Community News, Events, and More

Allison Randolph

Children's Hearing Help Fund
July 16, 2005

From FAD E-zine:

New Donation Box on Driver's License Renewal.

On May 24th Governor Bush signed a new option into law for low income children to have access to better hearing.

On May 24th Governor Bush signed a new option into law for low income children to have access to better hearing. A significant barrier to successful intervention outcomes has become very apparent since the implementation of the enactment of Florida's Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Law, Statute 383.815. Following diagnosis, it is not unusual for some infants to experience delays of 6 months or more prior to hearing evaluation and hearing aid fitting due to a variety of issues primarily related to funding and/or parental uncertainty of how to proceed. The new law authorized the Department of Motor Vehicles to include a $1 donation check-off box on every driver's license renewal form that allows funds to be collected to aid families who don't have the means to pay for hearing aids for children who have been found to have hearing loss.

The Children's Hearing Help Fund (CHHF) will be used to provide assistance for qualifying families with minor children, from newborns to eighteen years of age for services such as hearing evaluations, loaner hearing devices, permanent hearing devices or the ongoing maintenance and replacement of the devices if necessary until the child reaches eighteen years of age. Hearing loss is the most common birth defect with three out of every 1000 newborns being found to have a permanent hearing problem that causes them to be at high risk for developing communication delays unless early help is provided to their families. Florida can expect approximately 600 new children to be confirmed as hearing impaired annually. Approximately 37% of families have insurance and/or financial resources however insurance rarely covers even a portion of hearing aids and most families with young children cannot readily afford to pay for hearing aids, each of which can cost as much as a refrigerator ($1000-$3000) and may need to be replaced every 3 years. Approximately 43% of children will have Medicaid coverage that could be applied to meet the cost of permanent amplification devices and an additional 20% are found to be from financially needy families that have no resources available. Therefore many families are faced with trying to purchase expensive hearing aids, typically 5-6 times before the child becomes an adult.

Charitable funding sources for families to turn to for assistance with purchasing amplification for children have historically been very limited. Early intervention and quality education is necessary to prevent developmental delays in language and learning. The Children's Hearing Help Fund will exist in order to provide the necessary funding to enable children from financially needy families to obtain amplification for their children (loaner or permanent) within 30 days of recommendation for hearing aid fitting, when no other funding options are available.

The Children's Hearing Help Fund is administered by the Sertoma Speech & Hearing Foundation of Florida, Inc. For more information contact: Craig McCart, Executive Director.

1-866-999-2443 or visit Website - www.childrenshearinghelpfund.org http://www.childrenshearinghelpfund.org For more information about the HEARING AID LOAN BANK FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS please refer to the attached flyer:
Hearing Aid Loan Bank for Babies!.doc

* Nationally, three out of every 1000 newborns have a hearing loss. It is the most common birth defect.
* Even mild hearing loss or hearing loss in only one ear, if undetected, has substantial detrimental consequences. Research shows that children with hearing loss in one ear are 10 times as likely to be held back at least one grade level compared to matched group of children with normal hearing.
* Research notes that children identified with hearing loss at birth are, by the time they enter school, one to two years developmentally ahead of their hearing impaired peers who were not diagnosed until after they were six months old.
* Before universal newborn hearing screening the average age at which children were diagnosed with hearing loss was 2.5 years. Very important speech-language development occurs significantly earlier and these children frequently required intensive special instruction throughout all their school years.
* Through identification of hearing loss in the first 3 months and by working with the parents and caregivers to communicate effectively with their child thereby preventing delays in language, cognitive and social development these early identified children have the opportunity to develop on par with unimpaired peers. Without amplification and early intervention services by 6 months of age, lifelong delays in communication and learning may be expected.
* By the time a child with hearing loss graduates from high school, more than $400,000 per child can be saved in special education costs if the child is identified early and given appropriate educational, medical, and audiological services.
* Only by continuing consistent use of appropriate and well functioning amplification, can children with hearing loss continue to have the opportunity to access teacher instruction in classrooms using their remaining hearing. When the hearing aids of a school-age child need to be replaced or repaired, every day that the child is unable to hear optimally can be like a day they are absent from school!
Information and statistics courtesy of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management - Utah State University (NCHAM) or the National Institute on Deafness and Communicative Disorders (NIDCD). --

Wet 'n Wild Deaf Awareness Day
July 16, 2005

For more information email fadinfo@fadcentral.org

Download Admission Form (pdf)

Introduction to the Structure of ASL
July 15, 2005

The Gallaudet University Regional Center is offering an extension course titled “Introduction to the Structure of ASL.”

The course will survey the major features of the linguistic structure and social uses of American Sign Language. The course will cover four major topics:

PHONOLOGY- The study of the raw materials of signs. An examination of the structure of the physical signals of ASL, the customary patterns for combining them, and the influence of signs on one another in connected discourse;

MORPHOLOGY - building and storing words. The study of the basic meaningful units of ASL, including discussions of word creation, compounding, borrowing, affixing, and numeral incorporation. A discussion of the use of space in ASL, including an examination of verbs with subject and object agreement and of spatial-locative verbs;

SYNTAX - building sentences and longer structures. An examination of the word order of ASL sentences, non-manual syntactic signals, and discourse structures;

SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPLICATIONS - a discussion of language variation and language contact in the Deaf community.

PREREQUISITES: A copy of your transcript must accompany your application to enroll in this class for graduate credit. If you are taking this course for PST credits, there is no prerequisite.

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Susan Mather, Gallaudet University

RID CMP CEUs: 1.5, Professional Studies, Introductory

DATES/TIMES: 7/15-16/05
Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Saturday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

LOCATION:
Flagler College
44 Sevilla Street
Proctor Library - Rm 315
St. Augustine, FL 32084

FEES:
LIN 661 Tuition: $330
Applic. Fee: $20
Materials Fee: $ 10
Total: $ 360


PST 361 Tuition: $230
Applic. Fee: $20
Materials Fee: $ 10
Total: $ 260
All fees must be sent with your application form.

REFUND POLICY:
Before the registration deadline: Tuition is refundable upon written request; however, a $50.00 processing fee will be retained. Written requests must be received by the deadline or refund will be processed as noted below.
After the registration deadline: Partial tuition is refundable upon written request (application fee and material fee, where applicable, is not refundable). Schedule is as follows:
withdrawals after 06/17/05 - 50% tuition refundable
withdrawals by 06/24/05 - 25% tuition refundable
withdrawals after 07/01/05 - no refund of tuition
It is IMPERATIVE that your written request for refund is in the office of GURC @ Flagler College by the deadline.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: July 1, 2005 - applications will continue to be accepted after this date as long as space is available. Please note that the refund policy deadlines remain in effect. The course is contingent on sufficient enrollment. You will receive a confirmation letter after 7/1/05. We recommend that you do not make travel arrangements before the course is confirmed.

For further information on this course:
Contact the Gallaudet University Regional Center @ Flagler College at (904) 829-2424 (tty), (904) 819-6216 (v), (904) 819-6433 (fax) or email grcflagler@aol.com.

PST credit: Courses with the prefix PST (Professional Studies and Training) are continuing education credits offered for professionals who may not desire academic credits. These credits are not applicable toward a Gallaudet degree. PST credits may be transferable to your home institution; it is your responsibility to check with your home institution should you desire to transfer credits.
NOTE: Tuition and fees are subject to change without advance notice.

For a description of all extension course offerings and course application forms, please visit the Gallaudet University web page at
http://gspp.gallaudet.edu/shapes/extension/extensioncoursebyregion.html

DOIT Classes for the Summer
July 01, 2005

Distance Opportunities for Interpreter Training Center(DOIT Center @ Front Range Community College)presents

Two Unique and Exciting Programs for 2005

Don’t miss your chance to participate in one of these valuable programs.

This is the last offering of these courses under the current Grant funding cycle!

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The Dimensions of Ethical Decision Making for Working Interpreters

This advanced level 15 week online course provides you with the opportunity to explore the core values, guiding principles and the dimensions that impact ethical decision-making. You will develop strategies for addressing and resolving dilemmas arising from a variety of case studies and complete activities designed to foster greater degrees of ethical fitness. The goal of the course is to foster a collegial investigation of ethics and ethical decision-making as the cornerstone for the competent autonomy of Sign Language Interpreters.

What: 3-credit hour online course

When: August 22 - December 13, 2005

Who: Working Interpreters (3+ years experience)

Cost: Tuition and Materials - $530.00

Result: 3 undergraduate college credits, 4.5 Professional RID CMP/ACET CEUs available

Maximum number of students admitted: 50

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Prior Learning Assessment for Interpreters

This 15 week online course introduces you to the process of creating a professional portfolio by developing evidence that your learning represents college level work, mapping your learning to specific college courses and discovering the options for submitting your portfolio for college credit. You will develop a portfolio to document your prior learning and mastery of 38 entry-to-practice competencies. Students meet online to discuss the purposes and goals of a portfolio, and to decide which materials will be included in the final portfolio.

What: 15-week online course

When: August 22 - December 13, 2005

Who: Working interpreters (5+ years experience)

Cost: Tuition and Study Guide - $530.00

Result: Develop your own portfolio, 4.5 Professional RID CMP/ACET CEUs available

Maximum number of students admitted: 25

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL DO IT CENTER PROGRAMS:
i Access to a computer and the Internet
i Microsoft Word 2000 or higher
i Ability to send and receive email
i PowerPoint 2000 preferable

BONUS-FREE ORIENTATION TO ONLINE LEARNING!

Required two-week online orientation course for all students from August 5 - 20, 2005. Learn how to use the Web for an online course and become acquainted with your classmates.

Application Deadline: July 1, 2005

Tuition Due: July 15, 2005

CONTACT: LaNae Phillips at lanae.phillips@frontrange.edu or Toll Free: 1-866-885-6087 ext. 7 for more information or visit our Website to apply online (http://au.frcc.cccoes.edu/~doit/)