Snapshots
The Snapshots Program was set up with the purpose of introducing hearing parents to a wide variety of adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. Hearing parents who find out that their baby is deaf or hard of hearing often have no frame of reference for what it means to have a child who has different hearing abilities or what it means to live as a deaf or hard of hearing person. The Snapshots Program provides families with opportunities to meet deaf or hard of hearing adults who come from all walks of life, have differing hearing levels, educational backgrounds, language use, communication modality use, careers, family life, use of listening devices (hearing aids, cochlear implants, FM systems, etc.), and life experiences.
The program is designed so that families have up to 6 visits from 6 different deaf or hard of hearing adults, and each will discuss one of six topics provided in the Snapshots Guidebook. These topics give families a “snapshot” of the life of a person who is deaf or hard of hearing. This program allows parents to explore with a deaf or hard of hearing adult what life is like for them to live life as a deaf person and for parents to ask questions that may be worrying them about raising their own deaf child.
This program is more of a “meet and greet” opportunity for families, a sort of introduction into the the varied and full lives of deaf and hard of hearing adults. The program has a lot of flexibility so programs can adopt it and use it how it best fits their program, but the primary focus is finding ways for hearing parents to meet a wide range of deaf and hard of hearing adults so they can learn first had that being deaf or hard of hearing is as diverse as being hearing, with some shared experience a a lot of unique and individual experiences that make us each uniquely ourselves.
Training
Snapshots training can be conducted in person or online. If a program is also hosting a Deaf Mentor Training Workshop, we can easily add the Snapshots Training Workshop as a one-day add on. This is how most programs choose to do their Snapshots Training. However, it is also possible to do the training online. The online training takes place over two shorter back-to-back days.
Training content includes...
- History and How the Snapshots Program Works
- Role of the Snapshots Provider
- Working with the EI Team
- Basic Principles of Home-Based Early Intervention
- Guidelines for Conducting a Snapshots Visit
- Identifying Bias
- Sharing Your Story
- Mental Health
- Role Play and Practice
The materials used in the Snapshots Program is a small Snapshots Guidebook that provides guidelines for conducting the 6 Snapshots visits and guiding questions the Snapshots Provider might find helpful when preparing their own stories and when interacting with families in home visits. The Snapshots Guidebook cannot be purchased, but will be provided as part of the training cost to every participant in the training.
Contact
For more information about Snapshots Training Workshops, please contact Paula Pittman, paula.pittman@usu.edu, or call or text her at 801-668-0948.