2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/10/2025 | 11:25 AM - 11:55 AM | For Families: Using the FCEI-DHH Principles and Advocating for What You Need | 304/305
For Families: Using the FCEI-DHH Principles and Advocating for What You Need
In 2024, an international consensus process that involved families, adults who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), EI Providers, and researchers published a special issue in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education (JDSDE) on Family-Centered Early Intervention Deaf/Hard of Hearing, or FCEI-DHH. Together, the papers in this volume are intended to improve practices in FCEI across the globe.
As family members with children who are DHH, how might this work be relevant to you? From the family/parent perspective, what are some “need to know” recommendations from this document? How might you use this new document (located at: https://academic.oup.com/jdsde/issue/29/SI) and the accompanying User-Friendly Guide (found at: https://www.fcei.at/dl/mlmoJmoJKOkkJqx4KJKJmMJKlKln/FINAL-FCEI-GuideBook-print_pdf)?
This presentation is offered by a member of the Writing Team for the FCEI-DHH work and a family leader involved in the consensus process. In this session, we will explore some of the recommendations offered through the lens of family members. We will provide ideas and discussion about how families can utilize the FCEI-DHH Principles to advocate for services that support the needs of their child and of the family as a whole. We will also emphasize how families can use the Principles to engage with their EI Providers and EI Systems.
- 1. Describe, in their own words or signs, how the FCEI-DHH recommendations for EI Providers and for Families are intended to be “reciprocal.”
- 2. Select one recommendation listed among the FCEI-DHH Principles that is particularly relevant to them and make a plan for implementing that recommendation in their own life.
- 3. Generate a statement that can be shared with other families with children who are DHH about the value of the FCEI-DHH documents for family advocacy.
Presentation:
3545975_18282AmySzarkowski.pdf
Handouts:
3545975_18282AmySzarkowski.pdf
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Janet DesGeorges
(Co-Presenter), Hands & Voices, Headquarters, janet@handsandvoices.org;
Janet DesGeorges lives in Boulder, Colorado and is Executive Director of Hands & Voices Headquarters and the P.I. for the FL3 Center. 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 exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Amy Szarkowski
(Primary Presenter), University of Massachusetts Boston, Amy.Szarkowski@gmail.com;
Dr. Szarkowski is a psychologist who specializes in supporting children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. She was on the Writing Team for the FCEI-DHH special issue.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary,Grants for Employment,Teaching and speaking from University of Massachusetts Boston.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional
(Advisory Board)
relationship for Board membership.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with University of Massachusetts Boston
Boston Children's Hospital
.
Nature: Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) training grants
Hands & Voices FL3 Center Advisory Board.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.