Allison Schley, Neighbor

I have taught Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children for 15 years. During this time, I have worked with Deaf children who communicate in American Sign Language,as well as deaf/hh hearing children who communicate through Listening and Spoken Language. I have taught children who have used hearing aids and cochlear implants. I am well versed in FM systems and am the school district's Soundfield Campus Coordinator. I am also a Capturing Kids' Hearts' Champion.

During my time teaching, I noticed a huge gap in the communication and social/emotional skills of my deaf/hh students in comparison to the hearing students. Research shows that early intervention is vital to work on communication skills. This is important to close that gap. Universal Newborn Hearing Screening recently became a norm in WI and this allows children to be identified with a hearing loss within the first month of life. The opportunity to get children into early intervention is now available,yet there are few places that these children can get services from trained deaf and hard of hearing educators. My passion towards early intervention drove me to found Communication Connections,Inc. This is a nonprofit dedicated to early intervention for families with hearing loss. Please find more at www.communicationconnections.org or www.facebook.com/communicationconnection.