Outreach

Mission.

To identify and find resources to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children and their families throughout the state of Indiana.

Outreach Staff. The Outreach staff is composed of a diversified group of people bringing to the department, and ultimately to consumers, a variety of backgrounds, skills and expertise. Among our 19 members we have four Deaf staff, two African American staff, and one Hispanic staff. The Staff members have professional experience and degrees in teaching, administration, educational audiology, educational psychology, social work, interpreting and secretarial support.

Staff provide in-service training for public and private agencies and consultation regarding individual student needs for any deaf or hard of hearing child in the state of Indiana. Participation in case conferences or follow-up consultations with the local school program; collaboration with other agencies regarding case management and counseling; and consultation to programs for deaf and hard of hearing children are just a few of the services we offer.

Assessment Team. The Assessment Team provides multidisclipinary assessments and audiological services, including hearing tests, hearing aid recommendations and monitoring; language and communication assessments; and psycho-educational assessments.

Case Conference Team. Three people, 2 educators and a secretary, facilitate all ISD case conferences from a neutral perspective following the rules and regulations as set forth in IDEA and Article 7. Scheduling, record maintenance, and paperwork as well as the facilitation of the conferences are handled by this team.

  The New Look of Your Child's IEP

                  The Indiana School for the Deaf  has made the decision to join with other school districts in the state and switch to the Department of Education, DOE, sponsored ICAN/ISTAR program for all of our students’ IEPs.  From now on, the IEP that you receive from ISD will be in accordance with the ICAN/ISTAR program which the State Department of Education has devised and trained our staff how to use.

ICAN is Indivdiualized Classroom Acountability Network.

                  This is very exciting and we are thrilled to partner with DOE in rolling out ICAN/ISTAR for use with Deaf and Hard of Hearing students at ISD.  Many school districts have already been using the ICAN/ISTAR system for their IEP’s.

Some of the amazing benefits:

ICAN/ISTAR allows direct access to reference state law, Article 7, while in any section of the IEP.

The software program is all on the web so teachers and staff can work off site.

Teachers have examples of goals and wording that are precisely aligned with the state standards.

Local Educational Authorities, LEAs,  across the state can view the IEP and print directly from the web for their use locally.

All the data is hosted on the Department of Education computer storage space and not on the Indiana School for the Deaf space. Saves money.

A wonderful win-win situation for all!

                  Thank you for your patience as ISD works through this “transition” year of helping all staff to be trained in using the IEP’s through the ISTAR/ICAN program.  Look for yours at your child’s next

Annual Case Review.

Counseling Team. These individuals provide academic counseling services to ISD students.

Family Life Team. The Family Life Team provides First Steps participation and in-home education services for children 0-5 years of age, consultation with individual families, family discussion groups; parent workshops and other family activities, guidance through the case conference and the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) process; collaboration with agencies for family sign classes; and family advocacy;

Other Services. Additional services include educational visits for families with deaf and hard of hearing children and stakeholders; written materials and video-lending library; student records and transcripts; and opportunities to volunteer YOUR talents and share your expertise at ISD.