PROGRAMS FOR PARENTS

The state training program for parents is called SKI*HI. Parents are trained to work with their hearing impaired children in four basic areas:

Hearing aid operation and maintenance
Communication,
Auditory awareness
Language stimulation.

In addition, sign language instruction is offered.

HOME HEARING AID PROGRAM

This program consists of nine lessons which teach parents about hearing aids - how they operate and how to care for them. The parent advisor also covers related topics such as the nature of sound, the importance of hearing for language development, hearing assessment, speech perception, and causes and types of hearing loss.

HOME COMMUNICATION PROGRAM

This program consists of twelve lessons. The goals of these lessons are to enable parents to:

Understand how communication develops and its importance for language development.
Develop the essential skills to foster and stimulate effective parent-child communication.
Monitor and evaluate their child's behaviors.
Arrive at a communication methodology decision appropriate for the child and family.

HOME AUDITORY PROGRAM

This instruction for this program is divided into four phases of auditory awareness:

Phase I - Attending to sound and voices and to increase vocalization.
Phase II - Recognizing objects and events from sources and locating sound sources in space and vocalizing with varied duration, intensity and pitch.
Phase III - Localizing sound sources in space at increased distances and at different levels and vocalizing with distinctive vowel then consonant sounds.
Phase IV - Discriminating and comprehending environmental sounds, gross vocal sounds, functional words and phrases and fine speech sounds, and imitating and meaningfully using speech.

HOME LANGUAGE STIMULATION PROGRAM

The goal of this program is to assist parents in creating a natural, stimulating home environment. Emphasis is on encouraging language growth in the hearing impaired child through a wide range of interactions and conversations.

PARENT SIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES

Sign Language classes are offered for parents during the day and in the evenings at no cost to the family. Eight week classes are taught in the fall and spring on Thursday evenings at the Speech and Hearing Center from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

For more information contact Janine Park at (806) 376-5521.

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