2010 OSEP Leadership Mega Conference Collaboration to Achieve Success from Cradle to Career Inclusive Early Childhood Resources Linda Brekken, Kat Lowrance, Dayana Garcia Parent Strand Presentation # S1-102

A Roadmap to “Inclusive” Treasures

Early Childhood Inclusion Resources What treasures are you hunting for to support families?

EC Inclusion Treasures Researched based Easy access Free or low cost Culturally appropriate Easy to implement Easy to share Very useful!

Overview of “Treasures” From National Organizations From National Projects and Centers General Resources Print, A/V or Web Resources

Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)(ECLKC)

SpecialQuest Birth-Five Resources

Supporting Families Trajectory for an inclusive life SpecialQuest resources provide tools and materials to support inclusive practices – Vision for inclusion + skills and strategies – Families as partners and leaders, informed decision makers – Teaming and Collaboration

SpecialQuest Resources Used in communities and state teams to promote inclusive services Families as participants, as trainers, as leaders on State and Community teams New Preschool Inclusion Series

SpecialQuest Materials It’s all put together in a way that it’s very easy as a trainer to use them. They’re very easy to participate as a learner, so I’ve been really, really thrilled about those. Again, we’ve had a variety of people and a variety of different roles in our state just be tickled to death with these materials. And, when we tell people that they’re free, people like, “Are you serious? They’re really free? Isn’t there a catch to this?” These are real stories of people and families and children and you’ve created ways that people can see what it can look like and that they can do it, too. So, I think that’s a powerful, powerful message.

Family Voices What did you see and hear in the video that supported families of young children with disabilities? What strategies have you used to support families as informed decision- makers as well as leaders, trainers, advocates for inclusion?

Inclusive Resources for Families of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

Newborn Hearing Screening Program Many states are now participating and screening babies at birth before they leave the hospital. Good news! Deaf and Hard of Hearing babies are identified earlier than ever before!

What do we already know? All babies need nurturance and love! All babies benefit from good parent bonding.

Communicating with baby Communicating with newborns is a matter of meeting their needs. Always respond to your newborn's cries — babies cannot be spoiled with too much attention. Indeed, prompt responses to babies' cries lets them know that they're important and worthy of attention.

What do we know about babies who are deaf and hard of hearing? Early identification of hearing loss followed by early intervention services is the most effective strategy for language development regardless of:  Degree of hearing loss  Gender  Presence of secondary disability  Socioeconomic status or  Mode of communication Christine Yoshinaga-Itano at the University of Colorado

Being deaf or hard of hearing does not cause language delay; it is language deprivation that causes language delay.

And we know… That for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and have hearing parents, the most significant predictor of success is AGE OF IDENTIFICATION Christine Yoshinaga-Itano at the University of Colorado

What do we know about Parent to Parent Support? Strong parent involvement can overcome the negative impact of later identification

Special Education for DHH Inclusion for children who are deaf and hard of hearing looks a little different than is generally understood. For families of infants and toddlers birth-3, the addition of family sign language skills meets the requirement of serving a child in their “natural environment.”

DHH Preschool Children At ages 3-5 years, the least restrictive and most appropriate environment for deaf and hard of hearing children is with other children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Where can we go for help?

Reflection What resources and ideas from this session will you take back to your work?