Families in Scott County and the regional area now have local access to early hearing intervention screening and assistance for their children. The Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education (CDHHE) recently opened a regional center at the Mid-America Science Park in Scottsburg. The Center, a part of the Indiana State Department of Health, was created to serve children from birth to 21 years of age who reside in Indiana. CDHHE’s mission is to promote positive outcomes for all deaf and hard of hearing children through information, services and education.
The Center works directly with families and assists other professionals to ensure children across Indiana who are deaf and hard of hearing receive appropriate support and services. CDHHE provides families with assessment, services, information and recommendations related to communication, language development and education.
“When the CDHHE was looking to open a southeast regional center, the Mid-America Science Park’s central location and its amenities were a great fit for them,” said Robert Peacock, executive director of the Scott County Economic Development Corporation. “We’re fortunate to have CDHHE’s hearing services locally available in Scott County so that local families, as well as children throughout Southern Indiana, have access to these essential hearing services offered by the Center.”
CDHHE provides additional support to families by monitoring children identified to be deaf or hard of hearing, whose parents provide permission to do so, from the newborn hearing screening through high school. The Center also works with early intervention programs and provides consultation to schools for positive long-term outcomes.
The Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education was established by the Indiana General Assembly in 2012 with the purpose “to support parental choice, including the full continuum of communication options (including American sign language, other forms of sign language, cued speech, listening and spoken language (oral), or any combination of these skills)” and with the goal “to ensure that children who are deaf and children who are hard of hearing acquire optimal language skills and academic abilities, regardless of the mode of communication used.”
CDHHE acts as a liaison with all state agencies that provide services to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, including the department of education, the state department of health, the family and social services administration, and the Indiana School for the Deaf. In addition to its central location in Indianapolis, CDHHE has two regional centers located in Scottsburg and Fort Wayne.
To contact the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education or to schedule an assessment in Scottsburg, please call 855-875-5193 (toll-free) or email cdhhe@isdh.in.gov.
