2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
3/04/2019 | 3:35 PM - 4:05 PM | Fostering Joy: A Project about Appreciating the Everyday, Magical Moments of Parenting Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing | International B/C
Fostering Joy: A Project about Appreciating the Everyday, Magical Moments of Parenting Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
This presentation will highlight the Fostering Joy project, a collaboration including parent leaders, service providers, and scholars who wish to understand and promote parents’ experiences of joy in interacting with their children. This project stemmed from wanting to encourage families to set aside the stresses/ burdens that they sometimes feel and to raise awareness of the need to focus on “just being” with the child. We know that this is important. For example, parents who endorse experiencing high levels of stress tend to have deaf or hard of hearing children who have greater levels of emotional difficulties and reduced socioemotional development (Hintermair, 2006). Among families with deaf or hard of hearing children, taking care of the special needs of family members and having insufficient relief from stress were rated as having the greatest negative impact on Family Quality of Life (Jackson, Wegner & Turnbull, 2010), yet parents ranked experiences with early intervention and other family supports quite positively. An overview of emotional availability of caregivers toward infants and toddlers has shown that the extent to which caregivers can attend, attune, and foster engagement with their infants and toddlers will influence the child’s social and emotional development (Bornstein, Suwalsky & Breakstone, 2012). During this session, the Fostering Joy team will describe the project, report on a focus group that was completed and the themes that emerged, and discuss future planned activities. Audience members will be encouraged to offer their own insights into the questions that we pose, including how we might encourage families to recognize the joys of parenting, and how EI providers can assist families in experiencing joy with their children. We hope you will join us to discuss the Fostering Joy movement!
- List a minimum of two reasons that the Fostering Joy project is addressing parent-child interactions
- Describe a minimum of two ideas the group outlined for future projects
- Discuss at least two reasons to shift from problem-focused discussions with families to joy-oriented discussions with families
Presentation:
18878_10546AmySzarkowski.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
18878_10546AmySzarkowski.doc
Presenters/Authors
Amy Szarkowski
(), Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf, Amy.Szarkowski@childrens.harvard.edu;
Amy Szarkowski, PhD, is the Director of The Institute and The Clinic at the Children's Center for Communication/ Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD), and faculty for LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities), at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Szarkowski holds an academic appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is also an adjunct instructor for the Infants, Toddlers and Families (ITF) Interdisciplinary program at Gallaudet University.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
• Receives Salary for Employment from CCCBSD.
• Receives Salary for Employment from Gallaudet University.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Marilyn Sass-Lehrer
(), Gallaudet University, marilyn.sass-lehrer@gallaudet.edu;
Marilyn Sass-Lehrer is Professor Emerita at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. She received a master’s degree in Deaf Education from New York University and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Early Childhood Education and Curriculum and Instruction. She is an adjunct professor in Gallaudet University's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers and Their Families Interdisciplinary Program. She is editor of Early Intervention for Deaf and Hard-of- Hearing Infants, Toddlers and their Families: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2016), and has several other publications related to early intervention. Dr. Sass-Lehrer is actively involved in professional development and learning for early intervention providers.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Candace Lindow-Davies
(), Hands & Voices Headquarters, Candace@handsandvoices.org;
Candace is the mother of an adult son who is deaf plus other health concerns. For 16+ years, she developed and directed parent support services for MN Hands & Voices. May 2017, she became the Director of Outreach for Hands & Voices HQ and has served on the Core Management Team of the Family Leadership in Language in Learning or FL3 Center. She has developed materials for and provided technical assistance/training to family-based organizations in the US, US territories and China. She is passionate about supporting the needs of children/adults who are deaf/hh plus other health issues, creating health and employment equity, as well as ensuring families have access to adults who are deaf and hard of hearing. She is a Core Member of the Fostering Joy project, focusing on the joys of raising children who are D/HH.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Linda Lytle
(), Gallaudet University, Linda.Lytle@gallaudet.edu;
Linda Risser Lytle, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Counseling at Gallaudet University. She is director of the Summers & Online School Counseling Program, which is supported by a training grant from OSEP. She is also co-director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers, and their Families: Leadership and Collaboration Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program. She is a licensed psychologist and maintains a private practice in Washington, DC. Dr. Lytle received her doctorate in Counseling from The Catholic University of America. Her major focus on national and international presentations and writing has been on supporting social emotional development of deaf and hard of hearing children. Most recently, she co-authored Turning the Tide: Making Life Better for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Schoolchildren (2014) and Raising the Whole Child: Addressing Social-Emotional Development in Deaf Children. (VL2 Research Brief No. 11) (2016).
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Jennifer Clark
(), Hawaii Department of Health Early Intervention, Jennifer.Blohm@doh.hawaii.gov;
Jennifer Clark received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Disorders and Deaf Studies: Sign Language Interpreting, from California State University, Fresno and her Master’s Degree from Gallaudet University in Deaf Education: Family Centered Early Education. Since 2010, Jennifer has been working with D/HH/DB children (birth-3) as the Early Intervention Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Specialist for the Hawaii Department of Health.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Janet DesGeorges
(), Hands & Voices, janet@handsandvoices.org;
Janet DesGeorges lives in Boulder, Colorado and is Executive Director of Hands & Voices Headquarters. Janet has presented to groups worldwide about the experiences of families as they journey through life with a child with deafness or hearing loss. Ms. DesGeorges received a program certificate from the MCH Public Health Leadership Institute in 2011 at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
As an EHDI Systems advocate, Janet believes in the principles and guiding philosophies of Hands & Voices towards a parent-driven, professionally-collaborative approach when supporting families in the early years. Her areas of interest include Leadership Development for parents who participate in systemic improvement; Deaf Education Reform and Improvement; Children’s Safety and Success(preventing child abuse and neglect); Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Systems; and Parent/Professional partnerships in Quality Improvement processes.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.