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Hand-N-Hand program helps area's deaf and hard of hearing children communicate | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
Jennifer Geiken loves to talk with her hands, but Northeastern Wisconsin has been slow to get the message.
She is a teacher and consultant for deaf and hard of hearing children younger than 3, but the area lacks services for them, she said.
"These babies are being born. Northeastern Wisconsin is going to do something about it, and it's starting with me," she said.
All hospitals in the state offer newborn hearing screening, and each year about 200 children are identified as deaf or hard of hearing.
A child's development and success depend on early intervention, with families frequently using sign language when their children are babies, Geiken said.
In 2002, Geiken was frustrated by a lack of services, so she started the nonprofit Hand-N-Hand, which teaches sign language to hearing families so they can communicate with a deaf or hard-of-hearing child younger than 6. About 20 children attend the free weekly sessions, including hearing children hoping to communicate with a deaf parent.
Michaela Kihntopf, 8, of Green Bay attends the classes with her 4-year-old hearing sister, Maia. Doctors determined Michaela was hard of hearing at birth, and she has come to the classes since she was 11 months old.
"She's got the opportunity to be able to learn sign language and be able to use it with her peers," said her mom, Michelle Kihntopf.
Kihntopf, president of Wisconsin Families for Hands & Voices, found out about the program from an audiologist after struggling to find other parents in her situation.
"It's huge," she said of the need for more services. "We sign her up for swimming, and we struggle to get interpreters for her. Any extracurricular activity outside of school hours, sometimes you say, 'Why go?' Because it's going to be more of a hassle."
The state's Birth To 3 program offers early intervention services to children who have at least a 25 percent developmental delay. However, many services center on the home or a natural environment, and that can be costly, Kihntopf said. There are some questions parents feel comfortable only asking other parents, not professionals, she added.
Jennifer Geiken loves to talk with her hands, but Northeastern Wisconsin has been slow to get the message.
She is a teacher and consultant for deaf and hard of hearing children younger than 3, but the area lacks services for them, she said.
"These babies are being born. Northeastern Wisconsin is going to do something about it, and it's starting with me," she said.
All hospitals in the state offer newborn hearing screening, and each year about 200 children are identified as deaf or hard of hearing.
A child's development and success depend on early intervention, with families frequently using sign language when their children are babies, Geiken said.
In 2002, Geiken was frustrated by a lack of services, so she started the nonprofit Hand-N-Hand, which teaches sign language to hearing families so they can communicate with a deaf or hard-of-hearing child younger than 6. About 20 children attend the free weekly sessions, including hearing children hoping to communicate with a deaf parent.
Michaela Kihntopf, 8, of Green Bay attends the classes with her 4-year-old hearing sister, Maia. Doctors determined Michaela was hard of hearing at birth, and she has come to the classes since she was 11 months old.
"She's got the opportunity to be able to learn sign language and be able to use it with her peers," said her mom, Michelle Kihntopf.
Kihntopf, president of Wisconsin Families for Hands & Voices, found out about the program from an audiologist after struggling to find other parents in her situation.
"It's huge," she said of the need for more services. "We sign her up for swimming, and we struggle to get interpreters for her. Any extracurricular activity outside of school hours, sometimes you say, 'Why go?' Because it's going to be more of a hassle."
The state's Birth To 3 program offers early intervention services to children who have at least a 25 percent developmental delay. However, many services center on the home or a natural environment, and that can be costly, Kihntopf said. There are some questions parents feel comfortable only asking other parents, not professionals, she added.