Together we are more effective
than individually
Recreational Camp for adults: the power of
teamwork
• Every year, there is a talent night at
a camp for adults with disabilities
• One camper with intellectual
disabilities has an amazing singing
voice but was quite shy for
performing in front of people
• Another camper loves to have
attention, but can’t talk
• Together, they put on quite a
performance
Team members
SLP knowledgeable in
deafness and SLP
knowledgeable in
other areas, aug
comm
OT/PT,
equipment
specialist
Behavioral
specialists,
psychologists
Administrators
Educational
Interpreter/Deaf
Interpreter
Family
and
child
Technology
expert, vision
specialist
Educators, deaf ed,
special ed, MH,
autism specialists,
LD tutor, vocational
support
Professional Focus Group
• “Extensive” literature review (n=11)
• Determined questions from clinical experience and
literature review
• IRB approval, trained facilitator from OCALLI
• Invited participants based on their expertise in either
the field of deaf education/hearing loss, the field of
autism spectrum, and those who have worked with
children with known dual diagnosis
– Included speech pathologists, audiologists, teachers of the
deaf, educational interpreters, special education administrator
Professional Focus Group participants (n=15)
Questions Posed to Professionals
• In working with children with hearing loss and autism spectrum, what tools or
curricula have you used? Tell us how effective these were in serving the
child/children with the dual diagnosis.
• What do you believe the most effective educational setting or settings have
been for children with hearing loss and autism spectrum disorder? Explain
why you think this/these settings are effective.
• What child characteristics would you consider important when choosing an
educational placement?
Questions Posed to Professionals
• When thinking about effective team collaboration for children with
hearing loss and an autism spectrum disorder, what characteristics
do you look for in team members?
• What would the perfect program look like for a child with hearing
loss and autism spectrum disorder?
• What resources are 'missing' and what resource development efforts
should prioritize for this population?
Results
Professional Collaboration
• Participants unanimously agreed that the most important
aspect of better serving children with PHL and ASD is
collaboration between the medical, therapeutic, and
educational settings.
Results
Communication: between professionals and with families
• Improved communication should begin with education
between the fields
• Children with PHL and ASD may perform differently in
different settings, limiting our understanding of the child’s
needs
• Educational placements may look different for different
children depending on the strengths and challenges of each
child
• A united front presented to the family is important
Results
Educational needs of professionals
• A well-educated professional team will be better equipped to
work with the child and to present the family with options
regarding their child’s future.
• Participants requested a conference-type setting to facilitate
interdisciplinary education, facilitated by professionals from
both the medical and educational settings
• Content should be presented in an interdisciplinary manner,
with co-presenters working together to plan content
Results
Parent Education
• The majority of participants expressed that all team members
must improve in educating the parents to assist them in
becoming better consumers of health information regarding
their child.
• Providing this education may improve parents’ trust in the
child’s health, therapy, and education team members and
encourage them to act as an equal member of team.
Results
Parent Education
This education should include:
• better explanations/delineation of each team members'
role the foundation of communication and communication
development (not just traditional sign vs oral
perspectives)
• the impact both PHL and ASD have on the communication
development of their child
• their child's strengths and challenges within each
education setting available
Discussion on Interpreters
• During the professional focus group, it was noted that children
with PHL and ASD often appear to have varying
communication abilities during a medical appointment when
compared to the school environment.
• Additionally, sign language used by a child with PHL and ASD
can appear unfamiliar or incorrect when compared to a child
with PHL who uses ASL to proficiently communicate,
especially if the child has additional motor planning issues.
Discussion on Interpreters
• Participants suggested this may be due to the medical
interpreter being unfamiliar with that child’s unique
communication style. Solutions to this inconsistent
representation of the child’s abilities discussed included:
• Having one interpreter who stays with the child in all
situations (many barriers to this noted)
Discussion on Interpreters
• Utilizing the educational interpreter as an interpreter for the
child’s medical appointments (would require family agreement
and cost sharing with the school)
• Promoting communication between the educational and
medical interpreters prior to a child’s medical appointment to
share information regarding the child’s communication
abilities (potentially through video dictionary of child’s
idiosyncratic signs)
Discussion on Interpreters
• The role of the interpreter in IEP meetings was also
mentioned as an area of improvement
• Often interpreters understand the child’s communication
needs best but feel limited in their meaningful participation
in the IEP meetings
Characteristics of an Effective Team
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•
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Trust (transparency)
Conflict resolution (healthy debate)
Commitment (mission oriented)
Accountability
Results
• Consideration: What role does the family play?
Team effectiveness
• What have been your experiences working in a team?
• What strategies have you used to build an effective team?
• What strategies have you used to enhance
communication and understanding across team
members?
Team-Building
• Describe a situation where your team was effective
– What were the qualities/characteristics which promoted
effective teamwork?
• Describe a situation when the team was not effective
– What were the qualities/characteristics which prompted
ineffective team-work
• Report out the learnings to the group
Team Building: Communication
• Back-to-Back Drawing
• What You’ll Need: Paper, pens/markers, printouts of simple line
drawings or basic shapes.
• Instructions: Split your group into pairs and have each pair sit back
to back. One person gets a picture of a shape or simple image, and
the other gets a piece of paper and pen. The person holding the
picture gives verbal instructions to their partner on how to draw the
shape or image they’ve been given (without simply telling them what
the shape or image is). After a set amount of time, have each set of
partners compare their images and see which team drew the most
accurate replica.
Collaboration and communication
• Talking in Circles (0.5-1 hour) — This is a highly challenging game
that is only recommended for teams who love challenges.
• Place everyone in a circle around a long piece of string that is tied at
its ends to form a circle. Have everyone grasp the string with both
hands and hold the string waist high. Without letting go, the team will
have to form shapes with the string; a square, a triangle, a figure
eight, a rectangle, etc.
• Repeat the game but with everyone’s eyes shut!
• This will require everyone to communicate clearly and listen well.
Make the shapes progressively harder and periodically have them
stop and open their eyes to see their progress
Team-Building: problem-solving and
collaboration
• Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower
• What You’ll Need: 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 roll of
masking tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow for every
team.
• Instructions: Using just these supplies, which team can build
the tallest tower?
• The marshmallow has to be at the very top of the spaghetti
tower, and the whole structure has to stand on its own (that
means no hands or other objects supporting it!) for five
seconds.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/10/01/6-ways-successful-teams-are-built-tolast/#1d92987c2b55
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Be aware of how you work
Get to know the rest of your team
Define roles and responsibilities
Be proactive with feedback
Acknowledge and reward
Always celebrate success
Team Building
• Strive towards common goals
• Listen actively
• Communicate effectively between/among team
members
• Be confident in what you know and recognize when
you don’t know something
• Learn from others/collaboration
• Be open to new ideas and strategies
• Think outside the box
• Consider co-treatment when appropriate
• Try something and tweak it when it doesn’t work
Closing thoughts…
Deaf/HH Plus
• Deaf/HH Plus is meant to be a positive term, not in any way
negative or insensitive to the child who has medical issues
along with hearing loss. In fact, I see it as an “A+” or “B+,”
meaning the child carries additional positive qualities. But
it is a gift that needs to be carefully unwrapped. And it may
not appear to be a gift when you first receive it. Time helps
you appreciate, understand and unfold the possibilities. And
the “Plus” most often means the child and family has added
responsibilities and requires additional expertise.“
• – Candace Lindow-Davies, MN Hands & Voices
http://www.cohandsandvoices.org/plus/index.html