Alabama Hands & Voices

Alabama Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side

At Alabama Hands & Voices, we understand the power of parents sharing and connecting. The Alabama Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side program is dedicated to directly supporting families and their children who have been diagnosed with a hearing loss, by offering families the opportunity to talk or meet, face-to-face, with a trained Parent Guide.

What the GBYS Program can do for you

Parent Guides are parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing who have been trained to provide support and advocacy to families. Our guides are able to bring their own experiences in raising a deaf/hh child and are knowledgeable about this journey. To summarize, we have been where you currently are.

Services Available

Connection to resources locally, statewide, and nationally specific to hearing loss

Regional social events, connection to other families or deaf/hh adults, training and workshops

Guides specifically for Spanish-speaking families, and/or families with unilateral hearing loss, deaf plus, and more

Advocacy for families through Early Intervention, transition to school systems, IFSP and IEP development, Special Education law information and training, navigating the education maze.

Direct parent support from an experienced parent who can support you in understanding your child’s unique needs specific to your family journey

Through the support of generous donors, we are able to offer this program free of charge. Enrollment in the program can be anytime from the moment you learn your child has a hearing loss or later in life.

To be connected with a Parent Guide, please fill out the form below. To become an Alabama Hands & Voices member, please go to the membership page

GBYS Pamphlet – English or Spanish

Personal
Professional Referral

Parent/Guardian Name:

Secondary Parent/Guardian Name:

Phone Number:

Child's Name:

Email: We'll never share your email with anyone else.

Childs DOB:

Home Address:

City:

Zip:

County:

Language Spoken in the Home:

Type of Hearing Loss:

Degree of Hearing Loss (left ear):

Degree of Hearing Loss (right ear):

Hearing device if used:

Communication mode(s):

American Sign Language

Listening and Spoken Language

Fingerspelling

Cued Speech

Combination of two or more:

Other:

Please provide initial parent questions/support requested, special needs or important information: I authorize Alabama Hands & Voices to disclose to our Parent Guide(s) my name, contact information, name and age of my child so that a Parent Guide(s) may reach out to me regarding Alabama Hands & Voices activities and resources and parent-to-parent support.

Professionals Full Name:

Referral Role:

Name: