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Accessing Early Intervention and School-Aged Services and Supports for Students Who Are Deaf / Hard of Hearing


Vision and Hearing Services

Child Find and Early Intervention

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) covers children birth through age 21 who have special needs. Make a referral to Help Me Grow to access programs that serve young children and their families, including Ohio Early Intervention Services, Home Visiting, and Moms and Babies First.  If you have concerns about your pregnancy, want support as a new parent, or have concerns about your child’s development, you can call 1-800-755-4769 (GROW). To learn more about Home Visiting and Mom’s and Babies first, visit the ODH website. To learn more about Ohio Early Intervention services, visit http://ohioearlyintervention.org

Children Birth-3: Early Intervention (EI) services are available to families for children ages birth through 36 months. These services are guided by the development of an Individual Family Services Plan (IFSP) that addresses needs related to case management, nutrition and support. As a child approaches their third birthday a plan for transition becomes part of the IFSP. This gives families an opportunity to prepare for the transition from EI services to public school services.


The Expanded Core Curriculum For Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Explore the Expanded Core Curriculum as a tool addressing unique needs of students who are deaf/hard of hearing to support their executive functioning skills not covered in general education standards.

Read the pdf


Educational Evaluation Guidelines

For learners with a suspected hearing loss, eligibility is determined by an MFE conducted by an interdisciplinary team. A variety of assessment tools may be used by Teacher of Deaf, Speech and Language Pathologist and Educational Audiologist, to gather information about the learner in functional, developmental, and academic areas. Ohio special education regulations require that assessments be technically sound and administered by qualified professionals with knowledge in the area of Deaf/Hard of hearing.