Issue #0

Issues in Access Creating Effective Preshools for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Children

Plot

This book shares concrete strategies for integrating deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children in early childhood education programs.

The authors discuss issues and practices identified through Project Access-a highly successful national outreach and training grant that involved parents, teachers, and administrators. The process yielded valuable information about the following topics:
Approaches
The book describes three basic models of interagency collaboration tailored to provide education and child care to deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children in dilterent types of communities and settings.

Parents
The authors delve into the diverse needs of parents who learn that their child is deaf and are seeking both appropriate early education and accessible child care. They underscore the importance of ongoing collaboration with parents, starting at the onset with their involvement in creating the program's shared vision.

Staff
Project Access provided a training ground to discover the kinds of information needed by staff and administrators establishing and implementing an integrated program. Insights and information are shared for those who want to create or modify their own program.

Children
Providing an environment in which deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children grow and learn together is a challenge. The book's final chapter discusses considerations and strategies for programs whose goal is to meet the needs of each child.

Appendices provide needed forms, checklists, and other helpful tools.
(A follow-up and companion to the Access for All videotape and manual).