Raising Readers: How CCHAT Is Bringing the Science of Reading Home to Sacramento

Every child who is deaf or hard of hearing deserves the chance to fall in love with reading, to open a book and find a world waiting inside it. But for children who are deaf and hard of hearing, getting there takes something more deliberate: research-backed literacy instruction, expert collaboration, and a community of professionals who never stop learning.

That is exactly what CCHAT Sacramento is bringing to the region this fall.

On Monday, October 19, 2026, CCHAT will host its Fall Symposium, Raising Readers: Aligning Current Research with Literacy Practices for Students who are DHH, a full day of science of reading training designed for the teachers, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and other professionals who show up for these children every day. It is CCHAT's way of doing what it has always done: staying at the forefront of best practice, and then making sure that knowledge reaches the people who can put it into action in classrooms across Northern California. As an ASHA CE Approved Provider, CCHAT has long served as a place where this region's professional community comes to keep learning, together.

Why This Symposium Matters

Reading is one of the clearest paths to independence, confidence, and opportunity. For children who are deaf and hard of hearing, the path to strong literacy is built on the same foundation as everything else CCHAT believes in: early, intentional, evidence-based support.

This year's symposium unfolds across two connected sessions, one grounded in the everyday realities of assessment and family partnership, and one focused on turning research into reading instruction that works.

The day opens with Bridging Research and Practice, led by Ashley Ben-Jacob, M.Ed., a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education Specialist, consultant, mentor, and doctoral student at Idaho State University with more than a decade of experience supporting children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. Ben-Jacob's session starts from a truth every professional in the room already knows: assessment data alone does not improve outcomes, collaborative action does. Drawing on her doctoral research into coaching practices and family-centered early intervention, she will guide attendees through a clinical reasoning framework for interpreting assessments during the transition from early intervention to school-age services, embedding language support into everyday family routines, and building the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration that turns an assessment report into a real plan for a real child.

From there, the day moves into Read Up! A New Era of Reading Achievement for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, led by Dr. Maria Hartman, who has spent her career teaching and supervising educators of the deaf and hard of hearing throughout New York City, and Dr. Elaine Smolen, a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist who is proud to be hard of hearing herself. Their session will dig into how auditory access and language development intersect with foundational literacy skills, and will introduce practical tools, including the Reading CASLLS assessment, that professionals can bring straight back to their classrooms and caseloads.

And in the day's most personal session, attendees will hear directly from the people who understand this journey best: a panel called Voices of the Journey: Insights from Caregivers and CI/Hearing Aid Users, where caregivers and hearing aid and cochlear implant users will share what this experience has actually looked like in their own lives.

What You'll Walk Away With

By the end of the day, attendees will be able to interpret assessment findings across the transition from early intervention to school-age services using a clinical reasoning approach, and apply family-centered coaching strategies that embed listening, language, and communication opportunities into children's daily routines through interdisciplinary collaboration. They will leave with a collaborative plan connecting assessment findings to evidence-based literacy instruction, along with the ability to identify key findings from current literacy research, evaluate their own strategies against evidence-based frameworks, and design a research-backed intervention plan suited to the range of communication approaches their students and clients use.

In other words, this is not a day of theory. It is a day built to change what Monday morning looks like for the professionals in that room.

A Region Learning Together

CCHAT Executive Director Ronda Rufsvold will open and close the day, and she will bring news that connects directly to this symposium's mission. Among the updates she plans to share is CCHAT's newest initiative, the Early Access Navigator program, a new effort designed to close the gap between a child's diagnosis and the moment intervention begins, so that the earliest, most critical window for language and literacy development is never lost.

That is the thread running through the entire day. Whether it is a classroom teacher learning a new reading strategy, a caregiver sharing a hard-won insight, or CCHAT sharing its vision for what comes next, everyone in the room on October 19 will be working toward the same goal: giving every child who is deaf or hard of hearing the tools to become a confident, capable reader.

Join Us

Raising Readers is open to professionals, students, and caregivers. Registration includes electronic course handouts, a certificate of attendance, breakfast, and lunch.

• Date: Monday, October 19, 2026
• Time: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Location: Franklin Templeton, 3355 Data Dr, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
• Registration: Professionals, $100 before September 1 ($125 after); Students, $50; Parents, $25

CEUs from ASHA and AG Bell are pending approval.

Register for Raising Readers here.