EHDI system effectiveness: The impact of community collaboration

Early Hearing Detection and Intervention systems rely on collaborative, coordinated systems, yet, in actuality, collaboration is often reduced to periodic communication related to processes. This can be even more important in a state like Idaho where access to providers and resources are limited in rural and remote areas. Researchers at Idaho State University were awarded a grant to bring together key community stakeholders with the goal of evaluating and improving families’ journeys from newborn hearing screening to enrollment in Part B educational services. This paper will outline the process and information that was collected as part of the Idaho Community Collaboration experience as well as identifying key next steps for the state

Telepractice-Based Assessment of Children who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing: Focus on Family-Centered Practice

Ongoing assessment and progress monitoring is considered best practice to serve children who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) yet logistics related to provider shortages, distances between families, and illness make regular assessment difficult if not impossible. In the last ten years, telepractice has become a more commonly used service delivery model for serving children who are DHH and their families, however, many providers lack the training needed to adequately assess this population (Behl & Kahn, 2015). With explicit planning of the assessments and tools needed on both sides of the camera, providers can create a shared framework to collect the information needed to create a family-centered, comprehensive assessment plan that empowers families to engage collaborative decision-making needed to optimize the outcomes of their child. This paper outlines a tutorial of provider considerations to incorporate family-centered practices as a central aspect of assessment via telepractice and provides an example of how assessments can be administered with the use of technology

Training the Next Generation of Practitioners In Early Intervention and Telepractice: Three University Models

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to shape the provision of family-centered early intervention services for children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing and their families. In programs, schools, and centers, direct in-person contact with families have been significantly curtailed as a means to limit the exposure to and spead of the virus. Emergency remote learning has lead to an increase in telepractice, also referred to as teleintervention, as the designated model of service provision. Most early interventionists, speech-language pathologists, and teachers of the Deaf were not sufficiently trained to suddenly implement emergency remote teaching or telepractice services, but service providers had no option but to forge ahead, often with limited or no prior knowledge and experience with the provision of services using only telecommunications technology. Fortunately, however, some university training programs have integrated telepractice into their curricula and practica experiences for many years, and three of those programs are profiled here

The Development of Statewide Policies and Procedures to Implement Telehealth for Part C Service Delivery

The use of telehealth has been discussed nationally as an option to address provider shortages for children, birth through two, enrolled in Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Early Intervention (EI) programs. Telehealth is an evidence-based service delivery model which can be used to remove barriers in providing EI services to children and their families. In 2016, Colorado’s Part C Early Intervention (EI) program began allowing the use of telehealth as an option for providers to conduct sessions with children and their caregivers. This article outlines the process taken to develop the necessary requirements and supports for telehealth to be incorporated into EI current practice

Measuring Costs and Outcomes of Tele-Intervention When Serving Families of Children who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing

Background: Optimal outcomes for children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing (DHH) depend on access to high quality, specialized early intervention services. Tele-intervention – the delivery of early intervention services via telehealth technology - has the potential to meet this need in a cost-effective manner.Method: Twenty-seven families of infants and toddlers with varying degrees of hearing loss participated in a randomized study, receiving their services primarily through TI or via traditional in-person home visits. Pre- and post-test measures of child outcomes, family and provider statisfaction, and costs were collected.Results: The TI group scored statistically significantly higher on the expressive language measure than the in-person group (p =.03). A measure of home visit quality revealed that the TI group scored statistically significantly better on the Parent Engagement subscale of the Home Visit Rating Scales-Adapted & Extended (HOVRS-A+; Roggman, et al., 2012). Cost savings associate with providing services via TI increased as the intensity of service delivery increased. Although most providers and families were positive about TI, there was great variability in their perceptions.Conclusions: Tele-intervention is a promising cost-effective method for delivering high quality early intervention services to families of children who are DHH

Effects of noise on fast mapping and word learning scores in preschool children with and without hearing loss.

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. January 2010. Major: Speech-Language Pathology. Advisors: Kathryn Kohnert, Ph.D. & Peggy Nelson, Ph.D. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 92 pages, appendices A-C.This study examines the fast mapping and word learning abilities of three- to five-year old children with and without hearing loss, in quiet and noise conditions. Nineteen children with hearing loss (HL) and 17 normal hearing peers (NH) participated in this study. Children were introduced to eight novel words in each condition. Children's ability to `fast map' (i.e., comprehend or produce new words after minimal experience) was measured in the first session (Time 1). `Word learning' (the comprehension or production of previously unfamiliar words following additional exposures) was measured following three individual training sessions (i.e., Time 2). Results indicated that children in the HL group performed similarly to NH peers on fast mapping and word learning measures in quiet. In noise, the HL group performed significantly poorer at the fast mapping time point than the NH group. However, at Time 2 there were no significant between-group differences in the noise condition. A series of correlation and regression analyses was used to investigate variables associated with fast mapping and novel word learning in quiet and noise conditions. Age was significantly correlated to fast mapping and word learning performance in quiet and noise in the NH group, but not in the HL group. Age fit with hearing aids was the only traditional hearing loss factor that was correlated with fast mapping performance in noise for the HL group. Results showed that age was a significant predictor of fast mapping performance in noise for the NH group, but not the HL group. Word learning in quiet was a significant predictor for word learning in noise for the NH group, fast mapping in noise was a significant predictor for the HL group. In addition, performance in quiet significantly predicted fast mapping and word learning scores in noise for the NH group; however, there was no significant correlation between performance in quiet and noise for the HL group