Amy Knackstedt
MA, CED
Knight Family Endowed Director
Welcome to the Joanne Parrish Knight Family Center
When you discover your child has a hearing loss, you have lots of questions. CID’s caring family center staff will help you navigate the early intervention system so your family receives services as soon as possible.
Our parent educators and speech-language therapists are credentialed providers for Missouri First Steps and Illinois Child and Family Connections. We serve families and their children from birth to age 3. Our expert pediatric audiologists will work closely with you to ensure your child receives appropriate amplification as soon as possible. An experienced early intervention parent educator will guide you every step of the way.
For a baby with hearing loss, every day is precious learning time.
CID offers home visits, remote coaching sessions and family support groups, with flexible scheduling to meet your family’s needs. Starting at around 18 months old, your child may be eligible to attend our toddler class, which includes individual pull-out sessions with a specially trained pediatric speech-language therapist.
Our dynamic, play-based toddler class provides an optimal environment to capitalize on a child’s powerful early language learning years.
Meet the Team
"It's hard to put into words the impact CID has made on our families' lives. CID and its staff are genuine difference makers."
HOME VISITS
Parents are a child’s first teachers, and a young child’s home is the best place in which to learn to listen and talk. Our highly trained staff is dedicated to getting you exactly the help you need to begin working with your child.
CID parent educators travel an hour or more to homes in rural Missouri and southern Illinois to provide custom sessions for parents and caregivers. Through demonstration and coaching, they empower families to help their children learn and grow. They also teach caregivers about hearing loss, cochlear implants and hearing aids, and what to expect when raising a child with hearing loss — one step at a time.
REMOTE COACHING
CID offers teleintervention sessions for families of young children with hearing loss learning to listen and talk. Our experienced educators teach parents and caregivers about hearing loss, listening devices and how to begin to help their child learn to talk.
We use a coaching model to help families gain confidence integrating listening and spoken language techniques into their daily routines. Our goal is to empower parents to continue to improve their children’s skills as a foundation for lifelong learning.
FAMILY SUPPORT
Individual consultations with our family support specialist focus on grief, parenting a child with hearing loss and general child development. CID also connects caregivers to area resources and facilitated group discussions through the Hearing from the Heart program. We host CID Playdates throughout the year at CID and at various locations in the metro community as an opportunity for families to get to know one another and have fun together.
CID Family Center families are invited to attend all school-wide events, from Morning Mingles and Popsicles on the Playground to speech shows, literacy and science fairs to nights out at the ballpark and Magic House.
The CID Parent Organization also provides opportunities for parents to support one another and connect with the faculty and staff. The group hosts social and fundraising activities and an annual staff appreciation luncheon.
We invite you and your family to visit CID and meet our staff and students in the family center and school. See for yourself that developing listening and spoken language is both possible and rewarding.