The outreach and support services program offered for D/deaf and hard of hearing children and their families extends care beyond the clinic to help promote each child’s well-being and access to opportunities that stimulate development. We offer workshops, support groups, family focused events, resources, and more.
- Outreach and Support Services Brochure
- Follow us on Facebook
- If you would like to be added to the outreach distribution list, please email Katie McCarthy at katie.mccarthy@childrens.harvard.edu. Feel free to include any helpful information so we can best meet your family’s resource needs. Also include the following information:
- Parent’s name
- Child’s name
- Age of child
- Preferred email address
- The Family Education and Advocacy Team (FEAT), comprised of Audiology Program and DHHP staff, provide educational resources and transition workshops for families and children from birth to 22 years old. These workshops typically highlight school transitions, technology access, listening fatigue, advocacy, and more.
Boston Children’s Hospital resources
- Setting Language in Motion: This web-based product is a collaborative effort between the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program of Boston Children’s Hospital and the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center for early intervention providers, educators of deaf children, early childhood specialists, allied professionals, parents, and other caregivers. Seven modules are provided to share information critical to promoting early language acquisition for young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This product is available in both American Sign Language and spoken English, with captions. Click here for more information.
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program brochure
- Tips for Communicating with Your Child:
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program evaluations
- Hearing Loss in Children: Strategies for Better Communication
- Cochlear Implant Program
- Cochlear Implant Guide
- Sound Outreach to Schools
Students with Cochlear Implants: Guidelines for Educational Program Planning
This comprehensive set of guidelines is a tool designed to facilitate the planning of appropriate educational programs, supports, and services for students using cochlear implant technology in the classroom. This comprehensive set of guidelines reflects the collaborative work between the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program of Boston Children’s Hospital.
The guidelines give members of a student’s educational planning team a place document key information, including:
- Language development
- Current educational accommodations
- School-based language competencies in receptive, expressive and pragmatic language for American Sign Language, Spoken English, Spoken English with Sign Support, or other communication methods
- Social-emotional development
- Self-advocacy skills
- Student’s overall use and access to hearing assistive technology
The complete guidelines are available to download here: Students with Cochlear Implants: Guidelines for Educational Planning (PDF).
The document includes three sections of the main body of the guidelines, as well as seven appendices. For more specific information regarding what is included in each component, please see the descriptions below; specific sections can be downloaded from this list.
The Student Background Summary is a form to document important background information about the student that is essential to planning. This includes information about the student in four areas: pre-cochlear implantation, home communication, post-cochlear implantation, and documented disabilities or medical concerns.
Contains three School-Based Language Competency Checklists plus an Individual Summary form. The checklists are designed to record observations of members of the Guidelines planning team related to a student’s receptive, expressive, and pragmatic language abilities. The Individual Summary form is a place for each team member to document his or her perspective on a student’s ability to access the educational environment. This form not only reflects the student’s language competencies but also other impacting factors which may be of note (e.g., social-emotional considerations, self-advocacy, consistent functioning and use of cochlear implant technology).
The Team Discussion Tool and Team Summary Sheet are forms available to reflect the collective thoughts of the Guidelines planning team. These forms summarize the team’s recommendations regarding the current educational program as well as any recommendations for changes that may need to be considered for this student. The Team Discussion Tool can be completed to reflect either the student’s current educational setting or an alternate setting being considered. When all information has been gathered and taken into consideration, the Team Summary Sheet provides a place to consolidate this information and recommendations.
The seven appendices contained within the Guidelines include information designed to be supportive to the educational planning process. These appendices can also be used independently as handouts for professionals and families.
- Appendix A - Accommodations: Auditory (PDF) highlights issues associated with the challenges students with cochlear implants may face when listening in a noisy classroom. Discussed is the importance of designing an acoustic environment to minimize auditory overload and maximize access to auditory learning.
- Appendix B - Accommodations: Visual (PDF) highlights many considerations for visually enhancing an educational environment for a student with a cochlear implant so he or she can best access the curriculum and language of the educational setting.
- Appendix C - Educational Access (PDF) provides strategies to facilitate a student’s access to the curriculum to achieve academically within any educational setting. Strategies are provided in eight areas (e.g., providing annual in-service training to the teaching team, performing classroom observations, communication strategies to improve access to learning).
- Appendix D - Strategies for Effective Cochlear Implant Use (PDF) provides information essential to keeping a student’s cochlear implant technology and other assistive listening devices functioning and consistently used.
- Appendix E - Self-Advocacy Skills (PDF) provides general information about self-advocacy as it relates to students with cochlear implants. Included is a self-advocacy checklist to document a student’s skills in understanding and advocating for his or her own needs associated with the functioning of his or her technology, application of his or her accommodations, accessing of communication in his or her environment, and understanding his or her rights as a person who is deaf or hard of hearing.
- Appendix F - Glossary (PDF) is a document that contains definitions of terms and concepts used in the Guidelines related to educational planning, hearing, listening technologies, language and communication approaches, and possible accommodations.
- Appendix G - Authors and Product Evolution (PDF) includes information integral to the development of the Guidelines, including a list of the authors and a description of how the Guidelines evolved from an earlier document, Children with Cochlear Implants Who Sign: Guidelines for Transitioning to Oral Education or a Mainstream Setting.
Community resources
- Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH): MCDHH provides case management services for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. MCDHH children’s specialists can identify issues, provide education, and connect families with needed services.
- Massachusetts Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program (UNHSP): The program supports families through screening, identification of hearing loss, and early intervention services.
- The Department of Public Health – Early Intervention Division (DPH EI): The Early Intervention Division is a program for babies (birth to 3 years old) who may have developmental delays or are at risk for a developmental delay, including hearing and language access. EI services help support families and caregivers to enhance the learning and development of infants and toddlers.
- The Decibels Foundation: The Decibels Foundation’s mission is to provide specialized early intervention, educational services, family support, and access to essential technologies for children with hearing loss from infancy through high school.
- Language First: Language First aims to educate and raise awareness about ASL/English bilingualism and the importance of a strong first language foundation for Deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) children.