1. No category

making a difference
One cannot think about the formation and growth
of CEID without including the name Eric Horodas.
A renowned businessman and hotel owner, Eric’s
footprint is deeply embedded in the foundation of CEID
as a service program and as a nonprofit organization.
From the early 1980’s through the present, Eric and
his family have provided extraordinary support to CEID
that included a capital campaign for the unique center
that opened in Berkeley in 2004. Financial support
has not been the only gift offered by this generous
man. He served on the CEID Board of Directors
and as its President. He is the major sponsor of the
organization’s annual golf tournament. He is also a
founding member of the Jill Ellis Scholarship Fund
established to honor and promote the vision of CEID’s
first executive director.
As one of CEID’s earliest leaders, Eric faced many
challenges. He recalls efforts recruiting new Board
members, negotiating reasonable service rates with
school districts, and, of course, raising money to build
the new center. When asked what kept him and his
family so committed to CEID over many years, Eric
replies, “It was a combination of Jill Ellis’ dedication
and watching the children in the program benefit,
particularly many of the alumni who have gone on to
mainstream academic programs and obtain college
and advanced degrees.”
fore!
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Petaluma, CA
Permit No. 138
As befitting someone with
high business acumen,
Horodas also notes that
the work of CEID saves
the state and taxpayers
millions of dollars in special
education costs and in lost
productivity. He recognizes
that CEID’s work continues
to be critically important as
it serves children who have multiple disabilities in addition
to being deaf or hard of hearing.
While CEID has a special place in the hearts of Eric
Horodas and his wife Linda, it is not the only charity to
benefit from their generosity and leadership. Eric is the
national development chair of the Anti-Defamation League
and is a strong supporter of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Jewish
Children’s and Family Services, the 11-99 Foundation
that supports spouses and children of slain highway patrol
officers, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, several
environmental causes, and his alma mater the University
of Rochester.
CEID is honored to be supported by the Horodas family
and salutes them for their generosity, their guidance, their
unwavering belief in the programs and services CEID
provides. THANK YOU!
It will be Tee Time at CEID before you know it– are
you ready for the annual CEID Golf Tournament?
This year, the tournament will take place on Monday,
October 26, at an exclusive location, the Lake Merced
Golf Club in Daly City. This private, historic, world class
course hosts many champions and this year opens the
course to all of CEID’s supporting golfers.
How will our guests remember your business?
Margaritas on the 9th hole, cigars and scotch on the
5th, or perhaps some great
BBQ on the 12th? Come up
with your own memorable idea
and get your company’s name
and product placement at one
of the distinguished holes.
Early Bird Tee Sponsorships
are available through June 1st.
To reserve a tee sponsorship, contact Leah White at
[email protected] or by phone at
510-848-4800 ext 320.
SPRING 2015
Main Phone Number
510-848-4800
video phone Number
510-356-0004
fax Number
510-848-4801
Cindy Dickeson, MSW
Thirty Five
Three to five.
anniversary
Palm in “A’s” circle.
Executive Director
Ext. 301
JILL STEWART
Program Director
Ext. 304
calendar
Year Round
S.E.E. Sign Class
Tuesdays
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
$15 per session
Free to Alameda County residents
walk-a-thon
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Starting at 10:00 a.m.
Lake Merritt, Oakland
Registration $10 per person
Fred Johnstone, CPA
Finance Director
Ext. 302
Jennifer Conroy
Development Director
Ext. 330
michal joseph, Au.d.
celebrate
“A” hands spiral upwards
toward head.
-5-
history
“H” circles forward from right
shoulder.
page 4 SEE HOW OUR GARDEN GROWS
page 5 MAKING A DIFFERENCE
THE SWIFT PASSAGE OF TIME
ceid directory
signs coming
to learn
what’s
up
A LOOK INSIDE:
NEWS
Audiology Director
Ext. 319
LEAH White
Development Associate/
Special Events Coordinator
Ext. 320
Golf Tournament
Monday, October 26, 2015
CEID is planning a Golf
Tournament
in the Fall of at Lake Merced
Golf Club, Daly City.
For more information on
upcoming
events contact Leah White,
510-848-4800 ext. 320
[email protected]
wishing well
Here is what ceid is
wishing for:
Our kids are in need of
wagons, tumbling mats,
a new playhouse and
much more. Visit our
website www.ceid.org to view our
new wish-list.
Amazon Smile
Did you know that by signing up
for the Amazon smile program
every purchase you make gives
money back to CEID? It is easy
to sign up! Visit the
URL below to set up
your account today!
http://smile.amazon.
com/ch/94-2914703
Editor: Jennifer Conroy
Designer: Leah White
35 years ago, CEID was an idea, a dream, a vision and
it even had a different name from what CEID is called
today. Founded in 1980 as the Center for the Education
of the Infant Deaf, CEID has always been more about
service and programs than it ever has been about a
name. It is no surprise that it was not until this year that
CEID made the legal name change to Center for Early
Intervention on Deafness.
A truism of CEID’s 35 year history is that the time went
by fast. There was no break in services. There was no
shift in focus. There were no mergers or acquisitions.
And, for 34 of those years, leadership was held by
Founder Jill Ellis, a smart and committed visionary who
could easily have chosen a different and, perhaps, more
profitable path. Instead, Jill remained committed to the
children and families she first worked with in San Mateo
County, doing everything from running the programs to
raising all the money.
Jill describes that early motivation:
“My passion was to create a model
with the best trained and creative
staff that embraced parents as equal
partners. I knew that no strategy
can unfold without other talented
and committed people. We were so
fortunate to be able to build a team
along with a community of supporters
who shared CEID’s determination and its goals.”
At times the fundraising was tough. A lighter spirit
might have thrown in the towel, but for Jill, there were the
children and the parents. Children who, in the early days,
were not getting the early intervention and education
that a child with a significant hearing loss needed. Parents
who were often at a loss as to the reasons for their
child’s hearing status and what resources might be able
to help them.
The CEID program evolved quickly into a distinctive
model that worked with children and families in their
homes and in CEID-based classrooms. Home Visitors
with special credentials in teaching and child development
began working with babies shortly after identification of a
hearing loss, involving the entire family in language and
communication strategies.
One of CEID’s current Home Visitors Helisa Katz joined
the staff 14 years ago and recalls arriving at CEID fresh
from graduate school. “I came with a lot of ideas and
dreams and have seen CEID grow from bare bones to
a full-fledged center. There
were only the toddler and
preschool classes back then.
Today my dream of more
collaboration and community
partnerships is happening
along with program growth.”
In addition to using a visual form of English called
Signing Exact English, the staff used spoken language
at the same time as a way to give the child and family
a broad spectrum of communication options. That Total
Communication practice is still basic to the Toddler and
Preschool Class curricula and is taught to parents and
family members through free sign classes at the Center.
Home Visits helped children and families prepare
for the next big steps in development and education –
participation in classroom activities. In 2004 CEID was
more than ready to have its own home and it was in
that year that it moved into a building designed from
scratch for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The
building at 1035 Grayson Street in Berkeley, California,
was designed by local architect Susi Marzuola whose
son Jimmy had been served by CEID as a baby. Today,
Jimmy is in college and his mom is a member of the
CEID Board of Directors.
Included in the design of the building were a soft
interior play yard, and rooms for speech therapy, a
parent library, and an audiology clinic. The play yard is
the frequent site of sensory integration days organized
by CEID’s occupational therapist Kelli Parnell. Speech
and language therapy is the domain of Carol Lettko, a
licensed speech and language pathologist.
Carol is another long-time staff member who
appreciates the collaborative
nature of CEID, stating: “What
I love about being on staff
at CEID is the collaboration
that goes on between the
teachers, teacher assistants,
our occupational therapist, the
families, and our consulting
psychologist Dr. Peggy Kelly and
neurodevelopmental pediatrician
Dr. Ann Parker.”
Continued on page 3...
From our executive director
The passage of time is both
objective and subjective. Here
at CEID so many of us measure
time by the impact on and growth
of the children we serve. One day
a baby and family are receiving
home visits from one of our early
intervention specialists; the next
day it seems that child is transitioning from our classrooms to
kindergarten.
While 35 years may seem like a long time, for
beloved teachers like Kim Burke-Giusti the years flew
by and before she knew it we were celebrating her
25th CEID anniversary. The reality is that for an organization like CEID where the future of children rests in
the balance of the work we do, time is less of a factor
than is substance. At CEID, our teachers, therapists,
aides, and audiologists make every second count.
They fill time with techniques and opportunities that
directly benefit the children and their families. Even
moments that could be lost, such as walking a child
volunteering
from a classroom to the speech therapy room, are used
to build language and confidence as Carol Lettko, our
speech and language pathologist, talks and signs to the
child as they walk across the play yard.
While CEID has certainly grown during these
35 years, it has not outgrown its purpose. Children and
families still need us very much. In fact, today, over half
of the children we serve have other disabilities in addition to being deaf or hard of hearing. The need for our
audiology services has increased dramatically in part
because CEID is one of the very few agencies that will
serve low income patients. We are opening a second
audiology clinic in Oakland to serve a larger population
of patients including adults and older youth. This year we
celebrate 35 years of CEID, not as a mark of aging, but
as a commitment to continuing growth that meets the
needs of those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Cindy Dickeson, M.S.W.
Executive Director
board briefs
Welcome to two new members of our
Board of Directors!
ANDY HUANG is a government
attorney, practicing in downtown
Oakland, and the proud father
of a CEID alumna. Andy grew
up in San Jose and obtained his
bachelor’s and law degrees from
the UC Berkeley. He also holds
a Master in Public Policy degree
from Harvard University’s John F.
Kennedy School of Government.
ALAN LEE is a certified project
manager and father of a CEID
alumnus. He works at a software company in various roles
including finance, marketing,
technology, strategic planning,
and auditing. He has spoken at
events, such as the Newborn
Hearing Screening Conference,
to share his family’s experiences
and perspectives as a parent of
children with special needs. Alan is a local graduate
from UC Berkeley’s business school and is a certified
public accountant.
-2-
kids corner
CEID’s Volunteer Program has gotten a big boost under
the supervision of staff member Anna Schwarzbach. Anna
has refined and defined the program making it a source
of critical support for staff and a career development
opportunity for the volunteers.
Currently 11 adults and two youth volunteers work at
CEID on a scheduled basis. They serve as classroom
assistants and help with facility maintenance. Those
working in the classrooms are required to have a
background check and TB clearance. Ideal volunteers
have experience working with children and with sign
language. They help with playground supervision of
the children, set up activities, and model language
throughout the day. Facility volunteers assist with
gardening, minor repairs, and general clean up. Other
volunteer opportunities exist for special events, audiology,
development, and administrative work.
Among current volunteers, seven are from the Berkeley
Community College ASL program and are applying their
volunteer hours toward work experience credit. Anna
reports that all of the volunteers are interested in pursuing
careers as teachers, ASL interpreters, child psychologists,
occupational
therapists,
or speech and language
pathologists.
In addition to those
volunteers, CEID is proud
of its relationship with
Prospect Sierra and our
“Buddy Program” and youth
summer program that bring
together Prospect Sierra
and CEID students throughout the year, fostering deeper
relationships and promoting service learning. CEID has
also welcomed groups of high school volunteers from two
local schools, Bentley and St. Mary’s.
The first step toward becoming a CEID volunteer is to
contact Anna at [email protected]. That first connection will
help determine if CEID is a good match. In some cases,
the match is so good, that a volunteer is eventually hired for
employment at CEID, and every volunteer who succeeds
at CEID is eligible for a letter of recommendation that can
be helpful for future employment.
For more information, visit www.ceid.org.
continued from page 1...
Integrated into speech therapy are iPads with applications
specific to helping children develop communication skills.
Technology has been embraced fully by CEID and each
of its classrooms has a Promethean ActivBoard that
connects to the Internet. Digital resources are available
to parents through the parent library that also serves as
a gathering point for parents while their children are in
class and as a resource training center. It is in the library
that Bay Area pediatric residents receive training by CEID
staff about hearing loss in very young children. CEID is
proud of the fact that it is able to give each resident a
copy of its unique publication: “Pediatric Resource Guide
to Infant and Childhood Hearing Loss,” now entering its
3rd edition.
Children who are deaf or hard of hearing begin their
classroom tenure at CEID in the Toddler Classroom (18
months to 3 years) and the majority of them graduate to
the Preschool Classroom (3 to 5 years) where Teacher
Jessica Salaam navigates seamlessly between time at
the Promethean ActivBoard to work with CEID’s Facility
Dog Nan to activities
in the classroom
reading area and
much, much more.
Jessica says that
when she started
out 15 years ago
at CEID as a one
on one aide while
working on her
master’s degree and Deaf Education credential, she knew
that CEID was the only place she wanted to work. She
says, “At CEID we are always trying to make ourselves
better, to change, to improve,” and she values the team
meetings that bring together teachers, aides, therapists,
enabling staff to learn their specialties.
One additional classroom at CEID is that of the Sunshine
Preschool where typically developing children from the
community can be enrolled. The Sunshine Preschool
enables both children who are deaf and those who are
hearing to interact through classroom exchanges and play,
building understanding and acceptance of others.
The CEID audiology clinic headed by Dr. Michal Joseph is
where babies who are home-birthed or need a rescreening
can be brought for newborn hearing screenings now
mandated by law. The clinic also does hearing evaluations
and dispenses hearing devices. 2015 will see the opening
of a second CEID clinic located in Oakland that will serve
children and adults.
Perhaps the greatest change CEID has experienced
is that of the retirement of its Founder Jill Ellis and the
installation of Cindy Dickeson as its second Executive
Director. Cindy’s experience as CEID Program Director for
many years is well chronicled and her selection as Executive
Director clearly reinforced the basis upon which CEID was
established – to maximize communication potential through
early education, family support, and community audiology
services.
CEID – a small start with a big purpose that continues
to change lives every day and will do so for at least the
next 35 years!
-3-
How does our garden grow?
It grows with the loving hands of parents, staff, and children who prepared the soil, designed the pavers, planted
the seeds, and now are reaping the harvest.
One of our dads, Chris Wecks
builds a trellis in the garden;
We see
and smell
the garden
bloom;
We
harvest
the fruits of
our labor;
We delight in the ongoing bounty!
Nan’s column
It’s hard to believe that I have
been working at CEID for over a
year and, boy, has that time gone
fast! What I hear from the staff
at CEID is that the past 35 years
have gone by pretty fast, too!
We have teachers who’ve been
with CEID for decades and can
remember when CEID was no
bigger than a dog crate. I sure
feel lucky to be at CEID right now at our beautiful center.
But I digress and our newsletter editor tells me that I have
to make this a short column because there is so much
news to share, so I’ll get right to it.
One of the questions that comes up in the dog world
is why we get along so well with children. For dogs, it’s
pretty obvious but maybe not so much for humans. Here
are just a few reasons why dogs and children make a
great combination.
Size – With a few exceptions most dogs are kid size,
small and compact. What this does for us is that it allows
kids and dogs to have easy direct eye contact. We don’t
have to stare up at each other. We can just look each
other right in the eyes.
Touch – Neither kids nor dogs like harsh or surprise
touches. Some of us don’t like to be touched at all! But
the majority of children and dogs appreciate a soft touch,
a pat on the back or a rub on the tummy. The CEID kids
-4-
are very gentle when touching me and I respond with tail
wags and licks. In our Deaf-Blind Playgroup, sometimes
I’ll just put my head on a child’s tummy and rest there
quietly so the child can touch my ears and head and feel
how soft my fur is.
Play – Dogs and kids have a pretty similar idea of what
makes up “play.” Our answer would be “Everything!” At
CEID some of the best learning takes place as part of
play. When I play fetch with the kids, I’m helping them
learn to wait and take turns while also developing their
motor skills. I can help them practice sign language,
like the sign for “sit” which is a command I know in both
spoken language and sign language, making me the
“Total Communication Dog.”
I think that the very best reason kids and dogs get
along so well is because we don’t judge each other. We
take each other as we are, not as someone thinks we
should be.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and on Facebook
and email me any questions at [email protected].
That’s it for this column!
Nan, CEID Facility Dog
www.facebook.com/nanceidfacilitydog
nan@nanceid