19. Collaborative Consultation: Effective Communication for Low-Incidence Service Providers

Speaker: Britt Coffey, Ph.D.

Session Handouts:
Presentation Slides
Participant's Guide

Session Description:
Although teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (TSDHH) spend a great deal of their time consulting with adults, the skills needed to do this successfully are often overlooked in TSDHH preparation programs. Teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing find consultation increasingly part of the job due to the national trend toward inclusion, which has been accelerated in the field of deaf education by the implementation of universal newborn hearing screening and advances in technology that have included digital hearing aids, cochlear implants, and hearing assistive technology systems (Berndsen & Luckner, 2012). As a result, deaf and hard-of-hearing students are increasingly educated by general education teachers. Today, over 87 percent of students with hearing loss spend at least part of their day in a mainstream classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), making in-school support from TSDHH more common.
This presentation takes a big-picture approach and uses best practices from related fields to teach negotiation, conflict resolution, and effective consultation skills. Consultation skills are presented as relevant to the work of the teacher of the deaf in a mainstream setting. Participants can expect to leave this presentation with a better understanding of how to effectively work with other school professionals.

Credits: Act 48, ASHA, Psych
Audience: Special Education Teachers, Teachers who work with students with hearing loss, General Education Teachers

Speaker Bio:
Britt’s background is in general education, special education, and deaf education. She earned her doctorate in special education from the University of Northern Colorado in 2019, and her Master’s degree in Deaf Education from Smith College in 2011. Prior to that, she taught second grade in Hartford, Connecticut, through Teach for America. Britt has presented internationally on topics related to deaf education; most notably about consultation, which is her primary research interest. She has worked as a college instructor, summer camp founder, itinerant teacher for students who are deaf or hard of hearing (TSDHH), and supervisor for TSDHH. Her published work can be found in The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, and the American Annals of the Deaf. She serves as DHH chair for The Division for Communication, Language, and Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DCD) within the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). On weekends, she can be found practicing yoga or hiking with her family.

Email: drbrittcoffey@gmail.com