PESDHH Periodicals

PESDHH Officers may seem "quiet" lately but that does not mean that we aren't hard at work! Lindsey, Jeannine, Courtney, and Michael have been holding meetings approximately 1-2 times each month since September to discuss and update the PESDHH bylaws. This is a project that we appointed for ourselves last year and made a goal to have it done within a year’s time. We are on target to accomplish this goal!

You may be wondering "what are bylaws?" and what could the updates mean for you? Bylaws act as the "constitution" of an organization; updates are not just administrative but essential for ensuring our organization operates within certain parameters and adapts to changes that we have faced over time. PESDHH operates much differently now compared to when it was established over 30 years ago, so we want to make sure the bylaws reflect current times. Part of the updates will include descriptions of officer positions and committees, timelines for serving in these roles, as well as updated terms of membership and participation.

We are hopeful that we will have the document complete and ready to share, discuss and vote on by the Summer or Fall workshop! Please keep an eye out for announcements regarding this information, since your participation and vote will matter! We will be looking for members to fill officer and committee positions when the updated bylaws are in place!

You may have attended a few PESDHH workshops in the past and heard the officers talking about "ERCHL." What exactly is ERCHL? The term stands for Educational Resources for Children with Hearing Loss. ERCHL is an advisory committee to the Bureau of Special Education which falls under the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). ERCHL Members are appointed by the Director of the Bureau of Special Education, currently Dr. Carole Clancy. ERCHL board members include Parents/families, Professionals who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing, LEAs (IU supervisors, school district administrators), Teachers (school age and early intervention), administration from Approved Private Schools, Office of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Agency service providers (OVR), Institutes of Higher Education, Interpreters, PSAD, and PESDHH. PATTAN always hosts meetings which are held three times yearly at the PATTAN Central office, as well as a 2-day retreat each Spring. Your PESDHH President, Lindsey, has attended as an approved board member on ERCHL since 2022.

Historically, ERCHL has been involved in the development of The Pennsylvania Agenda for Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (a roadmap to improving services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children). The development of the PA Agenda has led to the current Chapter 14 regulation requiring the use of a Communication Plan as part of the IEP process for students who have a hearing loss. Also the establishment of regulations to govern the employment of Educational Interpreters, among other related projects.

ERCHL operates in the following ways:

• It responds to requests from the Bureau of Special Education to advise on specific matters related to the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing
• It brings to the attention of the Bureau of Special Education current issues pertaining to the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• It advocates for and monitors standards of quality for educational personnel working with students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• It works collaboratively with other state agencies providing services to children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In the past few years, Dr. Clancy has asked for ERCHL's guidance on several key items, including updating the Communication Plan to what we currently use now, as well as encouraging on-going communication regarding important services which impact the current low numbers of TODs and Interpreters in PA. In the past year alone, the following topics have been brought forth for discussion:

• Creating mentor partnerships for new TODs to connect with seasoned TODs in an effort to support them in their first year of teaching in the field. Additionally, the Bureau has been collecting data for teacher “caseload vs workload” in order to find solutions to increase the quality of education to our DHH students.
• Brainstorming various ways to increase the number of TODs in the state, despite higher ed programs closing. Dr. Clancy has been advocating for higher ed institutes to work with each other in an effort to provide a network of institutes who will allow for required coursework to be completed in more accessible ways across the state.
• Working to close the gap between the amount of time EIPA interpreter tests are administered and the time for applicants to receive their scores. Additionally, the state has been looking at ways supports can be offered to those who have taken the test and are in a holding pattern of waiting until scores are received, so as to not “lose” them to other fields.
• Developing ways to recruit and employ Deaf or hard of hearing adults as “life experience” models to participate in our DHH programs and assist with building native language and being positive role models for our youth.
• Looking at the current Early Intervention Communication Plan and starting discussions on how to improve the data collection and report at this level.
  
  

All of these are on-going discussions and planning that ERCHL members meet to work on throughout the year. Additionally, Dr. Clancy has worked hard to have ERCHL collaborate a bit more with similar advisory groups which support vision loss and deaf-blindness.

Recently, your fearless PESDHH President posted a question to the Facebook group to collect information on why TODs would stay or leave the field. Many of you responded to that question honestly and earnestly! Your answers have been shared with Dr. Clancy. She appreciated having this information and promises to use it in ways to assist in supporting our work.

We are pleased to announce our Spring 2026 Workshop! On Wednesday April 29, 2026. Our presenter for the workshop will be Susan M. Schmitt, MA, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVEd.

Susie has been a Speech-Language Pathologist at the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech for the past sixteen years. She is the current Chair of the Speech-Language Pathology Department as well as the Lead teacher for DePaul’s Little Listener’s Toddler class. Susie specializes in providing Listen and Spoken Language therapy to children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing ages birth to five. She is a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, earning her certification in August 2022. Susie is passionate about working with families and guiding them to help their children become successful and effective listening and spoken language communicators.

Click the green button below to register for this Spring Workshop: A Look into LSL: The Purpose and Road to Listening and Spoken Language for a Professional

SAVE THE DATE! Our annual PESDHH Summer Workshop will held on Wednesday July 8, 2026.

We are very excited to spend the day focusing on the topic of Literacy for students with hearing loss! We hope to be able to explore several deaf-friendly curriculums which look at reading, comprehension, vocabulary development and writing!

We will have more information (plus registration!) in the weeks to come!

Did you know that Pennsylvania State Advancement of the Deaf (PSAD), an organization to support Deaf community members into adulthood, offers yearly scholarships for graduating students? Click the PSAD link below in the TOD Resources section of this newsletter, then Programs, then Scholarships. Here you will see the information for how students can apply for a chance to earn a $1,000 scholarship for either academics or athletics.