"Our parent advisor could not do a better job than the one she is currently doing for us. She has included us in all decisions regarding our daughter. She has provided us with much support and information. She is constantly keeping up-to-date on new information. She has become a part of our family. We greatly value her suggestions and feel she truly cares about us and our daughter."
--SKI-HI Program for Deaf/Hard of Hearing

"Our child has improved dramatically in her ability to communicate. Our intervener has been instrumental in this development. Her bonding with our daughter is evident by Katy's desire to please and positive reactions of signing, babbling and moving. It is a warm and content feeling to see these two interact. I can attribute many of Katy's progressive strides to my intervener's efforts. She is an adopted member of our family."
--Intervener Program for Deaf-Blind

"The bottom line is that without the Deaf Mentor Program we feel things would be very different at our house! Would we have appreciated deaf persons and become involved with the Deaf community to the extent we have? Would we enjoy the friendship of so many families in the same boat as us? Would we have a wonderful deaf person coming into our home each week sharing their language and culture with us and helping us to understand and appreciate Jade? Would Jade be enjoying the level of self-esteem and be progressing as well in her language and her school work as she is now? The answer is "no"! We are so thankful for the services and the insights the Deaf Mentor Program has provided our family and Jade and feel it is an essential program for all families with deaf children."
--Deaf Mentor Program

"Because of my parent advisor, I now know my baby who is severely disabled. I know when she is excited, happy, mad, and when she calls for me. Thank you for giving me the tools to communicate with my baby. I can never repay you."
--INSITE for Multidisabled Sensory Impaired

"It has been very easy to talk to our parent advisor. She does not judge nor criticize. One thing I have loved about her is that she is always pointing out positive things about my baby; how she sees this or that improvement; or pointing out something the baby is doing that I have not noticed. She has been wonderful, just what we have needed."
--VIISA Program for Visually Impaired

"My husband and I feel so blessed to have access to the great resources available. They help us understand and effectively deal with our child's special needs."
--Parent receiving AHEAD Program

From Interventionists Trained in and Using SKI-HI Institute Programs

"Finally, we (Deaf adults) are being asked to help. I feel honored to share my life with these beautiful children and their families. They value me and my experiences, and I see the parents accepting their child as a deaf child and learning how to communicate with their child and it thrills me. This is the best program in the world!"
--A Deaf Mentor

"I have noticed a big change in Jim's progress. He has come from crying constantly to actually enjoying doing tasks. It's very satisfying to know that I have helped him."
--Child Care Provider receiving AHEAD Program

"Empowerment as a teacher of the visually impaired with restored enthusiasm was personally important to me. It has been so very long since I received valuable professional development in visual impairment at the preschool level."
--A VIISA Course Participant

"Jake is really starting to respond to his world. He watches people more and responds to them when they talk to him. He smiles more and reaches out to them. He also plays with his toys more. He rolls around to explore his world and touches and feels what he finds."
--An Intervener for a Child who is Deaf-Blind

"I liked the video tapes, home assignments, group discussions, hands-on experiences, and interaction about real situations. I'm overwhelmed with all I have learned. Fabulous presentations and the materials are incredible. I particularly liked the information on hearing aids, communication options and the emphasis on the family. I liked the opportunity for networking and meeting others in the field who will be good resources. The curriculum is a useful tool, concise, well organized, very relevant to my work and gives me a path to follow."
--A SKI-HI Training Participant

"I reflect back on your training and think how positive your trainings really are with the capacity to impact so many hearts in a positive way which is something America desperately needs more of. I can't imagine your not getting funded in the future. Continue your mission!"
--AHEAD Trainers' Training Participant

From Agencies Using SKI-HI Institute Programs

"The need for specialized training for paraeducators and their supervisors is important due to lack of existing training programs and the time and schedule constraints of paraeducators. Our school has five paraeducators. Many are working with young children with sensory impairments and it is important that school personnel be able to communicate with these children to help them learn along with their classmates. The communication training system that you have been developing, field testing, and distributing has been most helpful."
--A School District Director of Special Education

"We are fortunate that the Project AHEAD training has been available to many of our early intervention programs. We feel this training has been very useful as providers learn to work with children and their families. With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the increased emphasis on carrying out Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) goals in "natural environments," the AHEAD training is very valuable as providers interact with families at home and in child care settings. Some of our early intervention staff have had the opportunity to become AHEAD trainers. This will allow the training to be available to more providers in the future."
--State Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) Coordinator

"While the trainings were only one step, they provided new opportunities for collaboration between early childhood and vision service providers and a better knowledge base for mutual support for future endeavors. In a time when there is a severe national shortage of trained teachers of the visually impaired and with many of these providers lacking training for infant/preschool service delivery, the VIISA model can be an important supplement to state efforts, especially if it is carefully planned to address particular state concerns and needs."
--A State Department of Education

"The benefits of the SKI-HI curriculum have been invaluable to teachers in our program, even more so to the parents who received the information. We have adopted the philosophy of SKI-HI and integrated it as the most important aspect of our infant program. We highly recommend the curriculum whenever the opportunity arises."
--An Early Intervention Program Director

"In our state, over fifty percent of young children with delays or disabilities participate in community child care settings at a minimum of twenty hours per child per week. Their is urgent need to assist, train, and support the child care personnel caring for these young children in order to promote the optimum development of each child. In addition, child care staff require training which enables them to provide a supportive environment so that children with delays or disabilities are able to form important friendships with all young children. Project AHEAD has state-of-the-art resources and materials and a "Train the Trainer" model to support each state's ability to train its personnel."
--An Early Intervention State Coordinator

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