SPEVI Early Intervention VI Community of Practice (EIVI CoP).
When: 4th Thursday of every 2 months.
Open to members and non-members of SPEVI who work in Early Intervention VI or have an interest in the topic.
Organised by SPEVI NZ and SPEVI Inc (Australia).
Co-facilitators: Bronwen Scott, Sharon Duncan and Lara Anderson.
Contact email: spevi.eivicommunity@gmail.com
Next meeting: CANCELED Thursday 26 September 2024.
New date: 24 October 2024.
Time: 03:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (5.30pm NZ).
Please pre-register for this community of practice.
The SPEVI EIVI Community of Practice has been moved from Thursday 26th September to Thursday Oct. 24 as we transition to our new Zoom link and want to ensure that as many people as possible can attend. The session will include a presentation and discussion about early intervention support for children with deafblindness.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMuceipqDkoGNfDZ2EyNc28i2FBdH_LUJze
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Session description:
Early Intervention support for children with deafblindness
Exploring drivers and challenges in the early intervention space for children with deafblindness, we will discuss who should be considered deafblind/dual sensory needs, including challenges of identification and exploring the support needs in the early intervention space.
Session outcomes:
Establish a shared understanding of terms describing children with deafblindness
Identify the unifying characteristics of deafblindness
Discuss current challenges and drivers in the early intervention space
Discussion questions:
How are children with deafblindness/dual sensory needs identified in the early intervention space?
What are the needs for this group of children? What supports do they currently receive?
What are the barriers faced by this group of children in the early intervention space? are there any gaps we should be working toward to offer to support them effectively?
Speaker bio:
Steve is a Speech Pathologist and Deafblind Consultant experienced in working across different settings, and currently working at Vision Australia. He is skilled in the engagement, assessment and management of children and young people with multiple disabilities, particularly sensory impairment, deafblindness and rare diseases. Steve is passionate about developing evidence-based practices focusing on parent-child interaction, early intervention and building communicative competency and an active collaborator in national and international groups focusing on tactile language and cognition.
We look forward to seeing you at this CoP.
Ngā mihi mahana
Lara Anderson, Bronwen Scott and Sharon Duncan
Meetings 2024
- Nov 28, 2024, 03:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (5.30 pm NZ)
Overview of previous meeting topics
Meeting 25 July 2024
Convenors: Sharon Duncan, Bronwen Scott.
This was an engaging and collaborative session designed to foster professional growth and knowledge sharing among early childhood intervention professionals. With small group discussions around the following questions:
- What aspects of early childhood intervention are you currently focusing on in your work? What specific areas or challenges are you dedicating most of your attention to at the moment?
- Can you share any practical tips, tricks, or strategies you've learned recently that have been particularly effective in your early childhood practice?
- Have you attended any professional development sessions or training recently that you found valuable? What courses, workshops, or conferences would you recommend to your fellow early childhood intervention professionals, and why?
- Which assessment tools or methods are you finding most useful in your current practice?
- Are there any innovative approaches or new techniques you've implemented in your work with young children that you'd like to share with the community?
Meeting May 23, 2024: CVI with guest presenter Dr Lisa Hamm.
Lisa presented her research exploring the joys and challenges of trying to understand what children with severe CVI see. She discussed findings from a survey of specialists supporting affected children, introduce a novel assessment tool, and share results from a pilot study using this tool. The session concluded with an interactive discussion, to share our experiences and insights about what strategies we’ve found helpful in understanding what these special children see, as well as brainstorming ways to enhance support for both the children and their families.
Meeting 27 July 2023
Pauline Vercoe-Curtis, parent of a deafblind child, discussed what chronic sorrow is, and how it has impacted on her whānau/family and her experiences with support services and the wider team. What do professionals need to understand about chronic sorrow and how might this guide your practice? You may request a recording of this session by contacting the moderators.
Meeting 25 May 2023
Guest presenter: Amanda Gough (Resource Teacher Vision – NZ)
Topic: Amanda will share practical ideas for unpacking the sounds in a child’s everyday environment… moving through the stages of awareness (how might the child be showing that they are aware of a sound?); localisation (how can the child be helped to find the source of the sound?); identification (what name can be put to this sound?); and sound knowledge (how can the child be supported to better understand the sound and its implications for them?). This will be followed by discussion and question time.
Meeting 23 March 2023
Guest presenters: Ellen Buith and Stephanie Mills.
Topic: The F-words focus on six key areas of child development. Using the 6 F-words framework enables us to view the ‘whole child’ and it will structure our teaching to the child’s strengths and needs. Whether you use the 6 F-words as a conversation starter, to gather information for your Individualised Education Plan (IEP) or in a transition document, it allows you to see all components of who that child is, rather than seeing only deficits.
Meeting 4, May 26 2022
Active Learning
Participants shared their knowledge and experiences of utilising Lilli Nielsen’s Active Learning Approach. Facilitated by Lara Anderson, the discussion included the philosophy of the approach and resources used and adapted to meet the individual needs of young children who are blind, deafblind and low vision.
Meeting 3, March 24 2022
Our EIVI Practice Guidance
We explored common foundations that help guide us in all the work we do with children and families. Based on SPEVI-List conversations related to effective practice guidelines for early childhood aged children who are blind, deafblind and low vision, this became the focus discussion for this session.
Facilitated by Sharon Duncan, guidelines and materials currently used in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and USA to support and guide effective EIVI practice were shared. Common themes important to participants were brainstormed.
Participants requested that this piece of work continue to be developed for the South Pacific, with the support of SPEVI.
Meeting 2, 25 November 2021
The second meeting took place on 25 November 2021. In this session, the use of Learning Media Assessments and Sensory Learning Profiles with children with low vision and blindness (birth-6 years old) was explored. The discussion was led by invited guests Patrick Hodgkins and Peter Mubiru, 3rd year Occupational Therapy Students from Monash University who are currently completing a student project with Vision Australia. They provided an overview of the project context and facilitated small group discussions on sensory learning profiles and the benefits of recording and supporting the use of learning and sensory preferences in your current practices.
Meeting 1, 23 September 2021
The first meeting was held on 23 September 2021 from 03:30 to 04:30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney/ 5:30 – 6.30 pm NZ. This first session featured a presentation on early orientation and mobility by Bronwen Scott.