Skype-based Habilitation Service The SCIP would like to announce the trial of a Skype-based Habilitation service beginning February 2012. Skype allows us to provide service from distance at times when we otherwise wouldn’t be able to travel to families, and families wouldn’t otherwise be able to travel to us. We propose to use Skype in a number of ways to provide Habilitation service closer to peoples’ own homes 1. Direct Home-Based Therapy

Skype is used in addition to Habilitation sessions that would otherwise only occur during a scheduled visit to Christchurch, or during an outreach visit that each school term in the early years post implant.

The Habilitationist conducts a one-to-one session from Christchurch with parent and child in their own home. This would occur approximately once a month. The parent and child play together and the habilitationist will give tips and advice the parent during, and at the end of the session. This would require families to have their own Skype equipment and a good broadband service.

2. Clinic-Based Therapy

Skype is made available at a regional clinic. The regional clinic may be a local GSE (Group Special Education) office, school, or speech-language therapy clinic made available for the duration of the Skype session. Parents and children travel in to the clinic or rooms (expected to be within driving distance) and a one-to-one Skype-based Habilitation session is conducted there. This would require the availability of the necessary equipment, as well as the necessary arrangements with a GSE office, school, or speech-language therapy clinic for use of their facilities. This may be a good option for families who do not have access to the necessary computer and broadband equipment required of a Skype session at home. There may also be opportunities for professional development with local support staff working alongside the parent and child.

3. Professional Development for Staff

The majority of children on our programme have support staff working closely with them in their home centres. In many cases the Habilitation programmes designed by staff in the Christchurch clinic will be implemented by local Speech-Language Therapists, Advisors on Deaf Children, or Resource Teachers of the Deaf. Teaching and/or modeling of Habilitation methods could be done with support staff alone or as part of a session with a child or family. Alternatively Skype could be used as a mentoring service whereby the Christchurch Habilitation staff provide regular support for regional staff, particularly those who may be inexperienced implementing Habilitation programmes.

4. Routine Check-Ups / Problem Solving.

If parents have any concerns about their child’s progress during times between scheduled clinic or Skype session then they could discuss these with a Habilitationist at short notice.

Trial of a Home-Based Therapy Service We have recently provided 3 Skype-based Habilitation sessions to one family and this has proved successful enough that we would like to extend the trial and offer this service to more families. Future Skype Services The remaining Skype applications (listed above) are yet to be developed; further information about how these other Skype services will be implemented will emerge closer to the time. A timeframe for these other services has not yet been set. Registrations of Interest for Families Wanting to Trial a Home-Based Therapy Service We plan a 6-month trial of the service with a limited number of families. Initially we are looking to provide a service for anywhere between 10 and 15 children. If the trial is successful we expect to maintain this service on a permanent basis. We would also expect to offer it to more families than the 10-15 we are initially proposing. In order to register for the trial families would need to meet the following criteria:

• Children implanted less than 3 years

• Children implanted pre-lingually (i.e. children with little or no spoken language at time of implant)

• Available for Skype-therapy sessions of up to an hour

• Available for Skype-therapy sessions between 9 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday

• Not within reasonable driving distance of SCIP

In order to take part in the trial families must have at home the following:

• A desktop or laptop computer

• A broadband connection (dial-up Internet isn’t suitable)

• A web-cam

• A microphone and loudspeakers

• Skype installed on the computer (we can facilitate this very easily if not already)

Next Steps If you are interested in becoming part of the trial please contact Jill Mustard on 0800 500 405, or e-mail jmustard@vanasch.school.nz.