Intervention Services

Our Intervention Services are family-centred to ensure the best outcomes for every child and family. BCFHRS proudly supports all families in BC, regardless of where they live.

Individual Intervention Services

Each family is matched with an Early Interventionist who will provide individual sessions focusing on strategies, education, and support. Our Early Interventionists have specialized skills and experience working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families, and may be trained as Speech and Language Pathologists, Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or Listening and Spoken Language Specialists.

These individual intervention sessions may be at your home, at one of our centres, at a central location in your community, or online. If you live further from one of our centres, our early interventionists will travel to your community three to four times per year, as well as provide online sessions, to supplement the support you receive from your local team. Early interventionists also work closely with any other professionals who are working with a family, such as: audiologists, infant development consultants, supported child development consultants, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Early interventionists also consult directly with childcare centres three to four times per year, to provide education and training.

Assessments

Together with a family, early interventionists complete assessments every six months to help identify what is working well, and to immediately pick up on any areas of concern. Assessments are individualized to each child’s and family’s needs; assessment tools are carefully selected to provide information that measures various aspects of communication development. 

Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs)

The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is a document that is created with the family and early intervention team. This document is updated at regular intervals, based on information from formal assessments and informal observations. The IFSP is meant to capture a child’s current level of ability and a family’s current goals and priorities.

Transitions

BCFHRS is here to help families of deaf and hard of hearing children as they transition to daycare, kindergarten, and beyond.

Whether it’s starting daycare, kindergarten or simply trying swimming lessons for the first time, transitions can be a time of excitement and apprehension. Children who are deaf and hard of hearing require additional considerations when preparing for and making these transitions.

While presenting challenges, each transition can also be an opportunity to learn more about a child’s needs and the process of advocating for those needs. Our staff at BCFHRS are ready to fully support each family during these times of change with guidance, support and care.

Transition support services may include:

  • Individual support from the Early Interventionist
  • Education for childcare providers introducing a Deaf or hard of hearing child into their program
  • Liaising with community resource providers or other specialized services
  • Connection to other families who have navigated these transitions, through our Parent-to-Parent Support Network
  • Access to our in-centre provincial library and online resources
  • For children transitioning to Kindergarten, invitation to our PEER Kindergarten Transition program

Outreach

BCFHRS proudly supports all families in BC, regardless of where they live.

Working In Your Community

Many communities outside of the Lower Mainland do not have the opportunity to provide specialized resources to families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. For those families, we are able to provide a plan in collaboration with the local community service providers.

We believe that the best way to provide for the long-term needs of the children and families throughout British Columbia is to strengthen the local communities.

The Outreach Team

Our Outreach Program offers contact with professionals who specialize in working with children who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families. These are experienced Early Interventionist with training as Speech-Language Pathologists, Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or Listening and Spoken Language Specialists. There are also Deaf and Hard of Hearing Mentors, Sign Language Teachers and Family Support Parents available to support our Outreach families through this program.

We work together as a team with community service providers (Speech Language Pathologists, Audiologists, Infant Development Consultants, Supported Child Development Consultants, Daycares and Preschool) to provide continuity of services. For those very remote communities without community service providers, we can also provide regular ongoing Intervention via telehealth, supplemented with in-person community visits from our Outreach Consultants during the year.

Outreach families are always welcome to visit our Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria centres to take advantage of the other programs and activities that happen there. Many families like to coordinate their visits to BC Children’s Hospital with some additional days at one of our Lower Mainland centres. We also occasionally provide additional events and programs in cities other than where our three centres are located.

About Telehealth

Residing at our Main Surrey Centre, is a very special piece of technology named “TED.”  TED stands for Telehealth Educational Device. Telehealth is the use of live videoconferencing over a secure, high speed provincial network to facilitate “face-to-face” sessions, consultations and education.

Telehealth services are particularly effective in underserviced areas. With TED, we have the ability to deliver services to all families and professional partners, especially those who live in remote locations. Telehealth also assists during the times of year when travel to Outreach communities is limited due to inclement weather.

Group Intervention Sessions

Group programs allow families and their children the opportunity to achieve therapy goals in a natural environment while interacting with other parents and families of deaf and hard of hearing children. These programs are led by our specialized staff: Early Interventionists, Deaf & Hard of Hearing Role Models, and Family Support Parents.

Services for Families

While the programs and events offered at each of our three centres may vary based on the needs of the surrounding communities, there are standard services which are available to all families through our Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria offices.

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