Arkansas Hands & Voices also offers Guide By Your Side services to newly diagnosed children birth to three years old and their families. If you are interested in this program, please call / text the GBYS coordinator at (501) 436-9088 or by email at angelina.gbys@arhandsandvoices.org.

Arkansas Hands & Voices has a part-time position opening for a dual role, Parent Support Guide/ASTra Advocate. Work will require an average of 10 hours/month.

Guide By Your Side (GBYS) is a program of Arkansas Hands & Voices that provides support for parents of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf/blind, or deaf with additional disabilities. The goal of the program is to provide parents – with d/hh children ages birth to three – the opportunity to establish a supportive relationship with a trained and experienced fellow parent and/or a d/Deaf or hard of hearing adult.

A Parent Guide must be a parent/guardian of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. The Guides will undergo specialized ongoing training in order to provide support to families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

ASTra is a replicable Deaf and Hard of Hearing Educational Advocacy Program designed to provide support to parents and professionals with resources that focus specifically on D/HH issues in the Hands & Voices context: a commitment to unbiased support of families regardless of language and communication approaches used by their children and across the full continuum of educational placement options, so that every child who is D/HH has the opportunity to achieve his/her full potential.

An ASTra Advocate must be the parent of a child who is d/Deaf, hard of hearing; a Deaf/Hard of Hearing adult; or a professional. The Advocate will undergo specialized training in order to assist families in advocating for their children who are deaf/hard of hearing in the educational system.

We are looking for one person who will fulfill both roles. Therefore, the person must be a parent of a child who is D/HH. This person must have daytime availability.

You can find the job descriptions and applications below.

Interviews will be conducted in mid-March and attendance is required by qualified candidates. Documents may be submitted as an email attachment or by mail.

Must be available for training in March (approximately 20 hours for full GBYS training and introduction to ASTra training) and availability to potentially attend the Hands & Voices Leadership Conference in Westminster, CO September 17-19. Expenses for training and travel would be covered as it is a job requirement.