Partnerships provide good outcomes – Education, not for profit and Health delivering positive early intervention outcomes

Ms Jen Mckee¹, Ms Sheridan Howell¹, Ms Julie  Woodcock¹

 ¹Hear For Kids, Moorooka, Australia,

 ²Yeerongpilly ECDP, Yeronga, Australia,

 ³Taigum ECDP, Taigum, Australia

Yeerongpilly Early Childhood Development Program (YECDP) is a Department of Education early intervention program for DHH children and their families in Brisbane. Hear for Kids (HFK) is a service arm of Deaf Services Limited) and provides therapy at YECDP. This creates a unique collaboration between the following sectors: Education, not for profit, and Health (which partly funds HFK).

This collaboration is a real “partnership with a purpose”. YECDP and HFK share a family-centred approach, a commitment to the Queensland Minimum Standards of Practice (Early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families), and commitment to a range of communication opportunities. This presentation will focus on three case studies, detailing how the partnership has delivered positive outcomes for children and their families.

Method

An explanation of methods for tracking outcomes:

• Speech and language assessment data
• Auslan development outcomes
• Qualitative data: interviews of parents, YECDP and HFK staff.

Results

1. Discussion of case studies with results of data:

o             Child with a mild-moderate or unilateral hearing loss

o             Child with additional disabilities

o             Bilingual (Auslan & English) child.

2. How the data informs practice.

Conclusion

Opportunities for evaluating the partnership and ongoing possibilities for collaboration and service expansion.

Biography:

Sheridan Howell is a Teacher of the Deaf and Head of Specialist Education Services at Yeerongpilly ECDP in Brisbane. Through an inclusive, family-centred and play-based program, the centre provides families of children who are DHH with support to develop effective communication (spoken language and/or Auslan), build support networks and enable a successful transition to school. The program covers individual sessions, playgroups and full day group programs. Sheridan holds a Master of Special Education (Hearing Impairment) from Griffith University, a Graduate Diploma in Education (Early Childhood) from Queensland University of Technology and a Bachelor or Arts from University of Queensland.