The Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind Educational Services Program works to ensure that children and students, regardless of their communication needs, have the appropriate services, consultation and equipment needed to be successful in their home and/or school environment. As part of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program at the UVM Medical Center, the program serves children from birth to age 22 across Vermont.

Services include:

  • ASL/bilingual services, including assessments, interpretation and facilitation; direct instruction from a teacher of the deaf, fluent in the child's language or communication mode; and sign language instruction.
  • Parent Infant Program (PIP), offering early intervention services for families and their children (ages 0-3) with hearing loss.
  • Speech-Language pathology, offering comprehensive speech-language evaluations and early interventions. 
  • Educational audiology services, including selection, fitting, verification and validation of remote microphone hearing assistive technology (FM/DM systems) within educational environments.
  • Teacher of the Deaf services, including comprehensive assessments and interventions for children who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind. 

Our Team

The program is made up of highly qualified staff, including state-licensed audiologists; speech-language pathologists; educators with a Teacher of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing (TDHH) or special education endorsement; educational interpreters; and communication facilitators. The program and its staff are committed to a child-centered, team-focused approach to care.

Classes and Workshops

ASL classes focus on vocabulary appropriate for working with children, and for interactions with the deaf community. Upon completion of the 8-week course, participants will have learned approximately 400 signs, plus a basic introduction to ASL structure and grammar, deaf culture, expressive and receptive finger-spelling, and putting signs together to form sentences and phrases. 

Private, customizable group workshops on the basics of ASL are also available.

Contact Us

For general inquiries, please contact Ileene Therrien Ileene.therrien [at] uvmhealth.org (Ileene[dot]therrien[at]uvmhealth[dot]org) or 802-552-8243.

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