The magazine Odyssey takes a look at advocacy, a critical component necessary to support the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The issue explores how families, professionals, and schools are working together to encourage parent advocacy as well as the strategies they have used, the challenges they have faced, and the outcomes they have achieved in their quest to gain necessary services and supports for their deaf or hard of hearing children or students.
This issue includes 18 articles written by a total of 25 professional and parent authors on such topics as:
- Supporting families in program transition and the hard truths of early language
- Importance of deaf and hard of hearing students learning to self-advocate
- Impact of family advocacy on deaf and hard of hearing students’ lives
- Parent Advocacy app, a new tool to assist families of K-12 deaf and hard of hearing children in navigating IEP meetings, 504 meetings, and other meetings
- How a parent of a Deaf Plus child challenged the system to get her son needed services
- Learning about advocacy experiences of families of color-multiple perspectives guiding the Clerc Center’s research process
- Reflections of a VR counselor-tips for families whose children are transitioning out of high school
- Parent’s journey of advocating for a deaf child who identifies as transgender
- Hands & Voices Advocacy, Support, and Training (ASTra) Program
We invite you to share with us on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtags of #ClercCenter and #DeafEd how these articles have impacted you, or to reach out to us at Odyssey@gallaudet.edu with your thoughts.
