2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
3/06/2023 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Please, Have a Seat! Setting the Table for Parent Engagement & Leadership | DECC 200
Please, Have a Seat! Setting the Table for Parent Engagement & Leadership
The seats that parents choose when it comes to family engagement are largely based on the early experiences they have with a group, agency, or organization. Why do some family members end up at the head of the organization’s table while others sit on the sidelines? Successful, long-term family engagement and leadership in the advancement of EHDI and parent-to-parent support organizations are often based on how, when, and why a family member came to the table in the first place. In this presentation, parent-leaders Valerie James Abbott (EHDI-champion at the Center for Family Involvement) and Djenne-amal Morris (Independent Consultant/Board President Hands & Voices HQ) will share insights on what led them to become leaders and agents of change at a state and national level and what they have discovered about family leadership along the way. Questions discussed include: What piques the interest of parents and caregivers? What motivates them to step up or step out? What prevents parents from raising their hands? What barriers prevent family members from leadership? This session offers a different perspective and new ideas around recruitment conversations, utilizing parents as leaders, crafting family engagement goals, and how your organization can redefine success.
- Participants will be able to identify best practices that foster strong family engagement
- Participants will recognize ways of leveraging parent knowledge, skills, story and talents
- Participants will be able to discern and utilize the interests/experiences/preferences of family members
Presentation:
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Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Valerie Abbott
(), Center for Family Involvement at VCU; Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign, valeriejamesabbott@gmail.com;
Valerie James Abbott is a parent-advocate, an award-winning author, and an EHDI-champion who serves as co-chair of the Virginia EHDI Advisory Committee. She works at the Center for Family Involvement at Virginia Commonwealth University, supporting the needs of families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing and leading projects that support the goals and objectives of Virginia EHDI. She has served on the board of Virginia Hands & Voices and in 2021 she founded the National Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign with Justin Osmond, CEO of the Olive Osmond Hearing Fund. Valerie has published several articles online and in print about raising a child with a disability that have gained nationwide attention. Her children’s book Padapillo won (bronze) in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and is based on the true story of how her family discovered and came to terms with their daughter's late onset hearing loss.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Royalty options or other ownership interest for Other activities from Self - Valerie James Abbott.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Djenne-amal Morris
(), Hands & Voices HQ, djennemorris@gmail.com ;
Djenne-amal N. Morris brings passion, humor, and real-life experience to her role as a national and international
parent/professional trainer, facilitator, and motivational speaker whose view of the world is not as it is, but as it could be. As a mother of an amazing son with CHARGE Syndrome, she strives to build an atmosphere of support and empowerment for families of children with special needs and the professionals who serve them. This has led to her career working with families of children with special needs in various roles as Women’s Ministry Leader, and Family Specialist for the New England and North Carolina Deaf-Blind Projects, and
Parent Educator. Professionally, Djenne serves as Family Faculty/Multicultural Advisor for the NC-LEND program at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is a co-author of The Art of Collaboration: Lessons from Families of Children with Disabilities. Djenne holds a BA in Psychology from Clark University and holds a Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University. Djenne and her husband Michael of 30 years have 3 children. Malik, 26, is a graduate of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. He is independent and living his best life in a group home for Deaf young men. Imani, 27, is a future MPH focusing on Maternal and Child Health. Her youngest Zakiya, 21, is
a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a future Audiologist.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -