WSRD Program Lineup

WEDNESDAY, April 9, 2003 (3-hour sessions)

8:30 - 10:00 Registration

10:00 Exhibits and Technology Demonstrations Open

10:00 - 1:00 Breakout Sessions (with 15 minute coffee break)

• Mendelsohn: ADA and Access to Postsecondary Settings

  • Too often, people with disabilities are denied access to classes, meetings, and resources in colleges and universities, as well as elsewhere. This presentation will cover several potential violations of the ADA often faced by students (e.g., architectural barriers, failure to provide effective communication, failure to modify policies and procedures) as well as potential violations faced by employees or job-seekers. In addition, this presentation will discuss various strategies toward resolving these potential violations.

 

• Smith, Ferguson, Crossley, Brown & Hitchen: "You Haven’t Seen ‘Nuthin’ Yet!” – VoIP Technology and Why This is Just the Tip of the Iceberg - How the world-wide disability community will soon have easy access with anyone, anywhere, and anytime

• VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) is a term used in IP telephony for managing the delivery of voice information using the Internet Protocol (IP). Few realize that with implementation of various other applications, the entire realm of communications can be totally revolutionized. Not only is every type of instant interaction between our world-wide neighbors a reality, but now the disabled and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities can experience real-time participation. We will describe and demonstrate what is currently available for this community in VoIP technology along with what's coming up in future development.

• Sligar: Pointers on How to Conduct a Vocational Communication Assessment

• This highly interactive and hands on presentation is for direct service providers and will develop their skills to conduct an ecological evaluation of a work place for and with a person who is deaf and low functioning. The presenter will review the functional assessment measure Assessing Workplace Communication Skills with Traditionally Underserved Persons who are Deaf. Field experiences and applications will be shared as well as ways to use the instrument. Using a case history, the participants will evaluate a work site and develop strategies to improve workplace communication.

 

• Johnson & Brady: What Does Mental Health Have to Do With Transition Issues? Ideas from a Community Rehabilitation Perspective

  • This workshop will cover three main areas that relate to mental health and its impact on transition in vocational education and employment settings. The areas that will be covered are first, "Diagnosing Deaf Clients Using a Culturally Affirming Approach" (including the use of certified deaf interpreters); second, "Using Certified Deaf Interpreters in Transition and finally, implementation using "Utah Deaf Teleservices Model". The overall goal of this presentation is to improve employment outcomes with remedial and preremedial postsecondary deaf clients.
    

1:00 - 2:00 Group Box Lunch

2:00 - 5:00 Breakout Sessions (with 15 minute coffee break)

• Rawlinson and Davis: Use of ALDs with Cochlear Implants

  • You may be aware of how vital ALDs are to hearing aid wearers when trying to hear in noisy environments. Did you know that ALDs provide the same benefit to Cochlear Implant users? With the steady increase in the number of cochlear implantees in the world, you will begin to see more of them in your client and student population. Prepare yourself by attending this demonstration of a variety of ALDs and see how they can be coupled with cochlear implants.

 

• Gazeley, Hitchen, Schwier, & Studenmund: Putting the CART with a Horse of a Different Color: Making Internet-based Training Accessible to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Participants

• The demand for Internet-based training is increasing as technology access improves. Many of the distance learning formats presently available are based on telephone conference technology paired with an Internet-based delivery of visual information. This presentation illustrates how one organization, the State of Oregon Department of Human Services, combined its distance learning technology with Communication Access Real Time (CART) captioning technology to allow Deaf and Hard of Hearing learners to participate in NetCast training sessions. It will illustrate the access process on a national level for Vocational Rehabilitation and other social service professionals.

 

• Walt, Barnard, Crepeaux, & Carnes: Impacting Post-school Outcomes for Young Adults who are Deaf Blind

  • How can we improve transitional services for students who are deaf-blind? Participants in this session will gain knowledge regarding several areas of transition including: a) current research from a national study on the post-school outcomes of young adults who are deaf-blind; b) how self-determination impacts the educational and vocational success of these young adults, and c) what are some of the transition strategies being used today. The participants will also receive valuable resources related to deaf-blindness.
    

• Evans: Seven Steps to Reasonable Accommodation

  • "It is unlawful for a covered entity to fail to make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant/employee unless the requested accommodation would cause an undue hardship." Who is a covered entity? How are accommodations applied in employment settings? What is meant by "known" physical/mental limitations? How is a person "otherwise qualified"? What actions determine a formal request? What are burden shifting rules? What is undue hardship? Find out the answers to these questions and more! This presentation addresses the rights and responsibilities of the covered entity and qualified individual with disability in employment settings.
    

5:00 Exhibits Close

6:00 - 8:00 Conference Welcome & Reception

THURSDAY, April 10, 2003 (2-hour sessions)

7:00 - 8:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00 Exhibits Open

8:00 - 10:00 Breakout Sessions

• Rawlinson & Camp: Use of Palm Pilots and Other PDAs in Disability Support Services

  • With more students who are deaf and hard of hearing choosing to attend mainstream colleges and universities, the demand for auxiliary aids has vastly grown. Colleges find themselves seeking creative ways of meeting the support services needs their students demand and have a right now. This presentation introduces hand held technology on the cutting edge; its current and future applications. The Palm VII offers some features that the presenters believe can enhance deaf and hard of hearing students' educational experiences.

 

• Billies, Hurwitz, Kiperman, & DeCaro: Roles and Goals: The Impact of Role Models and Expectations on the Success of Individuals Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

• Strong role models have a major influence in the aspirations of young students who are deaf and hard of hearing. This session will present research findings and anecdotal stories regarding significant factors in promoting the success of professionals. NETAC and PEPNet will present "Achieving Goals! Career Stories of Individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing" and panelists will consider the impact that these will have in the lives of 45,000 students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Attendees will view the Web site and several video segments that document the lives of individuals, highlighting their experiences growing up as well as factors that made them successful in the workplace.

• Schroedel & Kelley: Reaching the “Invisible Population”: Enhancing Vocational Rehabilitation and Disability Support Services to Hard-of-Hearing College Students

  • Session participants will learn why many hard of hearing students do not seek VR or DSS services. Denial of hearing loss, a major factor in this pattern, is caused by the stigmatizing of hearing loss by persons who hear. This presentation explains this process and the strategies hard of hearing persons use to cope with it. Numerous techniques are presented to improve VR and DSS services to enhance the transition, recruitment, orientation, acceptance of hearing loss, and persistence of hard of hearing college students.

 

• Ward-Bridges & Reichman: The “Power” of Interagency Agreements

  • The program will focus on the conceptualization of how resource sharing and merging leadership responsibilities can achieve increased quality of life and upgrade the standards in the human service delivery objectives from rehabilitative, education, social service and employment fronts without worrying about duplication and enjoying increased efficiency. This training session is designed for service providers who are working with special needs population groups to understand the power and effectiveness of interagency agreements and the role it can play in providing services in the spirit of collaboration with other programs/agencies. This is an exploration in how merging resources, leadership, and lessening autonomy between various agencies by working towards common goals can make this concept into a win-win situation for the underserved populations where the individual benefits as well as the agencies who are discharged with the responsibility of serving.
    

10:30 - 12:30 Breakout Sessions

• Durkow: How To Use The “Connections: Vocational Rehabilitation & Institutions of Higher Education Jointly Serving Consumers Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing" Training Packet To Initiate Interagency Agreement Discussions And Identify Issues

  • "CONNECTIONS" is a packaged half-day interactive workshop for higher education staff members and vocational rehabilitation counselors. It addresses the VR process and ways that higher education, VR staff members, and students can work together toward a positive educational experience. This session will provide an overview and preview of the "Connections" workshop and how it can be used to stimulate discussions that will identify issues and initiate the development of interagency agreements.

 

• Downs & Lefebure: A Closer Look: Creating Interactive CD-ROMs for Sign Language Vocabulary Development

• Learn how to create interactive CD-ROMs, based upon the presenters' experiences in developing the series: "A Closer Look - Interactive CD-ROMs that target sign vocabulary for courses in secondary and postsecondary education." Interpreters and deaf students, as well as others, benefit by preparing in advance for vocabulary used in the classroom. Students are able to improve comprehension of course-specific terminology and improve test scores. Participants will learn the thoughts behind the project, the development processes, and receive a copy of the "How To" manual developed by the presenters.

 

• Paris, Miller, Cartwright, & LaBrosse: Culturally Appropriate Outreach and Transition Methods for American Indians and Alaska Natives Who are Deaf, Deaf Blind, Hard of Hearing, or Late Deafened

  • Research indicates that American Indians and Alaska Natives experience a higher rate of disability, but receive less rehabilitative services than other groups. This is primarily due to a paucity of outreach services for this underserved population. Minority deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing and late-deafened individuals often live within several cultures by combining the values therein. Rehabilitation counselor awareness of American Indian culture and multiculturalism in American Indians and Alaska Natives is essential when providing outreach services. Viewpoints gathered from rural service providers and leaders of Native American organizations will be shared during the presentation.

 

• Richardson and Marble: WHAT'S THE CATCH? Occupational Communication Specialists: Meeting the Needs of Traditionally-Underserved Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and Late-Deafened Consumers
  

• Traditionally-underserved deaf, hard-of-hearing, and late-deafened Vocational Rehabilitation consumers present numerous complicating factors that hamper successful employment outcomes. Occupational Communication Specialists (OCSes) should expedite and ease consumers' integration into the workforce through an array of services only they can offer. We will demonstrate how the roles of OCSes and interpreters differ yet complement one another. Through case scenarios, we will discuss some common barriers and ethical dilemmas that are unique to OCSes. Finally, we will furnish attendees with some resources to establish OCSes in their own communities.
  

12:45 - 2:15 Lunch with Plenary Speaker

• West-Evans Panel: Hiring and Retention from the Employer’s View

  What drives the hiring and selection process from an employer's perspective? How can job seekers better prepare for the interview process? How can employees position themselves for upward mobility? Learn from business representatives how to better prepare applicants and how to develop effective strategies for meeting their employment needs.
  

2:30 - 4:30 Breakout Sessions

• Falvo: Fostering Independence in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

  • Deaf students can learn to work independently. Teachers can provide guidance while students begin working on their own. Working independently may be new to some deaf students, and it may be met with initial resistance. However, thinking for oneself and working independently are paramount for college success. Students can learn how to help themselves, tutor their peers, and work on individual and collaborative projects. Students often gain self-confidence when their reliance on others decreases.

 

• Johnson: A Distance Learning Program for Educational Interpreters: A Model of Collaboration Between a Post-Secondary Institution, State Education Agencies and the deaf Community

  • The Distance Opportunities for Interpreter Training Center at Front Range Community College administers three distance learning projects. The Educational Interpreting Certificate Program is a 30 semester hour program offered at a distance for sign language interpreters who work in K 12 classrooms with students who are deaf and hard of hearing. This presentation will give participants an overview of the design, development and delivery structure of the program - looking at both the opportunities and the challenges. This collaborative model will be shared as an innovative approach to post-secondary educational needs of service providers, particularly in the rural areas of the nation.

 

• Call: You Can’t Ignore the Loss (Grief Reactions to Hearing Loss)

  • Many times in our efforts to offer rehabilitative services to people with acquired hearing loss we forget about the PERSON behind the ear. We may be quick to prescribe hearing aids, ALD's, and notetakers for school or work while the PERSON is still trying to believe and accept the reality and ramifications of a severe hearing loss. How often do we overlook the underlying issues of grief and loss and move too fast with more concrete solutions? When a person with hearing loss is experiencing grief reactions related to their hearing loss, they may not be ready to wear hearing aids, use ALD's, or embark on new career path training. This workshop will address typical grief reactions, and explore ways to assist clients through tasks of mourning. Ideas of how to integrate grief work into interactions with clients will also be addressed.

 

• West-Evans & Reichman: Shaping the Rehabilitation Act Through Community Input

  • What is the Rehabilitation Act and how does it affect the service delivery system for people with disabilities? In this session, you will learn about the content and intent of the Rehabilitation Act and how it has been shaped through a history of public input. The Rehabilitation Act is up for reauthorization in 2003, what are the recommendations for change from the Deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing community?
    

4:30 Exhibits Close

Evening: on your own

FRIDAY, April 11, 2003 (1 hr 15 min sessions)

7:30 - 8:30 Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:45 Breakout Sessions

• Schroedel, Ashmore, Watson, & Rodriguez: The “National Research Agenda” for the Postsecondary Career Training of Students with Hearing Loss: A Forum for Service Professionals

  • This Agenda was developed as a "master blue print" to initiate federally funded research on the postsecondary career preparation of these students. A critical paucity of such studies has deprived service professionals from research-based knowledge to enhance postsecondary education opportunities and outcomes. This presentation will describe the need for this Agenda, it's conceptual framework, goals, and exemplary research projects. The participation of consumers across the entire process of designing, conducting, disseminating, and using research project findings will be emphasized. Ample time will be allocated for an extensive discussion by session participants of the Agenda and related research projects.

 

• Sargent, Clay, & Azure: Native Hand Talkers: Indigenous Deaf Culture in the U.S.

• American Indians and Alaska Natives who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf-Blind need culturally sensitive services to assist in communication necessary for success in transition, independent living, and participation in vocational rehabilitation processes. This presentation will cover information developed by the American Indian Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (AIRRTC) at Northern Arizona University, in collaboration with the National Multicultural Interpreter Project and the Intertribal Deaf Council and focus on: American Indian World View and Cultural Identity, Attitudes, Values, and Behaviors; Language Use and Cultural Vocabularies; Identity, Roles and Status in Indian Community Life; Traditional Spiritual Practices and View of "Medicine"; Ceremonies and Community Events; and American Indian Deaf Organizations.

• Miller & Paris: Providing ADA Accommodations to Incarcerated Deaf Persons: Breaking Down Barriers to Reintegration

• Deaf inmates are underserved due to both geographic and attitudinal barriers. Focused on a population of profoundly deaf, signing offenders, this presentation provides essential information about ADA compliance and communication strategies designed to reach deaf persons behind bars. What barriers to prison services exist for deaf individuals and deaf individuals with minimal language skills? What strategies can be used to overcome these barriers?

 

• Olson & Sherlock: Wedding Planning: How to Marry Students with Hearing Loss and Employers

  • Hosting a career fair for people with hearing loss might seem daunting. While the amount of details is similar to wedding planning, the payoff in matching students with employers and developing community ties is well worth the effort. You can do this too! At this session we will outline the steps, personnel and capital involved. Learn from our challenges and accomplishments!

   

10:15 - 11:30 Breakout Sessions

• Smith, Bersani, & Gallimore: “College Should Be a Place That Will Change My Life:” Perceptions of 10 High School Seniors Who are Deaf From the Pacific NW

  • What are deaf high school students thinking about as they prepare to transition to college? Do they feel well prepared? A qualitative study was conducted investigate the perspectives of 10 high school seniors who are deaf as they prepared to transition to college. The participants included young men and women from the northwest who attended mainstream and residential education settings. Interviews were structured to elicit participants' perspectives on a variety of topics including: selection of college, past and future support from school, family, and community, anticipation and fears, and how well high school prepared the students for this transition. Themes emerged that will be of interest to parents, rehabilitation counselors, transition specialists, educators, and service providers.

 

• Billies: Financing Your Education: Options for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

• Interested in how YOU can advise students with their financial aid options? This presentation provides all the answers! Many avenues exist to secure financial assistance for postsecondary education: SSI, SSDI, Vocational Rehabilitation, Federal and State grants, Tax credits, Student and Parent loans, and Scholarships. Come and learn how you can easily access current information about all these topics. You'll depart able to immediately advise students who are deaf and hard of hearing about how they can actively and easily pursue these choices. This presentation will explain the financial aid process in layman's terms, offer lots of advice about how to maximize opportunities, and direct you to a tremendous online resource.

 

• Storrs: Not Just Deaf: Working with individuals who experience hearing loss and developmental disabilities

  • In the deaf community, individuals who experience developmental disabilities are one of the largest underserved populations. Due to the multiple service barriers (i.e. communication, level of independent living skills, mobility, modes of processing information), service providers find themselves ill equipped in providing appropriate services. This presentation will provide participants an overview of the medical and psychosocial aspects of developmental disabilities and how it relates to the deaf community. Participants will also leave with a "tool kit" filled with new service strategies. As well, participants will learn a new service philosophy that is transferable to most underserved populations.

 

• Ingram: Including Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals in One-Stop Centers

• Under the Workforce Investment Act, One-Stop Centers are mandated to be universally accessible. In this session we will discuss a Department of Labor grant to the Center on Self-Determination at the Oregon Health & Science University that has been working with several One-Stop Centers in Oregon to specifically address the issue of universal access for "customers" who experience a disability. Our case study will specifically focus on customers who are deaf and hard of hearing.
  

11:45 - 1:30 Lunch Plenary/Closing

• Sanderson, Ivankovic, & Gallimore: PEPNet Resource Center: What's in it for you?

  • Need sign language videos? Don't know how to work with hard of hearing students? Want basic policies for serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing? WE GOT 'EM AND MORE! The PEPNet Resource Center (PRC) serves as the repository and dissemination center for products developed by the PEPNet Outreach Sites around the country. It includes not only PEPNet Products but also a large resource library devoted to materials relating to deaf and hard of hearing people. This presentation will provide an overview of the products and services of the PRC and how YOU can access them.

   

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