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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'Interdisciplinary Collaboration: How Does It Work?' Track: 4 - Early Intervention Keyword(s): interdisciplinary collaboration, professional knowledge, skills and dispositions, early intervention, teaming Learning Objectives: Identify a minimum of three factors that impact effective interdisciplinary collaboration. Describe at least three areas of professional knowledge, skills or dispositions that contribute to effective team functioning. Identify at least two strategies that participants can immediately apply that will improve their own collaboration with professionals from other disciplines leading to better outcomes for children and their families. Abstract: Infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing are highly diverse, not only regarding their hearing abilities, but also their cognitive, physical and social-emotional development. They may be strong healthy babies or medically fragile. Their families may be well-educated or have limited schooling. They may have access to multiple resources or have limited supports and resources to draw upon. Many families communicate using a language other than English; they may be deaf or hearing, or may be affiliated with cultural communities that are unfamiliar to the early interventionists with whom they work. These families, like all other families, have a range of aspirations for their children. The complex needs of children and their families often calls for a team of professionals whose expertise includes health care, audiology, communication and language, deaf culture and communities, physical, cognitive and/or emotional disabilities and delays. While most providers have training in one academic area, working with deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and their families often requires knowledge in multiple fields of study. Best practice guidelines emphasize the importance of providing services that meet the needs of the child and family; however, the services needed may be beyond the scope of practice of the provider and necessitate collaboration with professionals from different disciplines. This panel presentation will bring together a parent and professionals who have worked collaboratively on interdisciplinary teams. Panelists will discuss their perspectives on 1) the importance of interdisciplinary teaming; 2) the roles of team members; 3) the knowledge, skills and dispositions that facilitate effective team functioning; and 4) barriers to effective teamwork. Panelists will encourage participants attending this session to reflect upon their experiences with interdisciplinary teaming, their challenges and successes, and share suggestions for effective interdisciplinary collaboration. Presentation: This presentation has not yet been uploaded or the speaker has opted not to make the presentation available online. Handouts: Handout is not Available
PRESENTER(S) / AUTHOR(S) INFORMATION
Arlene Stredler-Brown - Co-Presenter University of Colorado      Credentials: Ph.D.; CCC-SLP      Other Affiliations: University of British Columbia; Salus University       Arlene Stredler-Brown, PhD, CCC-SLP provides consultation and technical assistance to programs working with infants, toddlers, and young children who are deaf or hard of hearing in the United States and internationally. She has graduate degrees in Speech/Language Pathology, Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and a doctoral degree in Special Education. Current research focuses on telepractice; she is the co-investigator for a Phase II Clinical Trial funded by the National Institutes of Health to study services delivered to young children who are deaf via telepractice. Since retiring from her position as Director of the Colorado Home Intervention Program (CHIP), Dr. Stredler-Brown continues to work with initiatives promoting evidence-based early intervention practices, the measurement of effective intervention and education options, and the use of individualized assessments and treatments. She publishes regularly on these topics. Dr. Stredler-Brown works as an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - -             ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - Marilyn Sass-Lehrer - Primary Presenter,Author,POC Gallaudet University      Credentials: Ph.D.       Marilyn Sass-Lehrer is Professor Emerita at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, USA. She received a master’s degree in Deaf Education from New York University and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Early Childhood Education and Curriculum and Instruction. She is the co-director of the Gallaudet University Graduate Interdisciplinary Certificate Program: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers and Their Families. She is editor of Early Intervention for Deaf and Hard-of- Hearing Infants, Toddlers and their Families: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2016), co-author of Parents and their Deaf Children: The Early Years (2003), and co-editor of The Young Deaf or Hard of Hearing Child: A Family-Centered Approach to Early Education (2003). Dr. Sass-Lehrer has been actively involved in national and international efforts to support professional development and learning for early intervention providers and promote quality early education and family involvement.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - Jodee Crace - Co-Presenter American Society for Deaf Children      Credentials: M.A. School Counseling with Deaf Students; SKI-HI Parent Advisor and Deaf Mentor Certifications      Other Affiliations: Gallaudet University, American Society for Deaf Children       Jodee Crace has a Master's in School Counseling with Deaf Students and has been in the Human Development career for 27 years ranging most of the life span from community-based mental health service to Early Education and Family Support service. Currently she is a Deaf Mentor in Indiana and co-teaches with The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers and their Families: Collaboration and Leadership Interdisciplinary Certificate Program. She is actively involved with the American Society for Deaf Children board and the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - Nicole Hutchinson - Co-Presenter The River School      Credentials: MA, CED       Nicole Hutchinson is a Deaf Educator who specializes in working with infants, toddlers, and families. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Linguistics from the University of California in San Diego and her Master’s of Arts in Deaf Education: Family-Centered Early Education from Gallaudet University. She currently helps facilitate the Parent-Infant Program and teaches in a toddler classroom at The River School in Washington, DC.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist. Susan Lenihan - Co-Presenter Fontbonne University      Credentials: Ph.D. Professor and Director of Deaf Education       Susan Lenihan is a professor and director of the deaf education program at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO. The program prepares teachers, speech-language pathologists and early interventionists for careers in deaf education. Her professional interests include early intervention, cochlear implants, the role of the family in communication development, the impact of poverty on child development and literacy.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist. Paula Pittman - Co-Presenter SKI-HI Institute      Credentials: Ph.D. Director, SKI-HI Outreach      Other Affiliations: Director, Utah Parent Infant Program, Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind       Paula Pittman has been involved in the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families for 30 years. She was one of the developers of the original Deaf Mentor Program at the SKI-HI Institute and is the director of outreach for the SKI-HI and Deaf Mentor Programs. She is currently the director of the Utah Parent Infant Program at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind and serves families in that program as a Parent Advisor as well.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - Rachel St John - Co-Presenter UT Southwestern Medical Center      Credentials: MD, FAAP       Rachel St. John is a board-certified pediatrician, and a NIC-Advanced certified sign language interpreter through RID. She received her BS degree in psychology at George Mason University, completed her MD degree at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and then jointly attended Georgetown University Hospital for her residency in pediatrics and Gallaudet University for her MA degree in counseling. Dr. St. John is the director of the Family-Focused Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children at Children’s Medical Center Dallas/UT Southwestern Medical Center. The FFC provides support for families to make informed decisions regarding their deaf/hard of hearing child, as well as provides education and collaborative support to providers caring for these patients in keeping with national standards. She also serves as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Leadership Team.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - Amy Szarkowski - Co-Presenter Boston Children's Hospital & Harvard Medical School      Credentials: PhD in Clinical Psychology      Other Affiliations: Instructor in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Psychologist, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, Boston Children's Hospital; Adjunct Instructor at Gallaudet University & Tufts University       Dr. Szarkowski is a Psychologist in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Boston Children's Hospital. Her work there involves conducting developmental and psychological assessments, providing support to Deaf and hard of hearing children and their families through short-term therapy, and advocating for appropriate supports and accommodations to meet childrens' needs. Dr. Szarkowski also holds an appointment as Instructor at Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. She teaches in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers and Families Collaboration and Leadership program at Gallaudet University, as well as in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial - Angela Shoup - Co-Presenter UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas      Credentials: Ph.D.      Other Affiliations: Parkland Hospital, Dallas, Texas Children's Medical Center at Dallas, Texas       Angela Shoup, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where she also serves as Director of the Division of Communicative and Vestibular Disorders. Dr. Shoup is affiliated with the Aston Ambulatory Care Center, Parkland Hospital and Childrens Health. Dr. Shoup has published articles and textbook chapters on audiologic procedures, including newborn hearing screening, and implantable hearing aids. She has been an invited speaker at national and international meetings. She served as President of the Texas Academy of Audiology, Chair of the Ethical Practices Committee for the American Academy of Audiology, and Chair of the Board of Trustees for the American Academy of Audiology Foundation.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.