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South Dakota Services for the Deaf details mobile audiology clinic and statewide outreach
Summary
Director Cammie Van Sickle described audiology screenings, outreach consultative services and a new mobile audiology lab that expands access in rural schools; SDSD reported nearly 27,000 screenings and a master caseload increase to 691 children statewide.
Cammie Van Sickle, director of South Dakota Services for the Deaf (SDSD), briefed the appropriations committee on outreach, audiology and direct-service work that the agency provides to families and schools statewide.
SDSD operates pediatric audiology clinics in Rapid City and Sioux Falls and employs audiology assistants who travel to schools and daycares to provide hearing screenings. Van Sickle told the committee SDSD—s audiology assistants conducted nearly 27,000 screenings last year at 229 locations, an increase of about 5,000 screenings compared with the prior year.
Van Sickle introduced SDSD—s new mobile audiology lab, a custom vehicle equipped with a built-in sound booth. The mobile clinic provided 74 comprehensive hearing evaluations at 30 schools after it entered service last summer, she said, and the department expects those numbers to rise after hiring a third pediatric audiologist.
SDSD also described an outreach program that last year sent 13 deaf educators and speech-language pathologists across the state to provide consultative services free to families, schools and daycares. The department reported it closed the prior year with 691 children on its master list, up from about 329 in 2009, reflecting rising referrals from audiologists, birth-to-3 programs and districts.
Van Sickle detailed SDSD—s summer and family-connection programming, multidisciplinary testing partnerships with 15 districts, and a shared-reading project that trains caregivers to use American Sign Language during read-alouds to support early literacy.
Budget note: SDSD told the committee its FY2025 funding is roughly $3.5 million, composed primarily of general funds (about 87%), with the remainder from schools and public-lands revenue and lease payments for Sioux Falls facilities. The governor recommended a modest general-fund increase of about $3,286 to cover utilities for FY2026.
Why it matters: SDSD provides screening, diagnostic and consultative supports that local districts often cannot staff, particularly in rural areas; the mobile clinic and outreach work aim to reduce travel barriers for families and to identify hearing issues earlier.
