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(music playing) This webcast includes spoken narration. To adjust the volume, use the controls at the bottom of the screen. While viewing this webcast, there is a pause and reverse button that can be used throughout the presentation. The written version of the narration appears to the right of the screen. Certificates of Achievement will be available to Administrative Entity staff, Providers, Supports Coordinators, and SC Supervisors after completing all course requirements. Please view and then save or print your certificate in order to receive credit for this course. For SCs and SC Supervisors, course requirements include successful completion of a pre‐ test and a post‐test. Hello. Welcome to the course “ODP Deaf Services Overview.” This course is required for all investigators, licensing inspectors, and monitors. My name is Patty McCool. I am the Director of the Bureau of Supports for People with Intellectual Disabilities and I’ll be your presenter for the first part of this webcast. Next, you’ll hear from Louise Montoya, a consultant to the Office of Developmental Programs on Deaf Culture and the unique needs of people with intellectual disabilities who are deaf. Finally, a representative from the ODP Consulting System will provide you with information about communicating with class members, identifying and reporting problems with effective communication, and contacting the Deaf Services Coordinator. In August 2013, DPW entered into a settlement agreement in the case of Harry M. versus DPW. This case focused on communication access for people who are deaf and served through the Consolidated Waiver. This training is one part of what is required by the settlement agreement. We’re going to spend a little time giving you an overview of the various activities and timelines in the settlement at the beginning of this webcast. If you’d like to review the entire agreement or a summary of the settlement, you can access them using the link on this slide. Some of the requirements that ODP has implemented as a result of the settlement include the following. • New data fields have been created in HCSIS to identify hearing status, primary language, and communication skills. More information about these fields is included later in this presentation and can also be found through HCSIS Job Aids and Captivate trainings on the Learning Management System or LMS. • A Statewide Deaf Services Coordinator has been hired. You’ll hear more about when and how to contact her in a little bit. • ODP has worked to identify individuals who are deaf who are served through the Consolidated Waiver or on the Emergency Waiting List and staff who are skilled in supporting people who are deaf. • ODP is also required to provide interpreters and communication assistance during meetings. Individuals who are deaf will be provided options to choose Supports Coordinators and Providers who are skilled in working with people who are deaf. Individuals will also be supported to live with other individuals who are deaf if they’d like to do this. As of April 2014, ODP is refining the process for providers to use when requesting additional funds relating to increased staff costs due to employing and retaining staff who are skilled in sign language. In this case, the term sign language includes American Sign Language, Sign Language from other countries, such as Spanish Sign Language; Signed Exact English; and a mixture of ASL and signed English; tactile sign; and visual gestural communication. ODP is also required to establish a standardized communication assessment process for use with all individuals who are deaf and who are served through Pennsylvania’s Consolidated Waiver. The assessment is currently being piloted with a small group of volunteers. After the assessment pilot is completed and the assessment tools and procedures are finalized, ODP will be completing a communication assessment of all individuals who are deaf and served through the Consolidated Waiver. The communication assessor will make recommendations including whether a separate assistive technology evaluation is necessary. Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive Technology, part of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, is a good resource for more information on assistive technology. While individuals who are enrolled in the Person/Family Directed Support Waiver are not currently eligible to receive the standardized communication assessment, they may receive an assessment from a speech/language pathologist. There are training requirements in the settlement for Supports Coordinators, Providers, investigators, licensing inspectors, and monitors. The Communication Assessors will also receive training before they complete communication assessments. The settlement specifies what topic will be provided for each audience. The training content includes Deaf Culture, the needs of Waiver participants who are deaf, and the role of the Deaf Services Coordinator. As specified in the Harry M. settlement agreement, the topics that will be covered in today’s training are: • Deaf Culture • Unique needs of Waiver Participants who are deaf • Communication with class members • Identifying and reporting problems with effective communication, and • When and how to contact the Deaf Services Coordinator. I’ll now turn the presentation over to Louise Montoya who will talk about Deaf Culture and the unique needs of people with intellectual disabilities who are deaf. Thank you Patty. Hello, my name’s Louise and my focus in this webcast is to describe Deaf Culture and the unique needs of people who are deaf. I am a child of deaf adults which is know as a CODA. I was raised in a culturally Deaf Community. ASL or American Sign Language is my first language and English is actually my second language. In my family, there are two kinds of genetic hearing loss. One is congenital deafness and the other is progressive hearing loss in females. Many of my relatives have progressive hearing loss and I have a cousin and an uncle who are both deaf. My uncle is also diagnosed with an intellectual disability. In my professional life, I am a licensed professional counselor and a certified sign language interpreter. I coordinate and provide counseling and consultation services through Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the Center for Childhood Communication and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Services. I’m supporting ODP in implementing of the Harry M. settlement agreement. Before we begin to talk about Deaf Culture, let’s first look at some definitions. The first definition that is important is the definition of deaf as described in the settlement agreement. The agreement states that the criteria you see on the screen will be used to determine if the individual is deaf. The definition is “As a result of hearing impairment, the person is unable to understand or communicate verbal expressions at a level commensurate with his or her intellectual ability, even when wearing hearing aids; or as a result of hearing impairment, his or her primary language is Sign Language.” Please note that while other people with communication challenges may use sign language, the Harry M. settlement, and therefore this training, are focused only on those who are deaf or hard of hearing. There are different types of sign languages to be aware of. Every country has at least 2 forms of sign language: a sign language that’s native to the country with unique grammar, vocabulary and is not the same as the country’s spoke language, and a version of the country’s spoken language on the hands. So in the U.S., we have American Sign Language, or ASL, and many ways to show spoken English on the hands. There is Signed Exact English which uses English vocabulary and word order. Pidgin Sign Language then is a mixture of American Sign Language and Signed English. Tactile Sign Language is used by people who are deaf‐blind and use sign language to communicate. The person who is deaf‐blind places their hands on the signer’s hands to feel the hand shape, movement, and location of the sign. Visual gestural communication is not a language like English or American Sign Language. It’s a communication mode that uses gestures, facial expression, and body language. Often individuals who cannot communicate effectively using either a spoken language like English or a formal sign language like ASL, will be able to communicate more effectively using natural gestures. Examples of natural gestures may include extending an open hand with the palm up to indicate “give me” and pointing to yourself to communicate “I, me, or mine.” These gestures are generally understood by people within a shared culture and setting. Individuals may also use idiosyncratic gestures. These are movements used consistently by an individual to signify a particular meaning. These gestures are usually understood by familiar communication partners, but may or may not be understood by people who are not familiar with the individual’s unique communication. There is some jargon that you may have heard that’s important to understand. • When you see the word deaf with a lower case d, that refers to people with bilateral severe to profound hearing loss. • When you see the word Deaf with a capital D, it also refers to people with bilateral, moderate to profound hearing loss, who identify themselves as part of the American Deaf Community and Culture and who prefer to use American Sign Language to communicate. • Hard of hearing, or the abbreviation HH, refers to people with unilateral or bilateral, mild to profound hearing loss, who use speaking, lip‐reading, and listening for communication. • Hearing loss refers to a decreased ability to hear. • Oral or oral deaf refers to people with bilateral, severe to profound hearing loss who use speaking, lip‐reading, and listening to communicate. • Hearing refers to the category most of you are in.