Event ID: 2784969 Event Started: 11/18/2015 7:00:00 PM ---------- Please stand by for realtime captions. >> My husband badly wanted to drive our kids up there. He was there when they won that time too. Unfortunately, couldn't go. >> Sorry. >> Making, are you ready for me to start the recording for this? >> Yes. It's now according to my mobile phone, straight up, 1:01. We'll get started. >> All right. >> Hi, everybody. Welcome today. Thank you for joining us for this webinar.Related to the EIR process. My name is Megan Cody. For the last almost 10 months, nine still holding tight, I have been serving as the project specialist for education referral as well asfamily [Indiscernible] for NCDB. This is the third in a series of six webinars related to the EI&R process where we will be focusing on part C. There were two webinars in October.One on the Self-Assessment Guide and one on the action planning process. And links for both of those recordings can be found in the EI&R initiative group in a folder called initiative resources. So if you missed those and want to catch up with us, feel free to go there and grab those and get alook.The remaining three webinars will be focused on the following systems. Medical system, community programs, and the details for those remaining webinars can be found on the EI&R initiative page and also Robbin will do a beautiful job of crafting reminders to send out to everybody. And she's also put them in the notes 13 pod on the left side of your screen for the next one which will be in January. So this webinar series was created as a result of state projects saying they were eager to hear about other states successes and lessons learned. So we're glad to have have all of you with us today and we're really thrilled that the four ladies on your screen besides me have come to share their insights of what they've learned through working within the system in their own state. So we have Emma Nelson, she's the project coordinator of the Vermont sensory access project. We have Jennie, Project Director of the Missouri deaf-blind technical assistance project. We have the Nikon, the project coordinator for the Tennessee Deaf-Blind Project. And Carol Darrah, the project coordinator for the Georgia [Indiscernible] project. And I always wonder if I say that right. Did I say that right, everybody? Everybody has fancy titles. All right.Let me use the teacher tool and my internal core and tell you guys how this webinar is going to go today. We're going to have everybody who joined today said her name, what state they are from and if they've done any target work with part C system in individualized states. Then each of these ladies will share out the work that they've done and results that they've gotten. And we're going to use the questions that you see in the main note pod there to guide their thinking about what they're going to share. Then at the end, we'll have a Q&A time where the folks that have joined us can ask specific questions, to present it, or if you have successes you want to share, that have occurred within your own state, or if you have questions you want to ask particular -- particularly, you can feel free to do that at the end. Also, these ladies want this to be fairly organic and informal. If you are moved to ask them a question, feel pretty -- feel free to to star six and a meager phone and ask or put it in the chat pod and I'll try to keep an eye on the chat pod and make the presentersaware of the fact that somebody posted a question. I'll go down the list of attendees. I think now I'm going to say your name right.It is Ira? >> Yes. >> Would you like to introduce yourself and tell everybody where you're from? >> Sure.I am the new project coordinator for the Virginia Deaf-BlindProject. It is my fourth week. And before that, I was a teacher at the Perkins school for the blind in there Deaf-Blind Project. So just a new Virginia resident. >> Welcome. Okay. Next on the list is Julie Taranto. >> I am the project director in Virginia. And we used -- started to use the tool and then we had staffing issues about a year and a half ago. So now we are getting ready to pick it back up again. So we are looking forward to learning from you all and getting some tips on how we can start this process. >> Nice. Thank you. Okay.Ms. Linda McDowell, you are next. >> This is Linda McDowell. And I'm still feeling a little new to NCDB, but actually started here in February as the Director. And before that, was in the state of Mississippi. With the Deaf-Blind Project there. >> Welcome. Okay. Next is Mr. Mark Shea lock.-- Mark Schalock. >> I'm also with NCDB.Worked on the EI&R initiative forabout seven or eight years. I was one of the first -- it was one of the first things I worked on when I came back on.After a little hiatus. >> Great. Nancy, you are up. >> I'm Nancy Steele. I'm with NCDB. I was on the EI&R workgroup many, many moons ago.Then they kicked me off. >> [Laughter] >> Or repurposed me, I guess. >> Megan?This is Mark.Annette Carey is also here and she's at the top of the list. You may have missed her. >> Oh. I see her. Why don't you jump in? >> Annette? You can star six to unmute if you are on the phone line. >> I'm just doing a little sensitivity to hearing loss here. I gave a wonderful and glowing introduction and you missed it. Suffice to say, hi, this is Annette from West Virginia, project director of the sensibilityproject. >> Hello.And have you at this point done any work within part D in your state, Ms. Annette? >> We have done a lot of work withPart C. They are a big supporter of us and many of our initiatives, I am on this state leadership team for their SSI pee, which is the federal reporting. -- SSI P. You have the three indicators that part C programs must report on. They have chosen the social emotional development and as a -- as they drilled into the data, they have found that children with vision and hearing and deaf-blindness are the most at risk for social emotional development. So the SAP is focusing on the social emotional and the sensory -- and what we can do to have statewide systematic improvement on that. So I just came off of a two-day meeting. I have an awesome team with both Marshall University and West Virginia University.Hand off some early intervention the state as we delve into some of the things we can do. So we have a lot of exciting things going on. >> Wow. That's lovely.That's great for you. Up next is the New York deaf-blind collaborative. >> Can you hear me? This is Chris Russell. >> Hi, Chris. >> Hi.Nice to see everyone here. I know you can't see me, but you can hear me hopefully. I'm Chris Russell, new project -- relatively new as of about 11 months, project coordinator at the New York deaf-blind collaborative. And did you want me to say a couple of brief things about our efforts in EI&R with the medical community? >> You could provide a teaser for the month of January. >> What's that? >> You could provide a teaser for the webinar in January. How about you do that at the end?It would entice everybody to come back in January. How does that sound? >> Sure. I would be happy to. >> Okay. Yes. Thank you for coming. Ruthanne, you are up. >> This is Ruth Ann. I stayed back and an worked on other project initiatives. We do have a good relationship with our birth to three folks here in West Virginia. We've not used the assessment tool as intended. So that's why I'm on here today. Thanks. >> Great. Okay. Sam?Sam? We can't hear you if you've unmuted yourself. >> Thanks, Megan. Sorry. I was talking to myself againtoday.Sam Morgan, program director at NCDB. And I'm just listening in today to hear all the good wisdom. >> Great. And shall be Morgan? >> I'm Shelby Morgan. I'm a project specialist at NCDB and also just here to listen in. >> Great.Ms. Sherry Nelson? >> Hi. Shara Nelson with the [Indiscernible] project. And I've been on EI&R for a while and then on and off. I used the guide and it also helps that I worked for 18 years in part C. And so I pretty much know everyone throughout our state. We are a small state. And so that's been very, very helpful. >> Great. That's a lot of time. Good for you.Okay. Ms. Sue Dell?Don't forget to star six. >> I was going to say, this is Sue Dell from Rhode Island. We had a bunch of relationships with our various part C partners, but we constantly have to remind them that we are and we're looking forward to using a self-assessment over the coming year or two. >> Great. Okay. Susan Bonner. >> Hello. This is Susan Bonner, I'm the project coordinator for Missouri Deaf-Blind Project.Jenny will be speaking for us. >> Nice.Then Thomas? >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. Great. >> Thomas Lather, Ohio center for deaf-blind education.I've been in this role for about 12 months. Prior to that, it was 15 years, associate director in the office for exceptional children Ohio Department of education. >> Wow. So you have lots of connections? That's great. Okay. Thank you for enduring everybody introducing themselves. I think it's super helpful to knowwho has come and joined the call. Is there anybody that we somehow missed that joined?No?Okay. So now I'm going to let our good friends go prime time. My faith is going to -- my face is going to disappear. I figure what we should do is go left to right and start withMs. Jennie if that's okay. And what she's going to do is go over her story about how she works with part C and then we will letDanna take her turn and then Carol and then onto Emma. As they present, everybody, feel free to put questions in the chat pod or star six to unmute yourself. Or use the hand raising feature that you see at the top of the toolbar because they would be happy to stop and ask your questions if they arise. Take it over, Ms. Jennie. >> Megan, point of clarification, do you want me to go through all of the questions were just the first? >> Do them all, baby. Tell your story. >> Will do.Once we completed the self-assessment guide and action plan, we took all of the practices from the toolkit. This is my personal favorite. Improving outreach to primary referral sources, and we included in our action plan our steps to get our ducks in a row in terms offocusing our message. Primarily.Making connections with our part C partners.In Missouri, the Deaf-Blind Project is also a part of outreach services, which has the registration of students who are legally blind. So we decided to piggyback thosetwo efforts. And they go out together. And so that has been really a nice strategy for us in terms of both the child count and the registration go out at the same time. The instructions are color-coded for each. So that anytime we do -- meet with a partner to get our message out about registration of students who are legally blind, we are also doing deaf-blind and vice versa.We also work to standardize like I said, our message. And [Indiscernible] we teach the parent training program that we offer. So it was again, just working on consistency.We were very fortunate when we reached out to the coordinator for part C in Missouri that she invited us to speak. We were trying to find out from her what's the best way to connect within Missouri, system point of entry.And she said, we have a meeting coming up. Just come to it.And that happened to be November, so the timing was right. That was three, four years ago. And they've invited us back every year and we are now a standing item on their November meeting. So that's been great.Let's see. Roadblocks? We've been very fortunate. Although I will say there were somethings that we were focused on that when we got to the part Cdirectors, they had other issues, which was great because it helped educate us. In particular, I may have shared this before, our release of information form was not consistent with theirs. So we changed hours to be consistent with theirs. So that it is familiar to their service coordinators, and EI team. So it was another good opportunity.We are sustaining the inroads made. This year, we tweaked our message a little bit to give them some additional feedback on outcomes as a result of their identification and referral of children. We put the numbers -- Susan Bonner, our coordinator, put the numbers on a map.It was interesting to see where our children were located followed highways. In Missouri. Which was a nice visual for them. The other thing that we did was by region. We identified anything that achild, any activity or initiative that a child, family member or service provider and their particular region had been involved in over the course of the last year. So we were able to say who from Southwest Missouri went to what activities or participated in what training. Just to give them a feel for how their initial identification efforthas made a positive impact in terms of increasing awareness or knowledge or participation level and engagement. So that was useful and they like that because then it waspersonalized if you will, byregion.To their staff. And yes, we've seen an increase in our numbers.We went from 12 to 21 to 28 children. This year we went from 28, seven children transition from part C to B but we were able to track them.During the course of the year, three additional children were identified so our numbers went from up to 24. But when we talked for part C partners a couple weeks ago, we gave them full credit for the seven children that we were able to track across systems. So from their perspective, their number is 31. So their number continues to rise.And that's probably why I'll never be an accountant. Because I do some creative mass. But they get all the credit.I think -- unless there are questions, I will pass it over to Danna. >> Thank you.This is Danna Conn. And I am like Megan said, with the Tennessee Deaf-Blind Project. And we were part of the initial group that completed the self-assessment for EI&R back in 2012. And at that time, our action plan was created, we realized it was really helpful for us once we did our action plan and looked at what areas were we not hitting across the state? That's kind of where we started our action plan, was our state is broken up into nine early intervention districts. And so we started looking at eachdistrict to see who we were getting referrals from. And we realized that the West in the Memphis district is where we were really missing the referrals. We haven't actually had a birth to three referral in over six years from that district. And then also looking at ourselves,-- at our South Central District. We started to look at what do we need to be doing? How do we make sure we're getting our message out there? And really we were getting most of our referrals from middle Tennessee where we are housed. And so we wanted to broaden that from looking at the action plan. So it was a really good time at the same time we created this, there had been change in the statewide system. We had a new PIS Executive Director that had just come on with -- our Tennessee early intervention systemsystem. This is a great time for us to go and meet with her and talk aboutwhat we do and also meet with the part C coordinator. This is what we did and that's where we started was with the PIS Executive Director and part C coordinator. From there we started talking and they had some really great ideas where they wanted us to come and talk at their statewide early intervention conference they have every year. And then also looking atcollaborating with them to develop a training for severe and multiple disabilities for the birth to three training statewide, they wereinterested in doing. So that played a huge piece. We collaborated in content. Is a two day training we did in Middle East, -- middle, east, and West Tennessee. We brought in providers that talked about early intervention, deaf-blindness, also we had a parent panel, parents that had children that were deaf-blind came in and spoke. So that was really great. Then we did some make and take. From there we started opening up the conversation by getting to knowthe early intervention providers across the state. And that was the in-home therapist, the development of therapist was actually going in and doing the work, the ones we were talking to. And I think from that is where we started opening up some lines of communication.For them to know who we are and to put a face with a name also. So that played a great role in that. And then roadblocks, I think because we had opened up that line of communication, I really don't feel like -- everything was new for all of us since we did have a new executive director, I think that at this point we really haven't had any roadblocks.Since we did the assessment we have every year gotten referrals from the West, even though we continue to want to help those numbers to grow.Because it is an area that we still need to continuously go back to and look at again.And with that also, one of the things that we had talked about that we had done is we go to the statewide conference, we also get invited each year. They have the district ofadministrators meeting in January. So all the nine district administrators, directors, and this past year we were invited to that meeting and we actually handed out the census forms to each district at that that time. So it was nice to have that one-on-one with them and be able to hand over their census forms and ask if they had any questions about who to refer, and anything, how we can help them. Other things that we have done, I think that has helped us to getreferrals, we continue to collaborate with them and work as they need it. One of the things we did a lot on this year was we offered workshops on literacy, since that is not only the national initiative but also one of our specific state initiatives. So we did some training on literacy for children birth to three and that was really well-received. So I think again continuously asking what do they need? How can we help provide support to early intervention providers? And another thing we did is we also provide what we call vision observations. We're going in and providing strategies for parents and families to work on vision and hearing within those environments. So since it is the early intervention, to go in weekly and get the strategies along with parents and talking about that. They feel like they are also getting some good support and helpthat they can have and then follow up on their own. That's been really nice.We're going to have to continuously remind them that we're here because the staff turnover as we know, from birth to three, all fields, that can continue to happen so we want to make sure we're making those contacts and connections and checking to see if there's anything that they need, any specific resources, and how we can provide those. And rise our numbers like I said, we have seen a rise in that. I think when we first did the very first time right before we did the Self-Assessment Guide, then our action plan, we had about 19 birth to three. Each year that's gone up. 29, 33, this year 44.Again, we continue to see the need to target East and West because those numbers are really bigger and-- in the middle of Tennessee where we are. But it's been really great. And it's been really helpful for us to have gone through this process. And seeing where we need to continue to be. I don't think we've ever done enough. I know one of the questions is how do you know when you've done enough?There's always kids especially in these rural counties and rural areas like you said, off the beaten path, that we probably are missing and we need to make sure thatgiving information and letting people know who we are. On the support. It's been a lot of fun. >> So I guess if there's any -- not any questions, I'm going to move down to Carolyn Georgia. >> Okay. >> Carol Darrah, early childhood coordinator for our state Deaf-Blind Project. And before I came to work on the project, I worked in our park see program and in different capacities for about 15 years.-- part C project. I had a pretty good sense of what was going on in my state in ourPart C program. So when I came of the project a couple years ago I was really excited to go through the guide andto delve into where our kids were and how we were not finding them. And I have to take a little step and explain to you our service delivery systems in Georgia because I think it's a little bit different than some other states.Our Part C program is called babies can't wait. It's housed in Department of public health.We have 18 health districts. And then we have another early intervention service program called Georgia pines. And that is housed within our state DOE under the division of state schools. And Georgia pines serves childrenwith hearing loss, vision loss, or our deaf-blind babies. And our state project works very closely with Georgia pines for child find and the direct serviceand supports for our birth to three kids.Within their program. So we worked very closely with them. And babies can't wait. Georgia pines -- they are supposed to partner together when there are shared kids. But the reality is that it workswith very 2 degrees of success in different parts of the state. And so that's a challenge of tryingto figure that part out. And then as far as our EI&R program goes, -- our Part C program goes, there's been a very high rate of turnover at the state office level during the past five plus years. And then quite frankly, they have had much larger problems to addressthan helping to find our deaf-blind babies. Things like funding and Medicaid and state systemic improvementplan. So knowing that was going on in our state Part C office, I decided that was not going to be the best approach to take. Like at the state systems level. So what I decided to do, to address our child find from birth to three is to do some activities to increase awareness about our stateDeaf-Blind Project across the state among earlier intervention and early childhood special education providers.To visit districts, either go to their service coordinator meetings, or if they have a functioning local interagency coordinating Council. I'll go and speak to those groups, just really getting the word out that we exist. Because honestly, when I was in Part C for 15 years, I knew of Georgia pines. I was familiar with them but I did not know that there was a state Deaf-Blind Project so I knew that there were other people like that out there. And then the other approach that I took is to work more closely with the program coordinator at Georgia Pines, to identify and refer babies with dual sensory loss to qualify for services in Georgia Pines. You just have to have one or the other. And then usually sometime during that time in early intervention that families and service providers are starting to figure out that the child may have a loss in the other sense as well. So trying to get some systems in place with them and their database and how the referral processworked, was something that I also chose to target.Let's see.So I created -- for Georgia Pines, I created some referral packets that have a parent letter in them, some releases and a brochure. And I have those also, all translated into Spanish. We do have a fairly largeSpanish-speaking population in Georgia. And so the Georgia Pines advisor will share those materials with the family, to make the referral, to Georgia sensory assistance project and then either our family support coordinator or I will follow-up then with the family about the referral.And that seems to be going well.What else was I going to say? And really, I just infiltratemyself into Georgia Pines world. I invite myself or hopefully I've been invited to participate in trainings that they have, both for new service providers or their annual service provider training meetings that they have.I go to family events and participate in those to talk to families about our project. And our relationship with Georgia Pines is really strong and really good. I'm feeling really good about that.As far as visiting the local districts, I have made some good progress in that but Georgia is a pretty big state and I haven't made my way around as much as I'd like to. Mostly because of time. And the districts that I have visited have been very well-received and the have appreciated the information.We call it deaf-blind 101 presentation, just awareness presentation. And I typically I just that depending on the audience and then also if it's appropriate, I will bring a Georgia Pines a service provider with me, so that if questions arise about specifically about Georgia Pines or even if a provider has questions about a child with only hearing loss or vision loss, then we can address all of their questions at the same time.And then the other thing that I found is that it's helpful to have a draw for people to come to these kinds of meetings. It's fun to hear about the Deaf-Blind Project, but I also have another little side project that I do that are usually present on and I can share these later but I'll see if I can hold it up. We make these mitigation portfolio notebooks to help during transition from early intervention to school. And they really can be made for a lot of our children who are transitioning from early intervention to school services regardless of whether they have deaf-blindness or not. And so early intervention peopleare typically pretty interested in that. And so I get a good response for folks to want to come to those meetings because I feel like I have something fun and cool to share with them.The one thing that I took from the toolkit that I found that people really liked was the diagnoses listlist, the ICD-9 list. And I shared that with several districts and they found that very helpful during their eligibility and medical review process for their referrals. And let's see -- roadblocks? I think it's going pretty well.I just, like, would wish for a chunk of time to do this because I do a lot of other work on the project. And so I just need to keep my focus on that. And really, the work is ongoing.You know, I agree with -- I don't know if it was being or Jennie who said you are never really done, because once you think that you're done, you need to start all over again, either new folks or I'd really like to address our EDI and medical systems because I think that we're missing a lot of kids in those areas. And I can't say that our numbers have gone up. They've held pretty steady since I've been here for two years, because once I find a kid, then they are transitioning and need to find more kids, so like, the actual point in time number of birth to three kids is pretty steady, but the relationships that I've formed with Georgia Pines and folks out in the local districts, I think are very strong and very good. And as time goes on and more people know who we are and know what we do, then that will hopefully show up in our numbers. So I think that's all that I wanted to say. Sorry, that's kind of a lot. >> No. It was great. Does anybody have any questions for Carol?Okay.Ms. Emma, it's your turn. >> Can everybody hear me?Yes? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thanks, Megan.So I moved here to Vermont a little over two years ago. When I came, as you all know, Vermont is tiny and also very rural. And so to try to figure out -- one of my first tasks was to do the packet and try to figure it out. What we realized was that we had trouble with identification and referral. And within the identification, it was both a medical problem, so I have focused a lot on the medical community, but it also was a CIS struggled too because they weren't identifying [Indiscernible] hearing loss they didn't think of the word deaf-blind. And so a lot of what I've been trying to do is around that part, was really just to get the word out, kind of like -- what Danna and Carol had been talking about -- to start sharing information about what does it mean, and just to start focusing there. So around the referral problem, what we realized is people didn't know about our project.Very similar to what Carol was saying. If they did know about our project, they didn't know what we did. So technical assistance is such a broad, strange topic. I didn't know what it meant when I started working. So I think that was a big thingtoo. Get the word out not just about our projects but about what our services can be. So our very first step was to meet with the director of part D and start talking about what her thoughts were, what her concerns were, and because it's such a tiny state, the numbers are really small. And so what she was saying was I'd love to partner with you, but what else can you give me in addition to deaf-blindness? Because your numbers projected are around three to five. So what else do you have? She knew my background.And so we had this other state project that is a state-funded project that focuses on providing support to teens and families who have [Indiscernible] felt that zero to three support was limited because there wasn't someone that's really understood how to work withbabies. And since that was my background, what we did actually was to partner with that other project. Called the Vermont interdisciplinary team. And we basically stretched it to provide more intensive services around the birth to three population so we added additional funding for that and it's 40% of my FTE, working on that project which is called the Vermont early intervention project. And so as I'm out there doing work with regional teams and advocates, I'm finding the kids that haven't been -- happen to be deaf-blind because [Indiscernible] obviously. So that, I think for us, we really had to focus on a broader population. And then get the word in about deaf-blindness wherever we went. And so that was -- I think that was one part. Then the next part was really doing a lot of similar to what Danna was saying about our regions. So Vermont is shockingly split up into 12 regions. Even though we are so tiny, there's 12 regions. So going to each of those regions and sharing information about who I am, who we are as a project, what we can do, really sharing information about deaf-blindness. What I heard from them is, as I started going around, that term is not okay.We can't say that to parents. We can't use that word.That word is scary to families. We're not filling out the eligibility forms even if we know who you are because we don't want to say that families. Michelle Klein has created -- it's on the toolkit, this incredibleinitial referral form that I took and adapted for Vermont. It's so simple and it just says, talk only about kids with combinedvision and hearing loss. There's no worry about deaf-blindness. It's something that anybody can fill out who works with the family medical providers.Early intervention providers, the families themselves. And send that to us. And so we have gotten much, muchpositive feedback about that form. And I've written explanation about who we are to supplement that. Those are the two things. And I have found that to be a huge change. When I go out and visit, or when I talked to the team afterwards, if it's not possible -- I will then talk them through how to fill out our eligibility form. And they can bring that to the family or I can talk about it.That alone has been the biggest positive shift for us.Trying to really move away initially in early intervention from this word deaf-blindness.We presented to for the last few years as the statewide conference around deaf-blindness and to get in on that, the other thing we talked about, the same training, visual impairment, [Indiscernible] director. And has so much knowledge about visual impairment because -- we have partnered together to present that information and we'll do the two parts, we'll talk about TDI and also about deaf-blindness, which has brought people to our presentation.I'm trying to think if there's anything about action that I've missed so far, but I think those are the big ones. I'm happy to share in terms of resources, happy to share the initial referral form that I created if that would be helpful for people. And in terms of rising our numbers, we had similar to Carol -- I keep saying how many we have and then I'm like, wait, no, actually, that's not how many we have. So at the moment we have three, which is big for us, really big. We had zero when I came on. So that's a big change. Then I think you all have said the same thing. How do you know you've done enough? I don't think we will stop getting more because the turnover is so huge. In early intervention. And as the kids moved to triple E and as the teams change, the numbers are so low here, it isn't like we can target. I moved from New York City where we were targeting huge agencies that have [Indiscernible] whereas in Vermont, we might see one kid in 20 years. So how to make myself relevant -- they don't see combined vision and hearing loss as a struggle. So I think that's all.I'm looking to see if I missed anything. Roadblock? I think I talked about it. How to talk to families -- service providers talk to families about who we are. That's been -- and still struggling with that and still hearing about kids and having the service coordinators say, we just can'tfill out the eligibility forms. We're not ready to talk to them about that. That's a thing they are still struggling with. Any questions? >> Okay. Well, thank you. Four lovely ladies for sharing with us all your insides of your process. It's been really helpful even for me to read hear your stories and continue to think about the next steps for your work. So we have about 15 minutes left in our time together.Beyond just questions that folks may have, people that are on the call, today, would like to share some of their state-specific questions that they may have, and/or share some progress that they have made, I know that some -- Annette shared she has been really involved with the FSI team, which sounds really amazing. So if you want to tell us off script more about what you've done or if there's anybody else that wants to share about their work, we would love to hear from you too. >> This is Annette. I keep forgetting to hit star six. I've got a slow learning curve. It's real important to know first of all Roseen -- Ruth Ann and I are very, very old. We've been around a very long time. And we have a small collaborativestate based in Vermont. And our Part C person has also been around. So we have been growing steadily, a very strong collaborative relationship. I think it started many years agoin several fronts where we looked where we were the weakest, and early intervention identification referral, ranked up there. And so we made contact and started joining their initiative. Not even about deaf-blindness so much. Working on various activities, and getting to know each other anddeveloping the the relationships, which are critical as you guys all alluded to. And so over the years, sustaining to that, we have actually incredibly strong relationships. We do webinars for them on a regular basis that they schedule and coordinate on early identification and referral.There is an early childhood birth conference called celebrating connections that brings up in 1500 to 2000 people. We have a small state. Early intervention, it is the conference. And so our collaboration and partnership, we have a deaf-blind track.So Ruth Ann and I always present at the conference as well as sometimes when we want a really good speakerfor our Deaf-Blind Project but we can't afford it, we will do a training right around celebrating connections and they will bring in our speakers for us because they have a lot of money for that collaborative. So we work it that way to dothings.We have a assistive technology camp that is coordinated through Department of Ed and birth to three for kids who are birth to eight and significant disabilities. We have worked our way into that. And have -- we're on the planning committee, and we do several workshops. We have a CVI camp, Ruth Ann does a make it, take it.Very strong deaf-blind presence there. So those are just some of the examples that we have. Everywhere there's an opportunity, we build the relationship. I can't emphasize that enough. And I have offered myself to be a resource for kiddos, birth to three with vision or hearing, whether or not they fall in my area or not.They know out of habit they can call me and I'll get them to the necessary resources. And so both Ruth Ann and I do that. We have a sharing of senses where we get together, although now it's automatic, it started to be once a year, where we would get together with Part C and inside our out reach for the school for the blind, reach for the school for the deaf, our APA trustees, we would all get on the phone and trade kids. You have this kid or I've got this kid. Do you have this kid?To make sure that we're all connected.That becomes almost an ongoing activity that we do now. So it's kind of a lot like a spider web of support. We have infused ourselves in everything. It took pretty much a lot of years primarily. In building this relationship. And then the last thing, then I'll shut up, is we do a tuition freecertification program for teachers of the visually impaired or teachers for the deaf or hard of hearing. So if you are a teacher and you want to pick up Deaf Ed or certification as TBI, we will pay for that tuition. We will support them to get their masters as part of this initiative and collaboration, our office has agreed to provide that training tuition free to any early intervention. Any inter--- early interventionist that wants to go ahead and pick up a Masters -- then they can do that tuition free in our state.So I think that's going to help get that expertise across the state as well. Thanks. I love sharing. I love you guys. >> Thanks. Thank you for jumping in. That was great. What resonated with me was your expression that you work your way in. I think that's a really critical element to what everybody shared today. Part of work really is just warming your way in and figuring out a way to get involved with all these agencies and little people that serve these kids across the state. So thank you for that. And I know, Sherri, did you want to tell us more about your workconsidering you've been on the road doing this for 18 years?Do you have anything you want to share about a sick -- a big secret you've learned or something that might help people think, Ohio, I'll try that?-- might help people think aha, I'll try that? >> I'm sorry, Megan. Can you repeat that? >> With your 18 years working, in Part C, do you have any little kernels of wisdom that you feltlike for you were a huge turning point with oh, my gosh, I just made inroads? >> I think just like Annette said, building those relationships and partnerships are really a key. It seems like I try to get on their agenda to come in and talk with him about the Deaf-Blind Project and the last two years, what I've done is gone together with the regional person from the school for the deaf and the regional person for the school school from the blind so the three of us go together. And I think face-to-face contactthat they see our faces and so they know who to contact if they have questions. And then we just tried to do that every single year because there's such a change over in EI staff. And so the three of us going together, it helps we are all in the same office.So we're able to discuss things pretty readily. We are building those relationships and then trying to get out there and see people face-to-face. Really helpful.It's really hard that even though we're a small population state, we are big for miles, to drive 10 hours for a half hour or 45 minute presentation is hard but we've been using a lot more distance technology too. Trying to get on their dockets formeetings that they have with their staff. And it seems like we're seeing now this year, since we've been doing it together, they'll contact us for training in more areas. And so I think just that problem and building that relationship, and then you get in.We lose your way in. And provide training for them. That's really worked well for us. >> Great. That's awesome. Does anybody else on the call want to share or ask a question about their state or about what folks have shared today?We just have a few minutes left.So if there aren't any questions, I will selfishly take a minute or two to [Indiscernible] but I'm like, do it now. Okay. So if anybody would like to havetargeted TA related to the EI&R process, please feel free to e-mail myself or Mark or call us and let us know. As set on previous webinars, and I mean it, there's no question that is silly and there's no question too small or too big. And frankly, if we don't know, we may have to say to you, we don't know and we might be able to then go hunt a resource down for you or connection for you, which I think would be valuable. So feel free to reach out to us and let us know. There's no timeline on starting this. So if you don't want to start until February or March, it doesn't matter. It's not like we take a certain window of time to allow people to join him in the process. It just happens organically. So let us know if you want help.We have plans for a hosted drop-in call on Wednesday, December 2.At 11 Pacific, 1:00 Central Time and 2:00 Eastern time so that if everybody wants to go back and process what they've heard and think about it, we just want to make sure that if we provide the follow up meeting that people that will actually show up and want to continue to talk about this and have questions for us. So my good friend Robbin just put in the little pull box there, do you think a follow-up meeting would be helpful?You will not hurt our feelings if you say you do not feel like you need to continue to ask questions, but we would love to have a conversation if you feel like this should continue on. So if you would answer about that, that would be great. And if you tell us if you felt like the webinar was helpful, that would also be great. And then the next webinar, which you can see on the left side, in the series will be held on Wednesday, January 13 at 12:00 Pacific Time, 2:00 Central Time and 3:00 Eastern time on the medical system. And I know that our friend Chris Russell from New York is here and I promised him at the end he could provide a teaser about some of the work that they've done in New York.To entice everybody to join in on that conversation. So Chris, do you want to star six and unmute yourself and tell everybody about the progress that you guys have made in New York? >> Actually, I'm going to talk for Chris. This is Emma. [Laughter] >> Okay. >> Chris had to jump off. We're doing another webinar starting in three minutes. He sent me a message and says if she calls on me, talk for me. He said Susie, project director will be presenting on January 13 about all the wonderful things that he didn't give -- he didn't give me more information than that. That's as much as I can give you. [Laughter] >> It's totally okay. I can also tell people they've had a parent involved in helping make some inroads in the hospital. In their state. And they've begun to create presentations so that that model for the infiltration success that they've had within one hospital can be replicated across the state with multiple different hospitals. So it will be pretty intriguing for them to share that work and share their documents. And engage in that conversation. So thank you, big thank you to the four ladies at the top of the screen for being willing to be brave and share what you'velearned.Sharing your insights about the jobs and your numbers and the inroads that you've made. We're really sincerely appreciate it. Thank you to Robbin for getting everything to look pretty on the webinar today without -- without you, my legs would follow. Thank you to Mark for being my buddy in this process at NCDB.It's just really important work, I think and I know it was the cornerstone of our work in Kansas. We were trying to focus on right before my departure. And it can be sort of frustrating frustrating and scary because there's so many people within the Part C system and all the ladies as mentioned today, the turnover is so quick and fast that you feel like you are just chasing a horse that you can't quite catch. So thank you to everybody for coming today, for your willingness to share, thanks to the ladies that just jumped in unplanned. Sherri, I owe you big. And I also owe Annette a big moment of thanks too. Anyway, thank you to everybody. We'll have the recording posted on the initiative page so that if folks missed out and want to watchor if you guys wanted to look back, you can feel free to do so. Thank you for being a part of our learning today. We will hopefully see everybody on the follow-up to drop-in call and then in January. If not, happy holidays to everybody. Okay?All right. See you later, people. >> Goodbye. >> Bye. >> Thanks. >> [event concluded]