us for a free virtual learning opportunity on Tuesday, December 7 hosted by Clarke Florida and presented by Dr. Stacy Payne, AuD, CCC-A, audiologist and coordinator of the Cochlear Implant Program at Nemours Children's Health Jacksonville.
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LSL Tip: Maintaining Caregiver and Professional Expectations |
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Professional Perspective: Maintaining High Expectations
Shared by Geeta Shandilya, MSDE, CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, Clarke teacher of the deaf
Students have high capacities for learning. Research shows that with the right elements in place—timely diagnosis, effective auditory access, and appropriate intervention—children who are deaf or hard of hearing can achieve accelerated language and speech development. High expectations play a critical role in this accelerated learning because expectations inspire and impact performance.
Professional expectations and family expectations should be consistent with one another. Geeta shares the following best practices for professionals to maintain and support family expectations:
- Share goals and strategies with families to help them practice and understand listening and spoken language skills and goals at home.
- Provide rigorous learning opportunities that are meaningful to students in the context of their experiences.
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Always know and work within the zone of proximal development of a child. Monitor present levels and progress constantly. Develop a growth mind-set and strive to keep the child you’re supporting moving continuously and quickly through this zone.
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Caregiver Perspective: Achieving Expectations
Shared by Terri Fisk, volunteer parent president of the Florida Coalition for Spoken Language Options
Terri is the mother of a Clarke alum and works to encourage, equip and empower other caregivers of children with hearing loss through her role with the Florida Coalition for Spoken Language Options. Here are her tips for caregivers striving to establish and achieve high expectations:
- Take advantage of parent education opportunities. Your child needs advocates, and well-educated caregivers are strong advocates.
- Collaborate with the providers working with your child. Ask how you can support their efforts. You are a team!
- Details matter. Children with a hearing loss must work harder at language acquisition, and there will be gaps. Pay attention and keep working on listening and spoken language skills even if you child’s overall language has “caught up” to their peers with typical hearing.
- Give yourself grace. You can’t do everything. Your child is more than their hearing loss. Enjoy spending time together.
- Don’t go at it alone. Reach out to other families for support!
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LSL Strategies at Home: Discover how to create a rich listening and language environment at home for children at all stages.
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Meet Clarke Online: Do you know a family seeking virtual services? Since its first session in 2013, Clarke’s tVISIT (teleservices Virtual Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers) Program and additional teleservices have provided access to early intervention services for hundreds of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Learn more about the tVISIT program here.
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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 to your inbox.
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Deaf Kids Can: The website is a wealth of resources for Florida parents and hearing loss professionals including education, financial help and statewide services. The website is an extension of the Florida Coalition for Spoken Language Options, a parent-led organization supporting the needs of families pursuing qualified listening and spoken language tools and services for their children with hearing loss.
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Improving Parent Engagement: Educators of students who are deaf or hard of hearing know that parent partnerships are crucial to school success. How do you engage parents in these challenging times? These 10 strategies provide a starting point for educational teams to explain to their administrators and to encourage caregivers to be more involved.
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Written by a scientific journalist and the parent of a child who is deaf, this memoir describes a mother’s journey as she comes to understand hearing science and today’s possibilities for children with hearing loss. As educators and therapists strive to engage parents through recommendations or perhaps a book club, you will find this beautifully written and informative selection leads to excellent discussion of both the science of hearing and the emotions related to having a child who is deaf in a hearing family. |
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Parent IEP Training (January 18, 2022): Join this parent-to-parent IEP advocacy training led by a certified IEP advocate. This seven-week class will feature six weeks that are generalizable for caregivers of children with hearing loss using listening and spoken language. The seventh week will focus specifically on statutes, scholarships and other topics specific to Florida.
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Bright Spot Video: Unity Day at Clarke |
Clarke is committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment for students. An important part of Clarke’s work is teaching self-advocacy. Hear Clarke Florida students share what being a good friend means to them.
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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?
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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
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