Services

TIPS provides a variety of services to help families reach their goals for their children, ages 0 to 3, with special needs. These services can best be explained in a face-to-face meeting or by phone. Please feel free to contact us to set up a meeting or to discuss the services available to your family.

A brief description of some of the instructional programs used by TIPS is provided below. These descriptions provide families with some idea of the services offered by TIPS.

SKI*HI
INSITE
VIISA
AHEAD

SKI*HI

A trained Parent Advisor visits the home once a week to train and give support to the parents. The TIPS Parent Advisor uses the SKI*HI curriculum, which is described below:

1. Parents learn more about hearing loss, what hearing aids can do for their child, and how to maintain the hearing aids.

2. Parents learn to improve their ability to communicate effectively with their child, whether this is Oral/Aural or Total Communication.

3. Parents learn how to create a good listening environment in the home and to encourage speech beginning at a very early age.

4. Parents learn how to make everyday events into language learning opportunities.

5. When the child cannot develop language through residual hearing, Total Communication is available. Parents are taught to use facial expressions, body movements, natural gestures, speech and sign language effectively in the home.

6. When delays exist in other developmental areas, individualized goals are targeted to meet the child's needs.

INSITE

The Parent Advisor shares information, teaches family members skills which facilitate the child's development, and offers support to the family. Components of the INSITE Curriculum are described below:

1. The Communication Program consists of three sections. Creating An Environment That Fosters Communication focuses on the importance of bonding and non-verbal communication and on making the child's environment stimulating for learning through play and exploration. In Using Informal Communication, parents develop a system of cues, signals, and gestures for communication with their child. the section Using Formal Communication helps the family develop a formal language system of co-active signs with their child.

2. Parents learn more about hearing loss, how to manage their child's hearing aid(s), and how to help their child develop better listening skills.

3. Parents learn about their child's visual impairment and how to help the child uses the vision he/she has more effectively throughout his daily life.

4. Parents learn activities that will promote the development of the child's thinking skills.

5. Parents understand the value of appropriate handling, positioning, and feeding techniques for their child.

6. Information and activities for developing skills in the areas of Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Self-Help, and Social-Emotional are available as needed.

The Parent Advisor offers support and provides information using the VIISA Resource Manual. Components of the VIISA Manual are described below:

1. The Communication and Language Programs are based on the interactive approach to communication and language development. The Social Emotional Topics deal with the social development needs of young children with vision impairment.

2. Provide strategies for teaching self-care skills to young children with vision loss.

3. Provide information and suggestions for activities which can be used to help the child learn to move about safely in his/her environment.

4. Learning through the senses has three components. The vision section focuses on impairment of the child's visual system, how to determine visual abilities and how to help the child use vision. the tactile section provides information on stimulating the child's sense of touch, and Braille readiness. The section on hearing provides information related to helping infants and toddlers use hearing to gain meaningful information about their environment.

5. Cognition contains activities to stimulate the child's problem solving abilities. Topics cover many areas of thinking, such as formation of concepts about people and objects, memory, reasoning, and creativity.