ASL SPECIALIST
ASL Specialist offers direct services for the Indiana School for the Deaf student with various of mastery in American Sign Language from none to intermediate, by prompting language foundation to acquire appropriate educational instructional.
Allison Friedman
Frances Sorrentino
ASSESSMENT TEAM
The Assessment Team's main function is to provide enrollment, annual, and requested in-depth assessments to all ISD students, utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach. The team also discusses referrals for types of evaluations done by team members.
Jeff Choate - Assessment Coordinator
Paula LaMonaca - Director of Health Services
Robbin Duncan - School Psychologist
Mimi Adams - School Social Worker
Shannon Crawford - Audiologist
Casey Spelman - Speech Language Therapist
Lindsey Pfledderer - Speech Language Therapist
Katey Kelleher - Speech Language Therapist
Trisha Dray - School Counselor
Kayla LaBruno - School Counselor
Lori Kiel - Occupational Therapist
Jeanne Goldner - Occupational Therapist
ISD offers audiology services by certified and licensed audiologists. Audiologists at ISD provide direct student services to address IEP goals and objectives. Our audiologists monitor the hearing levels of our students and manage the technology our students may use. They may also facilitate the fitting of new hearing technology and collaborate with other audiologists all over the state in an effort to optimize the use of listening devices. Audiology staff members also provide audiological assessment, hearing aid and cochlear implant support at school, staff training and consultation, and parent consultation.
ISD's Audiologists are English/American Sign Language bilinguals and have experience and training in school age audiology, bilingual bimodal language and listening development in Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. Each speech language pathologist and audiologist works closely with an ASL Specialist and a Bilingual Educator for assessing and developing both American Sign Language and written/spoken English.
Indiana School for the Deaf provides behavior support services for all students. ISD's behavior specialists participate in the evaluation process with the school counselor and participates in the process for creating, implementing, and monitoring behavior programming. When working to support an individual student, they work with school and dorm staff to assist in identifying the root cause of negative behavior using an effective problem-solving process. Comprehensive support plans involving the use of positive behavior support strategies are developed by the school to include the teaching of appropriate interpersonal and/or social skills. ISD also provides a student support room in each department where students can problem solve, calm, and take a necessary break. ISD uses Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) strategies to assist students in learning responsible and appropriate behavior.
Violet Blake - ECE & Elementary Behavior Specialist
Joey Kutcka - Middle & High School Behavior Specialist
Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) provides students with a quality education in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).ISD case conference staff and administrators work closely with students and their families to ensure each child's individual needs are being met as described in the child's Individualized Education Program (IEP). Case Conference administrators are responsible for legal compliance. Their role is to facilitate and ensure that all legally mandated annual Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are complete. Please refer to the Procedural Safeguards and Article 7, Indiana's Special Education Rules, for information on the case conference process and the rights of parents and guardians.
Article 7-English
Article 7- Spanish
The team also discusses referrals for types of evaluations done by team members.
Beth Fields - IEP Administrator
Catherine Rahn - IEP Support Specialist
Cynthia Floyd - IEP Administrator
ISD Interpreting Services strives to provide consistent, high quality interpreting services within the bilingual and bicultural school environment so that everyone can be seen, heard and understood.
The Interpreting Services Office is committed to providing interpreting for ISD students, families, and staff members. The interpreting services office also provides foreign language interpreters, certified deaf interpreters and translates documents as needed. Contact us for information about the interpreting process and best practices, community resources, and advocacy.
Carrie Martin - ASL Interpreter
Christina Dammarell - ASL Interpreter
Eric O'Dell - ASL Interpreter
Kyndal Gonzalez - ASL Interpreter
Melissa Hopper - ASL Interpreter
Raymundo Gonzalez - Spanish Interpreter
PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
School based occupational and physical therapists collaborate with parents and educational staff to help implement each student's Individualized Educational Program (IEP). When necessary, therapists may also partner with other staff members to modify the child's routine or environment to foster more independence within the educational environment.
Physical Therapy at Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) aims to assist students with improvements in areas such as coordination, balance, strength and flexibility.
Occupational Therapy at Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) provides students with assistance in areas such as fine motor coordination and sensory-motor processing.
These services allow students to fully participate in their educational programs. Additionally, physical therapy and occupational therapy staff members are English/American Sign Language bilinguals.
Jeanne Goldner - Physical Therapist
Paula Berry - OT/PT
School counselors help all students apply academic achievement strategies, manage emotions and apply interpersonal skills. School counselors' duties include providing individual student academic planning and goal setting, school counseling classroom lessons based on student success standards, short-term counseling to students, referrals for long-term support, collaboration with families/teachers/ administrators/ community for student success, advocacy for students at individual education plan meetings and other student-focused meetings, and data analysis (i.e., functional behavior assessments with the data given by the staff) to identify student issues, needs and challenges. In addition, school counselors will also help with the referral process if a student is in need for mental health services.
Kayla Bruno - ECE & Elementary Counselor
Trisha Dray - Middle & High School Counselor
Select and administer age-appropriate assessment methods and materials in order to determine the needs of the student during initial evaluations and reevaluations.
Provide consultation with parents, teachers, staff of the Related Services Department in addition to the local education agencies (LEAs).
Function as a member of the school's multidisciplinary team to determine a student's eligibility for services and appropriate programming and classroom recommendations, in addition to monitoring the student's ongoing progress.
ISD offers speech language therapy by certified and licensed speech language pathologists. Speech therapists provide assessment, direct student services and consultation to address IEP goals and objectives. Speech therapists also document and report progress to parents. Speech therapy staff are English/American Sign Language bilinguals. Each speech therapist has experience and training in bilingual bimodal language development in Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.
ISD's speech language pathologists and audiologists work closely with an ASL Specialist and a Bilingual Educator for assessing and developing both American Sign Language and written/spoken English.
Katey Kelleher
Lindsay Pfledderer
Jenny Wurth
TRANSITION AND CAREER SERVICES (TACS) PROGRAM
The transition program is designed to assist middle school and high school  students with intellectual, social and personal growth. The program also  assists students in making informed and individually appropriate  social and educational choices. The program also works with students to develop and implement transition goals as listed in the students' Individual Education Plans (IEP).
Transition Services are also a planned set of activities that assist students with moving from school to post-school activities. In the Transition and Career Services (TACS) program these services include community experiences, instruction, the development of employment, and other post-school adult living tasks and goals. The TACS staff takes each student's abilities and interests to heart in trying to match students with jobs that will not only interest them, but will also offer enough variety so that students have a clearer understanding of their own individual strengths in order to best plan for their futures.
Donna Saaty - Transitional Specialist
Jeff King - Transitional Specialist
Nathaniel Kelly - Transitional Specialist
Indiana School for the Deaf provides support, assistance and resources for enrolled students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The school offers support services including assessments, audiology, case conferences, transition and career services, counseling, behavior support, interpreter services, physical/occupational therapy, and speech/language.