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"It’s much better to meet a live Deaf person than read about it in books. I have to see to understand. A new world opened up once we met our Deaf mentor." -DAD J.

 

WHAT IS A DEAF MENTOR?

A Deaf Mentor provides family-centered, home based, and curriculum-led early education in the home, focusing on Visual Communication, American Sign Language, and Bridging and Navigating Deaf and Hearing Experiences with the families with deaf children, birth to age six (or beyond)

…is Deaf (including those who views self as hard of hearing and may have acquired American Sign Language at varying points in their young lives or later).

…has ASL skills, both expressive and receptive. ASL Deaf Mentors must exhibit fluency in ASL. Hard of hearing mentors would need basic sign communication skills to interact with other Deaf team members and to support families who are also using signs with auditory-oral skills.

…is well trained in early intervention principles and receives basic training and ongoing professional development.

…helps families gain an understanding of what it is like to be deaf, so that they, as parents, can better facilitate some of the experiences that their child may have as they grow up.

…is someone that the child and family can look up to and learn from - a role model.

…is comfortable working directly with children birth to six years of age who are comfortable working with young children and with families in the family’s home, sharing their life experiences being deaf and answering any questions that would help families feel empowered.

…acts as a language model for the deaf child, interacting with the child in ways that take advantage of his/her visual environment. …provides opportunities for the families to bridge auditory and speech experiences into visual communication and ASL, and vice versa.

…supports, teaches, facilitates, and models with families ways that they can more effectively communicate with their deaf child.

…teaches the family ASL in a manner that is structured and designed specifically for families of infants and young children, and acting as a guide and/or facilitator into the local Deaf community, including where and how the deaf people who may not use ASL live their lives.

…monitors with the families the deaf child’s language development and progress according to standards (and/or stages).

…is actively involved in the Deaf community and events where the families may be involved in for mutual support and enjoyment.

…is kept abreast of current trends, research and discussions pertaining to best practices.

…partners with the Early Interventionists serving the child and with the child’s educational team to ensure the child reaches his/her full potential.

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MEET THE TEAM

Little About US

MEET THE TEAM
 

Jodee Crace has worked in the field of Early Deaf Education and Family Support for 18 years as an early intervention provider, including being a SKI-HI Deaf Mentor (DM) and DM Coach in Indiana. In addition, she provides National SKI-HI DM Trainings and is often consulting other DMs in the USA. Jodee has served on the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) since 2013 and is the past president of the American Society for Deaf Children. Jodee continues to be an adjunct instructor with Gallaudet University’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers, and Families Collaboration and Leadership Certification Program since 2012.

 

Paula Pittman has worked in the field of early childhood deaf education for thirty-three years as an early intervention provider working with deaf, blind and deafblind infants and toddlers and their families. She is the director of SKI-HI and Deaf Mentor Outreach services at the SKI-HI Institute at Utah State University. She was the former director of the Parent Infant Program for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. She has had the opportunity to train early intervention providers across the USA and around the world.

 

Stacy Abrams, MA, is the coordinator of training at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. As a member of the Clerc Center's training and outreach team, Stacy provides ongoing technical support for the SKI-HI Deaf Mentoring Program as one of the program's primary trainers. Stacy taught deaf students in both mainstreamed and deaf schools as well as being the coordinator of the Deaf Mentor Program at both the New Mexico School for the Deaf and the Arizona Schools for the Deaf/Blind for 10 years. Stacy continues to serve on the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing. Stacy’s passion for connecting families with the community on their signing journey led to her developing a social awareness campaign, #whyisign.

TESTIMONiALS

Deaf Mentors hand in hand with families guiding a new generation of Deaf Children into the future

“Our Deaf Mentor has given us real hope about our daughter's future. We see our mentor as successful and happy, and know the future will be bright for our daughter too.”

“The Deaf Mentor Program has been everything we could have hoped for. It has been an exciting time and positive experience for our entire family”.

"The Deaf Mentor truly 'meets' our little one where he is, and builds strength upon strength on his social and language development. What a gift she is!"

“Before meeting our Deaf Mentor, the frustration level in our home was extremely high. Trying to maintain our child’s attention long enough just to sign one sentence was difficult. Our Deaf Mentor has taught us how to use ASL effectively. With her help we have been able to learn how to put our ears aside and create visual pictures that are much easier for our children to understand. We can honestly say this program has saved us all.”

"Deafness is not about hearing, but about communication"

"We had no understanding or exposure to the Deaf community until we met our Deaf Mentor. He helped us navigate during our deaf community experiences. We also had no real understanding of how to introduce ASL to a two years old. We were grateful."

“We want our daughter to have deaf role models, friends and peers to interact with. We also want her to read and write in English. The bilingual-bicultural approach of the Deaf Mentor Program has been just perfect for us because it has taught us how we can do just that.”

research

 
Deaf Mentor is not just a thought, it's supported by Research.

The Deaf Mentor Experimental Project investigated the efficacy of deaf mentor services to young deaf children and their families. These services focused on deaf adults (mentors), who made regular home visits to the children and their families; shared their language (American Sign Language), culture, and personal knowledge of deafness with the families; and served as role models for the children. The children also received regular home visits from a parent advisor who helped the family promote the child's early listening, English, and literacy skills. The result was a bilingual-bicultural home environment for these children. The children who received deaf mentor services were compared to matched children who did not receive these services but who received parent advisor services. Children receiving this early bilingual-bicultural programming made greater language gains during treatment time, had considerably larger vocabularies, and scored higher on measures of comunication, language, and English syntax than the matched children.

Read More
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It started with US…

TRAINING

 
Three days of Learning, Exploration, and Discovery

The Deaf Mentor Program is an evidence-based, family-centered and proven educational program created and evaluated through support from the US Office of Special Education Programs. The original program was developed in 1991-1993, and has recently been revised to meet current needs of families who have deaf children.

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contact us

If you have more questions, feel free to reach us

SKIHIdeafmentorprogram@gmail.com



To reach out to the specific state's Deaf Mentor Program coordinator, please send an email to skihideafmentorprogram@gmail.com. You will then be directly connected to this coordinator.

 

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