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Decorative
Early Identification and Referral Toolbox

Build Partnerships

Once you have an understanding of how EHDI and Hands & Voices work and who the key people are, look for partners with whom you can collaborate. Collaborative opportunities include the following:

  • Meet with your state’s EHDI coordinator and Hands & Voices chapter contact to explore ways to assist in each other’s efforts
  • Talk to your EHDI coordinator about the possibility of someone from your project or a family member familiar with your project serving on boards or committees involved in issues related to identification and referral of infants with hearing loss 
  • Ask your EHDI coordinator about opportunities to collaborate with your state’s American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) EHDI Chapter Champions
  • Partner with EHDI to support initiatives associated with deaf-blindness such as newborn screening for CMV
  • If funds allow, attend the annual EHDI Meeting and Hands & Voices Leadership Conference 
  • Invite EHDI and Hands & Voices administrators or personnel to serve on your advisory board
  • Share open positions for Guide by Your Side parent guides with parents of children who are deaf-blind
  • Include EHDI and Hands & Voices administrators and personnel on your project’s newsletter or email distribution list
  • Become a member of Hands & Voices and sign up for their national Communicator newspaper and a local newsletter, if available
  • Follow Hands & Voices (national and local) social media and ask that they consider sharing your social media posts
  • Identify networking opportunities with other entities in your state (e.g., schools for the Deaf/hard of hearing) that collaborate with EHDI and Hands & Voices

EHDI and Hands & Voices personnel involved in EI&R:

  • Audiologists who provide 3-month follow-up evaluations for infants who failed newborn hearing screening
  • EHDI Chapter Champion pediatricians
  • Hands & Voices state coordinators
  • Guide By Your Side parent guides
  • Hands & Voices parent advocates
  • EHDI advisory board members