Diagnostic & Early Intervention Services

The introduction of universal newborn screening has expanded the capacity of medical professionals to treat children with a hearing loss.  However, while children and their families are now able to receive the appropriate auditory services sooner than ever before, initial service providers often lack the skills to properly assess each child’s hearing loss.  In some cases, families have been prematurely asked how they would prefer their child to communicate when the determination should be made later on, upon thorough assessment of the child by licensed professionals.

For infants and toddlers who were identified through universal newborn screening and who have received cochlear implants, recommendations for mainstream education are often made too far in advance and can mislead families as they begin to plan for their child’s life. At Willie Ross School for the Deaf, we believe that decisions regarding the education of a child with a hearing loss should occur when the child has reached an appropriate stage of development and should take into consideration the variety of communicational and instructional methods available at the time.

In collaboration with Baystate Health System, the Early Intervention Team of the WRSD Outreach Division provides services to infants identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing through universal newborn screening programs sponsored by birthing centers and hospitals throughout Western Massachusetts.

WRSD’s Early Intervention Team typically includes the parents or caregivers of the child, an audiologist, a speech/language pathologist, a teacher of the deaf and, on an as-needed basis, additional specialists such as social workers. Our team of experts assesses the needs and strengths of each child and family to provide the most comprehensive support services possible.

The Early Intervention Team develops and implements family service plans that consist of the following components:

• Objective information explaining hearing loss, audiological needs, auditory management and communication methodologies
• Assistance to parents and caregivers in the development of their child's speech and language skills
• Direct speech and language services
• Speech and language assessments• Intervention strategies to promote child development in social, emotional, self-help and communicative areas
• Access to other intervention services, primary care physicians and ear, nose and throat specialists
• Home visits
• Audiological services

Additionally, sign language classes for parents are available on a family-by-family basis through home visits or in small groups at the Longmeadow Campus.

Note: All Early Intervention Team staff have the appropriate credentials and licenses required for their areas of specialty.

For more information, click here to contact Kate Devlin-DeLisle, Early Intervention Coordinator for the Outreach Department.