2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
3/14/2022 | 12:35 PM - 1:00 PM | Becoming a DHH Family: Creating Your Multicultural Village | Room 6
Becoming a DHH Family: Creating Your Multicultural Village
In the field of pediatric audiology, families are consistently inquiring and searching for resources and community. Hands & Voices is dedicated to supporting families with DHH children and providing families with the resources, networks, and information needed to improve communication access and educational outcomes of children.
Parents of newly identified babies often do not know where to start. This presentation gives the perspective of both a DHH adult and a parent of a DHH Child. Michelle is Chinese-American who was identified as a child, fit with hearing aids shortly after and now utilizes bilateral cochlear implants. She has been a practicing pediatric audiologist since 2009. Rosabel is a Filipino/Chinese-American and a parent of a DHH child. Her son failed his newborn screening but was not diagnosed until the age of 2 ½ years old.
Bringing a newborn baby home is already full of challenges. Adjusting to life with a newly identified baby with hearing loss (often with additional special needs) comes with a unique set of challenges. Rarely are parents prepared to take on such a significant twist in this journey. Connecting these families to resources early on in their journey is vital to parents feeling confident in their choices and increasing the likelihood of successful language acquisition, educational development, and social/emotional learning. Services and support should be mindful of family culture and its influence on family dynamics and the decision making process. Michelle and Rosabel emphasize the need for parent/professional collaboration and equal partnership to support the developmental, educational, and social/emotional needs of DHH children.
- Participants will understand the importance of parent empowerment, parent to parent support, and parent/professional collaboration to build self-efficacy in DHH children
- Participants will understand the benefits of forming an inclusive community (DHH individuals, parents, professionals and others connected).
- Participants will learn strategies to help professionals understand and relate to the unique needs of parents/caregivers highlighting cultural empathy, family dynamics, and community support.
Presentation:
3353554_14925MichelleHu.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Rosabel Agbayani
(Primary Presenter), Hands & Voices, Rosabel@handsandvoices.org;
Rosabel is the Consultant for Underrepresented Populations for Hands & Voices Headquarters and member of the Board of Directors for California Hands & Voices. She is the Chair of the Poway Unified School District Special Education Community Advisory Committee and Secretary of the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Target Resource Group for Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, California. She is a mother of a child who is deaf/hard of hearing. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development, Bachelor of Science in Communicative Disorders & Deaf Education, and a Masters in Public Health Specializing in Health Promotion. With her lived experience and her experiences working with low-income families and at-risk youth from a variety of cultural backgrounds, she understands the importance of family engagement and empowerment by building community capacity through education and advocacy. In all that she does, her spirit of collaboration is the driving force for creating a positive movement for the benefit of ALL children, especially those who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing. Her hope is to continue to build on the ideal of Family-Centered Care giving parents the access to comprehensive information from a wide variety of community resources. Rosabel hopes to bridge those essential connections within the community to enable children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing reach their highest potential
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Hands & Voices.
Nature: Staff Consultant for Underrepresented Populations .
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Michelle Hu
(Co-Presenter), Mama Hu Hears, DrMichellehu@gmail.com;
Michelle has completed her Doctor of Audiology from the Northeast Ohio Audiology Consortium at the University of Akron. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and chemistry. She has been part of the Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aid Management Teams at Rady Children’s Hospital since 2009. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Having been identified with hearing loss when she was a toddler, Michelle is able to share her personal hearing loss journey with patients and peers - especially regarding use of hearing aids and now bilateral cochlear implants. She is also founder of Mama Hu Hears, a social media account where she shares both personal and professional experiences. Helping others realize their capabilities and strengths has been a long time passion of hers. She also feels that her personal struggles and overcoming of challenges lends to her abilities to help parents find their way throughout their DHH journeys. She created the online program, “My Child Has Hearing Loss, Now What?” with the goal to empower parents of DHH children to make choices best fit for their DHH family by giving them access to resources, insight and community. She is also a military spouse and mother of three.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.