2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
10/24/2016 | 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM | Cultural Challenges in Providing Early Intervention Services in Developing Nations | BGPOP Building 402/403/404
Cultural Challenges in Providing Early Intervention Services in Developing Nations
In 2010, when the EHDI program was launched, the concept of early prevention and intervention for young children was new to the people in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and to medical as well as health professionals. Health services were limited to a basic clinic, and the people depended on periodic visits from health specialists from U.S. or Asia Pacific countries. Developmental services and education for children with special needs from birth to five were not available and are still limited to this project.
In this session, the presenter discusses steps taken to connect the EHDI program with the conventional approach in early intervention services and gain cultural acceptance. Not until recently did some changes begin to occur–– more parents and extended families began to develop awareness of the natural process of child development and to embrace the idea of intervening in the sequence of developmental steps for infants and toddlers who are deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing.
- Develop an appreciation that not all families around the world have the same conceptual understanding and appreciation of developmental milestones and how parents and family can influence a child’s development
- Understand how their understanding and appreciation can be influenced by cultural brokers in the community
- Recognize that concept of “families as first teachers” with ability to influence their child’s outcome is not a universal understanding.
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Presenters/Authors
Jean Johnson
(), University of Hawaii, jeanj@hawaii.edu;
Dr. Jean Johnson has worked in the Pacific providing audiological services for more than four decades. She has been involved in newborn hearing screening since its earliest beginnings. She currently serves as the Principal Investigator for EHDI programs in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Territory of American Samoa. In 2013 she received the Antonia Braxon Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Chinilla Peter
(), Ministry of Health, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Chinilla @hawaii.edu;
Ms. Chinilla Peter is a citizen of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She holds a MBA from the University of the South Pacific. Since 2013, she has served as the3 EHDI Coordinator for the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She is the only local provider of early intervention services in a vast geographic territory stretching from Hawaii across the Pacific to Guam.
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Nancy Rushmer
(), University of Hawaii, Kramis,rn@aol.com;
Ms. Nancy Rushmer has many years of experience as a provider and trainer for early interventions services for infants and toddlers who are deaf or who have a significant hearing loss. Over the past decade she has served as a consultant to various political entities in the Pacific, including the State of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the Territory of American Samoa, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands providing training to indigenous personnel in providing high-quality early intervention services to children who are deaf or who have a significant hearing loss.
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Yusnia Weirather
(), University of Hawaii, y.weir.athr@gmail.com;
Dr. Yusnita Weirather has recently retired as the Charge Audiologist at Kapiolani Medical Cente3r for Women and Children. For a number of years she served as the NCHAM Consulting Audiologist for the Pacific. Over the past two decades she has provided training and technical assistance to EHDI programs across the Pacific. She has served as the consulting pediatric audiologist for the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the past six years.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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