CI Toolkit for parents and teachers

Recently I received The Cochlear Implant School Toolkit which was funded by a Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Insitute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders for review. 

Included in the toolkit were:

• A Parent’s Guide to help parents prepare their children, their children’s schools, and themselves for their children’s entries into mainstream classrooms
• A lesson plan and DVD for typical children with activities to create peer acceptance and to smooth the integration of children with cochlear implants into mainstream classrooms
• A website with supportive and interactive features for parents, teachers, and children
• A Teachers’ Guide & DVD that provide concrete strategies and examples for teaching a student with a cochlear implant, tips for creating an inclusive classroom, suggestions for classroom modifications, and testimonials from parents and teachers who have been through the mainstreaming process with a child with a cochlear implant.

All of the pieces are well done and an impressive advisory panel guided the toolkit's development. 

The research-based teacher's toolkit should be standard reading for each teacher that has a child with a cochlear implant.  The guide has been espeically useful for Lily's school.  Lily's teacher is very willing and open to learning everything and anything we provide to her.   It includes basics information such as learning about CIs and hearing loss, working as part of a TEAM, understanding challenges, setting up a classroom and refining and reporting your progress.  It is easy and quick to read while providing tons of resource materials. 

The company that developed this toolkit is also working on The Cochlear Implant University which will support high school and college students with cochlear implants and their parents as the student transitions to higher education.

The toolkit is a must read for all famlies and teachers who work with kids with Cochlear Implants.