Professional Development Offerings

Our Outreach team offers a variety of professional development opportunities for administrators, teachers, related service providers, para educators, early intervention specialist, interpreters, and more. We have established training options available and are also able to create training opportunities designed to fit school district’s unique needs. Contact us for more information and we will help find the perfect professional development for your district or school staff.

How are Early Social Skills Impacted by Early Language Development?

This session focuses on the connections between social and language development in young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Included is a discussion on how you can help facilitate meaningful interactions between infants/toddlers and their families and community.

Using Functional Evaluation to Capture Educational Needs of Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

This session will discuss the key elements related to eligibility for services and the importance of functional measures in an evaluation. The presentation highlights a paradigm shift for teams and moving discussions about students’ needs beyond test scores. Considerations for the evaluation of students who are deaf and hard of hearing will be reviewed and tools that can capture the functional abilities of children will be discussed with the goal of compiling comprehensive information during the evaluation process in mind.

Responding to Challenges: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get _____!

This session will explore applications of a key auditory – verbal strategy – diagnostic teaching. Participants will discuss how technology and data can support informed decision making and what types of supports can be used for students at school and at home.

Listening and Spoken Language Tips

This session will highlight practical strategies and accommodations a teacher can implement into the classroom. Participants will then have an opportunity to apply what they have learned by identifying challenges and accommodations to be made in 5 real world scenarios.

Listening in a Noisy World

This session will review how noise affects student learning for children with hearing and for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. We will also present strategies that can be used in the classroom to minimize the negative impact of noise on student learning.

Empowering Bilingual Families and their Deaf Children

This presentation will focus on current theories about bilingualism in deaf and hard of hearing students. Strategies and direct applications to the classroom will be discussed in an effort to raise awareness about the challenges encountered by the diverse academic, social, and cultural characteristics of families whose first language is not English. Samples of activities will be provided.

Treating Articulation in Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

This course will present information about the patterns of articulation differences that occur among deaf and hard of hearing children and provide strategies for supporting speech development.

Speech and Language Assessments for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The evaluation of students who are deaf and hard of hearing presents unique challenges to school-based assessment teams. This course will discuss factors affecting cognitive-linguistic and social-emotional development, considerations when administering standardized tests, and appropriate IEP goals and accommodations.

Serving Deaf or Hard of Hearing Students with Complex Needs

Providing the correct accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing students with additional diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, or intellectual disability present unique challenges to school-based teams. This course will present considerations for evaluation, determining placement, and developing appropriate IEP goals and accommodations.

Serving Mainstreamed Students with Hearing Loss

An increasing number of students with lower hearing levels are being placed in general classroom settings. However, these students need specific accommodations and services to support their learning. This presentation will discuss the impact of inadequate access to language and learning, and the accommodations and services that can support full language access in the classroom.

Utilizing a Natural Environment as a Learning Environment

This course will explore how learning happens in the home and other natural environments and describe how to make subtle changes to the environment to maximize a child’s learning potential.

Earliest Interactions with Infants and Toddlers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

It is critical for parents to interact with their children immediately from birth.  Depending on a child’s hearing levels, the family may be exploring various modes of communication.  This course explains how to develop early communication goals for families and caregivers to ensure they are bonding with their child and building a base for strong language development.

Classroom Teachers and Interpreters Working Together; Avoiding Role Creep

This course will define the roles of the teacher and the interpreter in the classroom. We will examine best practices for the team and highlight scenarios that focus on interpreter preparation, teacher–interpreter collaboration, and tutoring.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf

This course will focus on the role of the itinerant teacher of the deaf (ITOD) and highlight how responsibilities can shift between districts and students. This session will explore the various duties of an ITOD as they assist the general education teacher and collaborate with parents, special education teachers, and other specialists. In addition, this session will cover the importance of supporting deaf and hard of hearing students through the IEP or 504.