#SelfAdvocacySunday Part 9: Camps for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children24 February 2019Summer Camps!I have the pleasure of being a member of the Richland Sertoma Club, a service organization with a focus on […]
A Letter from Co-Founder Mary Reaves To My Beginnings Family, After 10+ years I have made the incredibly difficult decision to step away as Director of Programs at Beginnings. But, […]
Get Back to School Ready Cara shares some great tips & resources to help you feel prepared going into the new school year! Cara Smithwick • 08/11/22It’s that time of […]
Radio Interview: Supporting the employment of the deaf & hard of hearing Beginnings SC Director of Programs Mary Reaves speaks with Mike Switzer of SC Business Review Jennifer Faulkner • […]
Benefits of ABC Parent CoachingBeginnings SC Parent Education Specialist and ABC Parent Coach Lisa Jolly shares why parents should participate in ABC Coaching.Lisa Jolly • 06/08/22How can something so filled […]
May 28, 2022 is Treacher Collins Syndrome Awareness Day in S.C.May 27, 2022This week, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed a proclamation marking May 28, 2022 as Treacher Collins Syndrome […]
#TeamTuesday Feature: Kamili Belton February 1, 2022 Every Tuesday, Beginnings SC will highlight the professionals across South Carolina doing amazing work in their role to help deaf & hard of […]
#TeamTuesday Feature: Dakota SharpJanuary 2022Every Tuesday, Beginnings SC will highlight the professionals across South Carolina doing amazing work in their role to help deaf & hard of hearing children in […]
#TeamTuesday Feature: Aileen WelchJanuary 2022Every Tuesday, Beginnings SC will highlight the professionals across South Carolina doing amazing work in their role to help deaf & hard of hearing children in […]
#TeamTuesday Feature: Bambi ReedJanuary 2022Every Tuesday, Beginnings SC will highlight the professionals across South Carolina doing amazing work in their role to help deaf & hard of hearing children in […]
Eda’Leigh’s mom, Takeesha, talks about her Beginnings SC journey. “Beginnings SC has been a big support for our family. On December 28, 2020, we found out that our sweet baby […]
Zavaeha Pullin’s Family Story Zavaeha’s mom, Brittney Pullins, describes her journey with Beginnings SC. “When it comes to Beginnings SC and how they have impacted my family, it’s just them […]
Lisa Pullen’s Family Story Lisa Pullen talks about her journey with Beginnings SC. “For many years I knew few people who worked in organizations such as Beginning SC, which helps […]
Ava Hagan’s Family Story Ava’s mom, Katie Hagan, discusses her journey with Beginnings SC. “Learning that your child can’t hear is life altering. Beginnings SC educated us on our child’s […]
Webinar: Information for the Deaf Community About the COVID-19 VaccineWhen: Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ESTWho: SC Deaf/Hard of Hearing CommunityWhat: Virtual webinar with Dr. Jane Kelly, Assistant State […]
We have thrown together a list of a few easy resources that you might find helpful but the biggest goal of this post is to make sure you know that just surviving this whole thing is okay.
Introducing...Back to School During the Coronavirus: A Guide for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing and their Teams Beginnings SC • 9/18/2020Learn tips to share with teams. Help prepare […]
Check in + Circle of SupportDoes it feel like your world is upside down? You are not alone. Beginnings SC • 4/09/2020We’ve put together multiple tips to help you navigate this […]
We have thrown together a list of a few easy resources that you might find helpful but the biggest goal of this post is to make sure you know that just surviving this whole thing is okay.
Welcome to the third round of the Summer IEP for PARENTS-- Games, Activities and Sports!
Hope everyone is feeling good about doing some fun activities and using lots of language! This week is more of the same-Games, Activities, and Sports. Regardless of the hot SC sun, summer is still a perfect time for fun. Family activities,…
AKA-Take care of yourself first. If anyone is watching over my shoulder while I am working on this, they have one hand on their hip and the other is wagging a finger at me. I am the worst at taking care of myself--first or last.
But as moms, moms of kids with different kinds of needs…
#SelfAdvocacySunday Part 11: Caring for Hearing Technology20 April 2019#SelfAdvocacySunday: Part 11-3 Tips about Caring for Hearing TechnologyMany days there seems to be not enough time in the day. Soon it will […]
#SelfAdvocacy for Parents-IEP Pre-planning28 March 2019You have homework!Before the IEP, spend a little time filling out this worksheet and thinking about the upcoming year. You can write down all your […]
#SelfAdvocacySunday Part 8: Role Models27 January 2019#SelfAdvocacySunday! Tonight’s post is all about really awesome adults that are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I tried to find some from a variety of […]
Early Intervention is a family-centered program for children, ages birth through 5, who are deaf, blind, or sensory multi-disabled. Together with parents, we strive to help each child reach maximum […]
Bright Start provides quality comprehensive services to all individuals with special needs and developmental delays so that children, teenagers and adults can achieve their greatest potential.
Today’s post is from a special contributor, Camillia J. Lynch. She is working on her Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling. Kevin J. Donaldson stated, “Remember NO ONE has the right to control your emotions, thoughts, and actions unless you let them.” It is normal to experience […]
Carter Hears! is an educational consulting group that focuses on children with hearing loss by supporting families & professionals with customized service.
Another crucial piece of #self-advocacy is for a child to be able to understand his or her hearing loss and explain it to another person. Imagine the confidence she will […]
Hi, there! Happy last Sunday of 2018, and last #SelfAdvocacySunday post of the year, too. This post not only helps with self-advocacy, it also helps with getting back into the […]
Guest Blogger: Gina Viruso, LSW Besides being able to identify different emotions that lead to the development of skills to be able to self-advocate, it is important that children have […]
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.17.6″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.6″ text_font=”Arial||||||||”] Holidays mean one thing for parents–Lots of togetherness with their children! Let’s use it to continue working on IDENTIFYING EMOTIONS. […]
Last week we posted about #SelfAdvocacy skills for preschool and early elementary school children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This week, it is much of the same, but with […]
Today starts #SelfAdvocacySunday. Each week we will bring you another installation about increasing your child or student’s self-advocacy skills because YOU, the parent, are the best resource to teach these skills. What […]
Part 2: So what can we do to help our children? If you suspect bullying is happening at school, first talk to your child. Ask them about the experience and […]
What is bullying? An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity— to control or harm others. Power imbalances can […]
If anyone has heard Mary or I present, or been at one of our home visits, or talked to us at a Child Care conference…heck, if you’ve talked to us […]
Time flies when you are having fun, right?! Now it’s time to get down to business–SCHOOL TIME! 1. Meet your child’s teachers! Make sure your child knows how to get […]
Cole’s Story as Told by His Mom, Plus a Special Interview of Cole by His Brother Will “I just received Cole’s new IEP, and it has his new accommodations. I […]
Andrew’s Story as Told by His Mom Having Beginnings help me learn the educational impacts of my son’s hearing loss has been beneficial in me learning, as a parent, to […]
Here’s the presentation that Cara did at the Family Connections 2018 Hopes and Dreams Conference! If you have any questions, send Cara an email at csenterfeit@scbegin.org Access the presentation here: […]
Micah and Mia’s Story as Told by Their Mom Our journey as parents of a hard of hearing child began in 2014 when our son, Micah was born. He failed […]
Six years ago this month, Mary and I (Cara) sat around a table at our then-favorite eating establishment and met with the leadership of Beginnings, Inc. from North Carolina. Fast-forward […]
Eli’s Story as Told by His Parents Where do we begin? We are so very thankful for Beginnings SC!! We have spent years struggling to keep Eli in regular […]
Abby’s Story as Told by Her Mom “This is my oldest. Her name is Abby. She is pretty amazing (when she isn’t being too much of a 7 year old […]
Stephen’s Story as Told by Beginnings & His Mom Little Stephen has been through a lot. But thanks to Ms. Tracy and Mr. Billy, he has started living a whole […]
Jayden’s Story as Told by His Mom Our son Jayden was diagnosed with EVA (enlarged vestibular aqueduct) as a four year old, after failing his hearing test at school. We […]
Naomi’s Story as Told by Her Mom When my daughter, Naomi, failed two school hearing screenings in third grade two years ago, life seemed to start spiraling out of control. […]
Many people throughout the world have dealt with varying levels of hearing loss. I am just one of those many and I would like to share part of my journey […]
1. Begin with a fresh start. This is a new school year, which means it’s an opportunity for a brand new start! Your child has different teachers, different classmates, […]
One of the best ways to keep children who are deaf or hard of hearing learning during the summer is a language experience book. This is a time-honored […]
Ena’s Story as Told by Her Mom
What is ESY? Extended School Year (ESY) IS additional special education services needed for a child with a disability that is “necessary [for] the child to benefit from his […]
While Summer is still months away, there are always quite a few camps for deaf and hard of hearing children, teens, and young adults that you’ll want to be sure […]
One of Beginnings SC’s Board members, Missy, has been Deaf since birth. She and her husband, who is also Deaf, use American Sign Language as their primary mode of communication, as […]
Language builds on language. 80-90% of what a 5 year old knows going into kindergarten is learned incidentally – that means without thinking, without trying, the brain is listening […]
Organize and bring your child’s paperwork with you. The most important ones to bring are: your child's current IEP new audiological reports new evaluation reports Take paper to use to […]
Reading is everyone's best friend! Reading Decreases Stress LevelsBelieve it or not, reading for at least 6 minutes reduces your stress levels by a whopping 69%.Reading Increases Empathetic ReasoningFiction has been […]
It’s Monday and I have a home visit with a new family this week. A new 6-year-old boy, “Shawn,” who is starting to show signs of struggling to learn to […]
Cara and I never thought we would be performing hearing screenings for children when setting out to start a program for parent education, but getting into the process has been […]
Ainsley’s Story as Told by Her Mom We knew at the age of 3 that Ainsley had some hearing loss from a hole in her eardrum from ear tubes. The […]
J.R.’s Story as Told by His Mom On June 15, 2013 our family of three became a family of four. Our precious baby boy James Robert (J.R.) was born. Every […]
Corbin’s Story as Told by His Mom Corbin is currently five and a half years old. Corbin had health problems from a very early age. He has suffered from chronic […]
Ah’Yania’s Story as Told by Her Mom When I got custody of my grandniece in 2009, she was 5 years old. She had been in the Department of Social Services […]
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Knowledge is power! It’s one of my favorite quotes anyway, but I’m an educator through and through-it has to be […]
Meet Michelle. She (and husband, Rusty) are parents to Sean. Sean has a bilateral hearing loss. He will be going into middle school this month (insert a shudder! Just kidding…) […]
1. Begin with a fresh start. This is a new school year, which means it’s an opportunity for a brand new start! Your child has different teachers, different classmates, maybe […]
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Join Beginnings SC, SC Association of the Deaf, the SC Chapter of Hands & Voices, and the Irmo Fire Department for the 1st Annual Back […]
Beginnings SC is starting a new feature called #TeamTuesday. I spent lots of my life “doing it by myself” and learned the hard way (read: still learning) to love […]
If anyone has been reading Beginnings SC’s Facebook feed, you know I have been enthralled with Dancing with the Stars lately, because of one reason–Nyle DiMarco. The only time I […]
The Back to the Basics-Part 2 was about the uniqueness of students with a hearing loss. Every child–deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing– is born with a different personality, different […]
If you’ve ever talked to me about education, you know I have tons of thoughts on that subject. Last week I wrote about the eligibility as “Deaf and Hard […]
Hi, there. Cara here. It's IEP time in many districts across South Carolina and Beginnings SC has received LOTS of questions. This is the first of several posts about what […]
[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_line_height=”2em” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] I just read this article from a link on Facebook from Carter Hears! and had to start posting again. This is […]
It’s almost time! Last year was a blast getting selfies online and meeting folks at Carolina Wings. This year-has to be more fun! Here are the details. Midlands Gives is […]
Almost 30 years ago, a group of parents in North Carolina met to discuss how to convince the schools to provided different learning environments for their deaf and hard […]
We didn’t double our record from last year, but the 2nd Annual BEGINNINGS FORE KIDS Golf Classic was a success! Thanks to the volunteers, the sponsors, the teams, the staff of […]
Today is a collection of links to parent-to-parent support online. I’m just going to start listing. I have not read each and every one of these, so reader beware! HUGE […]
Oops! I let yesterday go by without a post, and almost let today slip by! Luckily I have two posts ready. On Friday I posted about The Million Words project […]
There is an incredible project out of Chicago that is providing coaching for parents (and it started with parents of deaf children!) about how to “grow” a child’s brain […]
Today’s post is a link to a Pinterest board with tons of family activities! Choose one and do it this weekend!
Tons of things going on in October in SC! Here’s a massive list from SCiway.net.
Little late posting today but as I sat down to find a topic to post, this post from Peace in Your Home came up in my Pinterest feed. Holy moly […]
I love all the activities happening in fall! The picture above has a great list to print and check off-from EdVentures with Kids. Here is another activity from one of […]
Today’s post is on prevention-for friends and family members without current hearing loss and for those with hearing loss who want/need to keep what you have. This is a graphic that shows […]
I just found this full-length episode from Nick news about 5 different deaf and hard of hearing kids, called Now Hear This! What is you were Deaf? (from the blog of […]
Happy Friday! I was searching for “How to speak like a Pirate” in American Sign Language (if you know me, you won’t be surprised) and found a new comic book […]
This week I am going to list several sites related to the different communication paths a child and family can take. Remember, the optimal goal for children is LITERACY and […]
This week I am going to list several sites related to the different communication paths a child and family can take. Remember, the optimal goal for children is LITERACY and […]
This week I am going to list several sites related to the different communication paths a child and family can take. Remember, the optimal goal for children is LITERACY and […]
This week I am going to list several sites related to the different communication paths a child and family can take. Remember, the optimal goal for children is LITERACY […]
If you are one of our Beginnings’ families, chances are Mary or I have said “Talk all the time. Talk until you make yourself feel silly-and keep talking.” (And when […]
It’s raining where I am. Boo! Since I can find the silver lining in any cloud (well, almost anything) I have rainy day activity ideas! Foam Dough– all you need […]
There is a great blog out of Georgia that has some terrific posts about language and literacy and deaf/hard of hearing kids. Right now Forever Free is doing multiple posts […]
Here is a great site from Delaware called QT 30. The site is full of activities for parents to use to spend 30 quality time minutes with their child each […]
Today-in the middle of back-to-back meetings and finishing up materials for the first meeting of the year for my Girl Scout troop, I realized that I just needed a short time-out. […]
This one is for my teacher friends out there. I forget that PBS created some units with in depth vocabulary work for DHOH students. The units cover the books […]
Happy Monday! So often I sit at IEP meetings, or talk to people in traditional education settings and try to describe hearing loss. This is a short but adequate demonstration […]
Just came across this post of young adult books featuring deaf or hard of hearing characters. Very cool! Five books that look great for young ladies and young men. Read […]
Happy Saturday! I, for one, needed it! Looking through my Feedly blogs and found this video made by Deaf campers at Camp Mark Seven in New York. I love videos made […]
It’s Friday and let’s get outside and play! The web is full of scavenger hunts that can be printed out and handed to kids. Important: Get outside! Here are a […]
Day 4 of the Back to Blogging/Deaf Awareness Month series! Today is an idea that can be used at home, at school, on vacation, at the grocery store…anywhere! You will […]
This started as a P.S. on yesterday’s post when I realized it was getting too wordy! Here are my thoughts on homework. Make sure that there is one established place […]
It’s Tuesday and Labor Day is over. It’s back to school, for real now. 🙂 May this be a incredible year! Here are some the things to make sure that […]
Seems like May was just last week! Summer’s flown by and most everyone is finished with vacations and back in school [insert your own emotion about that.] September is Deaf […]
When it rains, it pours! This week keeps getting better and better! We had amazing support with MidlandsGives.org-36 donors and over $1800 in donations- and now we have another announcement! […]
I’ve been teaching for almost 20 years and I STILL want a new outfit for the first day of school and for picture day! Tomorrow is #MidlandsGives where our community […]
MidlandsGives is right around the corner! Less than 6 days away! Set your alarm for 12:01am May 6th to get up and make an online contribution! Actually, you have 23 […]
On May 6, Beginnings SC will be participating in a 24-hour online giving challenge. MidlandsGives.org is new to SC, but is a part of national day of support for nonprofit […]
The 1st Annual Beginnings Fore Kids Golf Tournament was a huge success! Mary and I had a great time, and we weren’t even golfing! We’ve heard that the golfers had […]
Former USC Men’s Basketball MVP Jamel Bradley to host the 1st Annual SC Beginnings Fore Kids Golf Classic to Benefit Families of Children with a Hearing Loss Jamel Bradley, a […]
Literally and figuratively! We got the official letter stating that BEGINNINGS-SC is a nonprofit, registered in SC! It is even retroactive to July 2012. Super exciting times around Beginnings-SC!
Groucho’s Deli is a $500 Sponsor and donated a $100 gift card for the tournament…silent auction perhaps? MHA has claimed a Prize Hole Sponsorship with their donation! Only 2 Prize […]
BEGINNINGS-NC’s newsletter article about our SC office! Scroll down to the bottom to find us.
Who are the most avid golfers in our community? The Deaf Caddyshacks–they are the first team to register. Thanks, guys!
We are going to have some fun on Monday, March 10, 2014 at Cobblestone Club in Blythewood! Oh, and we’ll also be raising funds to increase the capacity of BEGINNINGS-SC […]
After 15 months and 12 days (yes, painfully counting) we finally received the form that we’ve been waiting for! We applied for our nonprofit determination in September 2012, with the […]
Wednesday night we celebrated the official 1st Anniversary for our Board of Directors! We’ve been working with families for well over a year, but we met at the beginning of […]
Moving information around on the website and this won’t move properly, but we wanted to keep it on the site. December 2013: BEGINNINGS-SC received a surprise donation from the St. […]