News from Texas Hands & Voices
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June 2009
What works for your child is
what makes the choice right!
Contents:
Upcoming Events
Legislative Alert
Parent Survey
New Web Resource
YeeHaw!
Did You Know...?
Join Texas Hands & Voices
Today!
Dear Laura,
Wow, what a summer already! We have created such an awesome team
at Texas Hands & Voices! I just spent an incredible weekend at Family
Weekend Retreat hosted by the Educational Resource Center on Deafness
(ERCOD) at Texas School for the Deaf in Austin. What makes it even more
special is our own Lisa Crawford (President of TX H&V), through her
position as the Parent Liaison for Texas, spearheaded this event along
with the rest of the ERCOD team, TSD staff, and many volunteers. Our TX
H&V Parent Leaders participated in a Parent Panel and discussion forum. I
had the privilege of presenting a session with Tamara Joyce-Wylie (D/FW
Area Parent Leader) on parent involvement. This is my family's fourth time
attending FWR but this year was, hands down, the best yet! I strongly
encourage all Texas families of children with hearing loss to consider making
plans now to attend in 2010. There is something about being with other
parents of children that have less-than-typical hearing, plus the resources and
information from professionals is invaluable.
I was also asked to present at the biennial conference for TAD (Texas
Association of the Deaf), which was held in San Antonio the same weekend as
FWR. My presentation, Tipping the Scales for Our Children's Success:
Moving Forward With Effective Partnerships Between Parents,
Professionals, and Community Members, was well received and I hope
inspired all who attended. Then, for Lisa Crawford and I, it was off to the
mountains of Lake Tahoe for the Hands & Voices National Leadership
Conference where we joined leaders from other Hands & Voices chapters from
around the county for information, motivation, and rejuvenation.
Texas Hands & Voices is a Chapter of
the National Hands & Voices
Organization. By becoming a member of
Texas Hands & Voices you will get
membership privileges that include the
National Communicator Quarterly Paper
mailed to your home or place of business.
Your annual dues help us defer the cost of
mailings and give us a small budget to
continue our Texas efforts to support Deaf
and Hard of Hearing children, their
families and the professionals that serve
them, in the state of Texas. It also allows
us to create resources, training materials
and a Texas specific website .
JOIN NOW!
As you are reading this newsletter, Lisa, Tamara, and I will be in
Oklahoma attending the American Society of Deaf Children's biennial
conference. We have gathered tons of inspiration and information from these
conference and look forward to sharing what we have learned to further the
mission of Texas Hands & Voices to support families across our state!
Plus, I was hoping my update might make you at least the slightest bit jealous
so you would join us on the road next year!
Laura Davis
Director
Legislative Alerts
Texas Hands & Voices is interested in helping Texas families and
professionals stay abreast of happenings in the political arena as it relates to
matters affecting children with hearing loss. We encourage you to read and
evaluate the information provided. Then take a few moments to contact your
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News from Texas Hands & Voices
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Senators and Representatives and share with them how this legislation has
the potential to impact your family!
Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act
Federal Legislation
The bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 1646) would
provide a tax credit towards the purchase of each hearing aid of
up to $500 per hearing aid, available once every 5 years. It
would be available to 1) individuals age 55 and over, or 2) those
purchasing a hearing aid for a dependent. The House bill
excludes coverage for those with incomes over $200,000/year.
The bill in the Senate (S. 1019) would provide the same $500
credit but would cover all age groups. Click on the link below to
learn more about this important piece of legislation. There is
also a form to contact your congressional leaders.
Read more and write congress!
Share the message of Hands & Voices
with your family, friends and
professionals!
Forward this message
Texas Hands & Voices is a chapter of
the nationwide non-profit organization
dedicated to supporting families and their
children who are deaf or hard of hearing,
as well as the professionals who serve
them. We are a parent-driven,
parent/professional/community
collaborative group that is unbiased
towards communication modes and
methods. Our diverse membership
includes those who are deaf, hard of
hearing, and hearing impaired and their
families who communicate orally, with
signs, cue, and/or combined methods. We
exist to help our children reach their
highest potential.Whether we’re at work
locally or nationally, Hands & Voices
continues to be driven by the need to
improve the educational outcomes and
quality of life for children who are deaf or
hard of hearing.
Upcoming Events
Happenings around the state that families
of children with hearing loss need to know
about!
San Antonio Playgroups
July 7, 3:00 p.m.
Witte Museum
July 21, 9:30 a.m.
McDonald's at 281 and
Thousand Oaks
Texas Hands & Voices is looking for D/HOH individuals,
parents, professionals, or others who are interested in being a
voice for the many Texans with hearing loss in our legislative
process. If you are interested in learning how to get more
involved and make a difference, we need you for our Legislative
Task Force. Please contact [email protected]
for more information!
Parent Survey-We need your input!
The Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services Statewide Leadership office, Region 10
Education Service Center is conducting a parent survey as a part of a
statewide initiative to improve follow-up rates from newborn hearing
screening, diagnosis, and referral to early intervention services. If your child's
hearing loss was suspected or present at birth, please take a moment to
complete this survey. This will help us to better serve you and other parents
and families of the estimated 1,200 infants who are born each year in Texas
with hearing loss.
You can find the link to start the survey on the home page of the Texas
Hands & Voices website HERE.
New Web Resource!
A new Web site intended to be a clearinghouse for questions about raising and
educating a deaf child has been launched by the Center for Education
Research Partnerships at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a
college of Rochester Institute of Technology. The Web site,
www.educatingdeafchildren.org, is intended to answer questions from
parents, teachers and other professionals who work with deaf children.
Approximately 90 percent of deaf children have hearing parents, so many
times those parents feel overwhelmed and at a loss to find resources to answer
questions they may have.
The information on the site is intended to provide full and objective
information. A number of resources are listed, and visitors to the site are able
to post questions to be answered by experts in that field. A sampling of
questions already addressed include: How will parents communicate with
their deaf child? Will hearing aids help? Is my child a candidate for a cochlear
implant? How will my child interact with peers?
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News from Texas Hands & Voices
Contact: Sonia Armstrong
210-387-5179
[email protected]
Houston Area Family
Picnic
July 18th
10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Zube Park Gazebo in
NW Harris County
Contact: Kellie J. Berger
281-773-0107
[email protected]
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Project partners include the American Society for Deaf Children, Hands &
Voices, the National Deaf Children’s Society and the Alexander Graham Bell
Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The Web site is sponsored in
part by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation in Rochester, N.Y. and receives
additional funding from Oxford University Press.
YeeHaw!
This section of the e-newsletter is
dedicated to the successes and
triumphs of Texas Hands &
Voices families and professionals! If
you or one of your kids got the
scholarship, made the team,
performed in a program, or
accomplished a goal - no matter how
big or small - we want to hear about
it! This is your place to brag! Send
your YeeHaw! to
[email protected] with
your/your child's accomplishment,
first name, last initial, and home
town. Photos are also welcome!
Make plans to attend one or more of these
events today and enjoy meeting other
families with children who are deaf or
hard of hearing, share in valuable
information and just have fun!
Parent Leaders
Texas Hands & Voices Parent
Leaders are parents of children with
hearing loss who have received training in
order to provide local resource
information, training opportunities, social
events, and support in their communities
for families of children with hearing loss
and the professionals who serve them.
Dallas/Fort Worth Area:
Tamara Joyce-Wylie,
[email protected]
Tyler Area: Denise M. Elliott,
[email protected]
McAllen Area/Spanish Liaison: Tina
Proctor,
[email protected]
Houston Area: Kellie Berger,
[email protected]
Austin/San Antonio Area: Laura
Davis,
[email protected]
Did you know...?
...you can borrow hearing loss resources f0r free? TOOL stands for TSD
(Texas School for the Deaf) On-line Outreach Library and currently contains
over 2000 videos and other materials focusing on deaf and hard of hearing
issues (e.g. sign language, interpreters, lipreading, and other similar topics).
Any Texas resident is eligible to register and it is free! Click on the link below
for more information and to register for access to this wonderful resource for
Texas families!
TSD On-line Outreach Library Information
More information about the Parent Leader
Program and their upcoming events will be
added to the Texas Hands & Voices
Website!
Texas Hands & Voices
P.O. Box 41887
Austin, TX 78704
www.txhandsandvoices.org
[email protected]
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News from Texas Hands & Voices
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Texas Hands & Voices
P.O. Box 41887
Austin, TX 78704
512-470-4065
www.txhandsandvoices.org
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7/23/2009