Effective Transition from Early Intervention to Preschool

1
Effective Transition from Early Intervention to
Preschool

• Antonia Brancia Maxon, Ph.D., CCC-A1, 2
• Karen Clark, M.A.1, 3
• 1 National Center for Hearing Assessment and
  Management
• Logan, UT
• 2 New England Center for Hearing Rehabilitation
• Hampton, CT
• 3 UTD/Callier Center for Communication Disorders
• Dallas, TX

2
Faculty Disclosure InformationIn the past 12
months, we have not had a significant financial
interest or other relationship with the
manufacturer of the product or provider of the
services that will be discussed in our
presentation.This presentation will not include
discussion of pharmaceuticals or devices that
have not been approved by the FDA.
3
Transitions

• There are always transitions in life
• There are always options in the transition
  periods
• Knowing options and goals helps to navigate
  through the process
• There is more than one way to get through the
  transition with a positive outcome

4
People and Places in the ProcessIdentification
to age 3

• Adults Children Environment
• parents siblings home
• family
• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
• speech, language centers hearing and other
  early and/or intervention professionals home

5
Language DevelopmentFrom Identification to age 3

• Discriminates peoples voices
• Discriminates songs
• Soothed by the presence of familiar voice
• Recognizes many familiar words and phrases
• Auditory memory of two items in a phrase (Put
  Elmo on the table)
• Can produce most consonants and all vowels

6
Language DevelopmentFrom Identification to age 3

• Understands common verbs
• Understands What and Where questions
• Produces sentences with a subject and verb
• Uses plurals (doggies) and present progressive
  (Doggie is walking)
• Likes to sing
• Can (and will!) repeat back naughty words
• Speech is intelligible to familiar adults

7
People and Places in the Process Age 3 (entering
preschool)

• Adults Children
  Environment
• parents siblings home
• family
• ------------- -------------- -------------
• teacher classmates school

8
Language DevelopmentAge 3 to 5 (home)

• Understands and can attend to longer stories at
  night
• Beginning to use conjunctions such as and.
• Understands knock-knock jokes
• Able to tell stories and tattle on siblings
• Able to produce more consonants and some
  blended sounds such as /br/

9
Language DevelopmentAge 3 to 5 (preschool)

• Can attend to short stories at circle time.
• Can follow teachers instructions
• Can talk with other students, know when to ask
  for clarification and how to clarify when he/she
  is not understood
• Can verbally engage in play
• Uses pronouns he/she, him/her
• Answers most WH questions
• Asks Why?
• Able to follow three step commands

10
Whats the difference

• Goals of Early
• Intervention
• Strengthen families to meet the developmental and
  health-related needs of their infants and
  toddlers who may have delays or disabilities
• Families must be involved with the process to
  develop the IFSP

• Goals of Special Education
• Educate the child with a delay or disability
• Families must be members of the IEP meetings that
  make decisions on the education of their child

11
Definitions

• LEA - Local Education Agency
• LRE - Least Restrictive Environment
• FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education
• IEP - Individualized Education Plan
• IEP Team
• Transition meeting
• Special Education Continuum
• Mainstream class
• Integrated class
• Self-contained class (a class for children who
  are deaf or hard of hearing may be one type of
  special education class)
• Related services

12
Timeline

• Referral to LEA
• Investigate
• word of mouth, phone calls to Special Education
  Director, Teacher of the Hearing Impaired, or
  other people in the school system with which you
  are familiar
• Observe preschools
• neighborhood preschools, special education
  preschools including preschools for children who
  are deaf or hard of hearing.

13
When you come to a fork in the road, take it

• - Yogi Berra

14
Things to consider

• Services
• Audiological services
• hearing evaluations
• earmolds
• aided performance
• Individual speech, language, listening services
• center-based vs. school-based services
• professional with expertise
• coping with school personnel who think they
  know
• Consultations
• Arranging for professionals to assist school
  personnel

15
Things to consider

• Assistive Technology
• Classroom amplification
• determining the need
• school obligation
• FM
• compatibility with childs hearing aids/cochlear
  implant
• Use with audio-visual equipment
• interference with other wireless devices

16
Things to consider

• Assistive Technology
• MAP adjustments
• relationship to classroom performance
• compatibility with FM
• Troubleshooting
• daily monitoring of hearing aids, speech
  processor, FM
• trained personnel on site
• Supplies
• back-up replacement supplies
• batteries

17
Things to consider

• Classroom Environment
• assessing room acoustics
• making necessary modification
• teaching style
• ensuring the child has access to the information
• language of other students
• good language and speech models
• willingness of teacher to make modifications
• speech, language, auditory considerations

18
Things to consider

• Part time preschool
• Is the child able to be home for the rest of the
  day or is another preschool or daycare involved?
  
• Availability of full-time preschool?
• Extended school year
• Are services available through the summer?
• Make the case do not have to wait for
  regression

19
Things to consider

• In-service
• Technology hearing aids, FMs, cochlear implants
• Teaching styles
• Classroom modifications
• Effects of hearing loss on language learning
• Understanding interaction of language and
  academic performance

20
Things to consider

• Potential Team Members
• Parents (required)
• Special Education Teacher (required)
• General Education Teacher (required as
  appropriate)
• Evaluation Specialist (required at initial
  meetings or when new data is presented)
• Speech-Language Pathologist
• Audiologist/Cochlear Implant Specialist
• Teacher of the Hearing Impaired (may be the
  special education teacher on the team)
• Qualified Administrator (required)
• Anyone family or school thinks has knowledge or
  special expertise regarding child

21
Things to consider

• Team Members
• Identify a school-based case manager
• individual who is knowledgeable about hearing
  loss
• individual who is able to work with outside
  consultants
• individual who can maintain a good working
  relationship with parents
• Parental role as advocate
• transmitting information to school personnel
• interaction at IEP meetings
• knowledge of rights under Part B of Individuals
  with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
  (IDEA)

22
Things to consider

• Assessments
• Communication Evaluation
• Auditory Perceptual Evaluation
• Academic Evaluation
• Audiological Evaluation
• Classroom Environment Assessment

23
Positive Partneringwith LEAs
24
Transition Means Change

• Change always involves others.the more
  extensive the change, the more individuals are
  involved.
• All (individuals) come to the process with
  different perspectives, desires, and roles to
  play.
• Jim Greenman

25
Transition Requires Partnership

• Partnership may be defined as a relationship of
  mutual respect between two or more competent
  persons who have agreed to commit to and share
  their knowledge, skills, and experience in
  meeting the needs of the child.
• SKI-HI Curriculum 2004

26
UNDERSTANDING

• the
• empowers families
• to
• participate in the process in a way that

I E P P R O C E S S
PROMOTES SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIPS
27
IDEA 2004 New Option

• Under IDEA 2004 each state has the option of
  implementing a statewide plan that extends Part C
  services to the age when a child becomes eligible
  for kindergarten.
• Only the Part B IEP process is considered in this
  presentation.

28
Assessment

• School conducts full and individual evaluation
  to
• Determine eligibility
• Determine educational needs of
• the child
• Assessment
• Is in the language and form that provides
  accurate information on what child can do
  developmentally and functionally (feasibility
  statement is included in law)
• Uses variety of tools and includes information
  gathered from parents

29
IEP Meeting

• Assessment drives the IEP process.
• Assessment is reviewed as first step in IEP
  meeting.
• Effect of hearing loss or other disabilities on
  participation in appropriate activities is
  discussed.

30
Consideration of Communication Needs

• Childs communication mode was determined through
  appropriate assessments
• Childs communication needs were considered in
  development of the IEP
• There are and will continue to be opportunities
  for direct communication with peers and
  professionals in the childs preferred
  communication mode
• Some states have laws addressing communication
  and
• other rights of children who are deaf or hard of
  hearing
• Good to know specifics of your state

31
Accommodations and Supports

• The IEP contains a statement of the supports that
  are
• needed to help achieve the goals and to make
  progress in
• the general curriculum.
• This is where to ask for specific supports
• Use of FM
• In-service training
• Language of classroom adapted to current language
  levels.
• Additional checks for understanding in group
  situations.
• Reduced visual distractions.

32
Goals - Considerations

• The recommended goals should
• be directly related to information obtained from
• the assessment
• meet the childs current needs and provide a
• reasonable expectation for progress during the
  next year
• enable the child to be involved in the general
• preschool curriculum or support progress in that
  direction

33
Goals - Considerations

• The recommended goals should
• support functional communication
• represent a variety of areas including speech,
  language (receptive and expressive vocabulary and
  concepts, pragmatics, syntax), and listening
• present a clear plan for how progress will be
  documented and reported.

34
Services Considered or Provided

• General education preschool
• classroom
• Special education classroom
• Non-categorical (all) disabilities class
• Deaf education class (oral, total communication)
• May mainstream or integrate with Pre-K class
• Audiology
• Speech-Language
• Transportation
• Other occupational therapy, vision, health etc.

35
Least Restrictive Environment

• One
• Interpretation
• A setting as typical as possible for a preschool
  child that meets the childs needs and supports
  communication and academic achievement.

• Definition
• To the maximum extent appropriate, children with
  disabilities are educated in the regular
  education environment with children who are not
  disabled.

36
Schedule and Location

• What will happen during the school day.
• Circle time
• Centers
• Length of the school day/week
• Half-day
• Full-day
• 2, 3, 5 days/week
• Amount of time for each of the services that are
  provided
• Half-hour each day
• Where the services will be provided
• Within the general education classroom
• Within the special education classroom
• Outside the classroom setting

37
Suggestions for Partnering

• Make your wishes known in advance
• Surprises rarely benefit anyone
• Relate requests to specific educational needs
• Examples -
• Instruction in appropriate communication mode
• Communication with peers who use same mode
• Support to accomplish goals (speech/language
  therapy)
• Opportunity to hear at optimal level (ongoing
  audiological assessment, FM, equipment monitoring)

38
Suggestions for Partnering

• Understand there is more than one way to achieve
  a goal.
• Listen to the schools suggestions and ideas.
• Ask questions if something is not clear.
• Consider compromising on means but not on end.
• Refer to Pop-Up IEP website for suggestions to
  answer inappropriate statements made by
  educators.
• National Center for Low-Incidence Disabilities
  web-site http//www.nclid.unco.edu/families.html