Excitement is building for the 2022 Virtual EHDI Conference. With more than 800 people already registered and the early bird registration deadline not until February 18th, this is definitely the place you will want to be to learn more about how to improve your EHDI programs. Registration prices have been reduced compared to past in-person conferences so that more people can attend, and recordings of sessions will be available for on-demand viewing for 90 days following the conference. You will want to give particular consideration to participating in one (or more) of the 9 instructional sessions that are offered on Sunday, March 13th. There is a small additional cost ($50) for each of these sessions and you must add them to your registration. Whether you have already registered and want to add an instructional session or you still need to register, you can do so at https://ehdiconference.org/Reg.cfm/. Information about each of the instructional sessions is shown below.
INSTRUCTIONAL SESSIONSSunday – March 13, 2022All times are in Mountain Time.

*IDEA and Advocacy Learning SessionAndrea Marwah
Sunday 3/13; 9:00 AM – 3:00 pm (I hour lunch break)
AbstractWhat makes a parent a successful advocate for the child who is deaf/HOH? What helps a professional understand what a parent is going through? Legal protection is available for parents of children with disabilities; sadly, not all parents are aware of it. This presentation offers both parents and professionals the tools to successfully work with IEP teams for a child’s educational future. Protection of the parent/school relationship is the most important aspect of successfully advocating for a child with disabilities. Professionals can easily educate parents in this model of parent/school relationship building without jeopardizing their position. IDEA protects parents; it’s up to the parents to protect their relationship with school personnel. Presentation covers IDEA, Section 504 and ADA and how to advocate successfully, strongly hitting on protecting the parent school relationship because as we know once a parent becomes defensive and argumentative the meeting can go bad. It also helps parents to understand who the members of an IEP team are and that they deserve to be heard as the parent does. It strongly focuses on working as a team and leaving demands at home. This also helps professionals get the training from a parent perspective. As this training has developed, parents and professionals who attend have become more successful within their teams. The presenter is a parent first who deals with her own difficult district issues with her own child who is deaf and a current senior in high school. This training has been both locally in IL and nationally presented. Q&A and examples will be abundant in this session.
*Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign TrainingValerie Abbott, Dylan Chan
Sunday 3/13; 9:00 am-2:00 pm
AbstractIncidence of pediatric hearing loss doubles during early childhood, yet many of these children miss opportunities to be identified. The Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign was established in May 2021 by parent-EHDI leader Valerie James Abbott and Justin Osmond, CEO/founder of the Olive Osmond Hearing Fund. The campaign seeks to improve identification rates of children with postnatal hearing loss through increased community awareness about the prevalence, risk factors, and signs associated with late-onset and late-identified hearing loss. In this interactive workshop, facilitated by the campaign co-founder Valerie James Abbott and Dylan Chan, MD, PhD, a pediatric otolaryngologist, participants will explore the facts about late-onset/late-identified hearing loss in young children, the history/mission/vision of Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Week, and how state agencies and organizations can leverage the campaign to develop and execute one, two or a series of activities/events in May of each year during Better Hearing & Speech Month. We will review the current state of knowledge on late-onset and late-identified childhood hearing loss, with a focus on its impact on speech and language development and relationship to hearing health disparities and equity. We will discuss existing tools for these children, including preschool hearing screening, Joint Commission on Infant Hearing risk factors, and clinical testing. Participants will receive and complete a Campaign Planning Guide and will have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas within smaller groups.
*Improving Early Intervention Practices: Insights from a Parent and a ProfessionalKimberly Sanzo, Erica Salcido
Sunday, 3/13; 9:00 am – 11:00 am
AbstractThis presentation will explore the journey of a mother and her deaf daughter as they navigated the early intervention system. Real examples of obstacles and issues parents face will be provided, along with specific suggestions for how professionals can improve their practice. Connections between the parents’ journey and the professionals’ service provision will be made in order to improve overall early intervention services for deaf and hard of hearing infants.
*Signing Exact English: What? Why? How?Sheila Dills, Emily Buettemeier
Sunday, 3/13; 9:00 am – 11:30 am
AbstractSigning Exact English is a widely misunderstood and therefore an underused or potentially misused tool that can help support deaf and hard of hearing students with a variety of backgrounds and needs. This presentation will explain what Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) is to parents and professionals who don’t know and clarify what it is to those who do. Next we will describe why S.E.E. is used, why it should be an option for all families to explore with their child’s education and why we want to educate parents and professionals about the outcomes in this type of language development model. In addition, examples and framework will be given on how S.E.E. can be used alone, or in conjunction with a listening and spoken language approach to facilitate English literacy skills. Finally, we will explain the concept of “marriage” between S.E.E. and ASL for deaf/hard of hearing children and their families and how essential this concept is for long term success.
*”But…what about me?”: Addressing the Needs of Siblings of Children who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf PlusAmy Szarkowski, Candace Lindow-Davies
Sunday, 3/13; 9:00 am – 11:30 am
AbstractThis instructional session will involve a parent panel, a mini-presentation, and an interactive activity: 1) parent experts will share about the challenges, insights, lessons learned, and successes they have experienced as they navigated parenting both children who are DHH or Deaf Plus AND their siblings; 2) a psychologist will contextualize the information shared by parents about siblings through a mini-presentation on family systems theory and its implications for caregivers and professionals; and 3) participants will work in small groups to generate some ‘action steps’ to address the needs of siblings, either in their role as family members or professionals. For professionals and families in early intervention systems, the topic of siblings in family-centered care is an important one that deserves thoughtful consideration. As family members, how can we ensure that the identity, needs and complex relationships of siblings are acknowledged, understood, and addressed? As professionals, how can we help families to meet the needs of all of their children, including the siblings of the children who are DHH or Deaf Plus? This session explores these issues and offers participants applicable strategies to address sibling’s needs.
*A Taste of CueingSarina Roffe
Sunday, 3/13; 12:30 pm – 4:00 pm
AbstractThis Interactive Workshop will teach the system known as Cued Speech. Participants will learn the vowels, consonant handshapes, how words are put together with cues and how to read the Cued Speech chart. The presentation will include several video segments, anecdotes, and opportunities for interactive discussions. The session will end with resources on Cued Speech resources.
*Medical Considerations in the Management of Pediatric Hearing LossOliver Adunka, Craig Buchman
Sunday, 3/13; 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
AbstractThe management of pediatric sensorineural hearing loss requires a coordinated team approach between a diverse group of professionals. These include audiologists, speech & language pathologists, early intervention specialists, physicians, educators, and many others. While the approaches and the details of the clinical algorithm vary dramatically across the country, the managing physician often plays a central role. The present workshop aims at detailing the physician’s perspective of the team approach by discussing various clinical scenarios applying the JCIH guidelines. This seems especially pertinent given the diverse clinical population served by hearing loss professionals. We also plan to detail imaging, surgical aspects in the management of pediatric hearing loss, established and new trends in cochlear implantation, and alternative technology.
*Literacy for Littles: Incorporating Language-Rich Shared Reading Routines into Early Intervention SessionsKelli Ellis, Kameron Carden
Sunday, 3/13; 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
AbstractThis session will focus on strategies for effective caregiver coaching to incorporate early emerging literacy outcomes into daily routines to maximize engagement, promote social relationships with caregivers, and facilitate language development within a routines-based model of early intervention. Presenters will share practical strategies and expectations for the birth to three population by aligning LSL principles with dialogic reading strategies for routines-based visits.
*Developing Data Sharing Arrangements between EHDI and Part C to Improve Early Identification and ServicesSharon Walsh, Karl White, Haidee Bernstein, Evelyn Shaw and selected EHDI and Part C staff
Sunday, 3/13; 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
AbstractAs part of program evaluation and quality improvement initiatives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration ask EHDI Programs to respond to data requests related to early intervention. State Part C Programs are required to coordinate and collaborate their child find efforts and ensure the programmatic needs of all eligible children including those who are deaf or hard of hearing are being met. EHDI and Part C state programs often encounter challenges with accessing and sharing early intervention data and rely on collaboration with each other to fulfill requirements and requests to improve outcomes for young children and their families. Therefore, both EHDI and Part C benefit greatly from sharing data to improve their programs, while still protecting the privacy of family information. State EHDI and Part C early intervention programs are engaged in various levels of data sharing. Federal and state agencies recognize the need to increase the quality and frequency of data sharing arrangements between EHDI and Part C to improve early identification and services for young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This interactive workshop is designed as a working session for state teams of Part C and EHDI Program representatives. Participants will receive information and resources from national technical assistance staff and selected states to assist them in developing and/or enhancing data sharing arrangements. Several new resources from the CDC EHDI Outcomes Committee will be shared as well as a new NCHAM/DaSy/ECTA webpage. Small group discussions will allow state teams and other participants to discuss challenges, share strategies and plan for next steps in their data-sharing activities. We hope to “see” at the 2022 EHDI Virtual Conference!