Hands & Voices
Military Project
*A Hands & Voices Headquarters Project
Together through awareness, collaboration, and support, we can aide in the timely support for active duty and the retired armed forces community. Active duty and retired families understand what it means to serve our country. We hope that you will join us in “Serving the families that serve our country”!
Military Families with D/HH Children
We aim to connect your family to your local Hands & Voices Chapter to help you feel prepared to navigate through each new duty station. Our hope is parents will find more ease in transitioning the medical and educational homes for their children with this connection.
We have a growing support group on Facebook, specifically for military families with children with hearing difference. Please click the Facebook icon to join.
This virtual community is a place to share experiences, ask questions, and help others with questions. Learn more about duty stations, and create new and lasting friendships with families walking a similar journey. We search for resources to share that are beneficial to military families. General information about hearing loss is also shared to help grow your knowledge of your child’s hearing level.
Here at the Hands & Voices Military Project, we want to listen to your stories and know your successes and challenges. We want to address areas of concern and shine a light on the unique needs of your family. We strive to create a unique community to help you feel prepared to navigate through each new duty station.
Professional Supports for Military Families
“Don’t ask us when we’re leaving; ask how long you have us for.” -A military spouse
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Get to know your local Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) staff. EFMP is a program run by each military branch to ensure military dependents with special needs have access to all of the resources they need when they accompany their Service Member to a duty station. It is a mandatory program within the military. EFMP offices can give information to incoming families regarding local groups designed to support their children, so by connecting with your local office, you can raise awareness that you are a resource for these incoming families. To find contact information for your local EFMP office, search the web for “EFMP + the name of your closest military base”.
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Teach military families with D/HH children to advocate for their children and point them to advocacy resources, including local groups that advocate for D/HH children within educational settings. Because of the transient nature of military life, it is vital that D/HH children get the support and services they need quickly upon arrival at a new duty station. Parents who understand how to advocate are better able to ensure this for their child.
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Connect families with local resources for D/HH children and their families. Trying to find a new medical and educational home is much easier and faster when you have input from locals who understand the needs of a D/HH child. It’s also nice to be able to connect with other local families with D/HH children.
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Ensure that families of recently diagnosed children have unbiased access to information on all languages and primary modes/methods of communication with their D/HH child. Because the responsibility for maintaining continuity of the child’s communication access throughout multiple moves lies primarily on the parents, it is vital that they are empowered to make a truly educated choice that meets that particular child’s needs.
“Military children may change duty stations at least twice during their high school years and may attend six to nine different schools between kindergarten and 12th grade.” (Lewis-Fleming, 2014)
Continue reading on the Hands & Voices HQ website...