2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

DUKE ENERGY CONVENTION CENTER

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3/06/2023  |   2:00 PM - 2:30 PM   |  Hands & Voices: AFFIRM: Leaders of Color Training Initiative   |  DECC 230/231

Hands & Voices: AFFIRM: Leaders of Color Training Initiative

The AFFIRM: Leaders of Color Training session was an idea put forth by diverse leaders from Hands & Voices who saw a need to address Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the community that serves Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and their families. This diverse cultural group met over the course of 2 months and developed a unified mission to drive DEIA into the forefront of the organization. The purpose of the AFFIRM: Leaders of Color Training was to acknowledge the value, importance, and necessity of diverse leadership. This was a space for leaders to feel empowered, share ideas and resources to create culturally and linguistically relevant information and actionable steps to move forward in the work of supporting families with children who are DHH. The goal is to put Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at the center of all Hands & Voices initiatives and to create a sustainable diverse leader-to-leader support thus providing continued support to underserved and underrepresented populations. A first of its kind meeting at the Hands & Voices Leadership Conference in September 2022. It proved to be a successful session with overwhelming positive feedback from participants, most of whom were from diverse populations.

  • Learn about the importance of culturally and linguistic patient- and family-centered care rooted in Dignity and respect, information sharing, participation, and collaboration among community members.
  • Identify strategies to engage diverse, traditionally underserved and underrepresented cultural group in dialogue to identify potential gaps in systems and drive systematic change.
  • Understand the principles of Cultural Humility and the value of honoring safe spaces for members of diverse communities to share their experiences and its impact on quality improvement and increased family engagement.

Presentation:
3420032_15551AnaBrooks.pdf

Handouts:
Handout is not Available

Transcripts:
3420032_15551AnaBrooks.docx


Presenters/Authors

Ana Brooks (), Hands & Voices, ana@handsandvoices.org;
Ana is a mother of two children residing in Oregon. She is brought to this work due to her oldest child not passing their newborn hearing screening. She is grateful to have experienced guidance from a parent guide early in our journey which led to positive outcomes in her child’s D/HH journey and to have been able to provide that same service to many families herself as a former parent guide. Her passion and drive is aiding our Hispanic/Latino/x communities from her own lived experience lens. She has experienced and seen the hardships many parents face when attempting to navigate services in a different language. Ana has a unique perspective necessary to identify the many common communication gaps in the D/HH community experience. She continuously seeks ways to collaborate with other family organizations and systems of care to provide outreach and support to D/HH children and their Spanish-speaking families and Latino/x communities . Her work is to assure all information being shared to families is culturally and linguistically appropriate.


ASHA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.

Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.

AAA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
Financial relationship with .
Nature: .

Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with .
Nature: .

Rosabel Agbayani (), 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: .

Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with Hands & Voices.
Nature: .

Djenne-amal Morris (), Hands & Voices HQ, djennemorris@gmail.com ;
Djenne-amal N. Morris, BA Djenne-amal N. Morris, BA 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, Parent Educator. She currently is the Family Faculty Advisor for the NC-LEND program at UNC-Chapel Hill and President of the Board of Directors for Hands & Voices Headquarters. Djenne is committed to creating an atmosphere of diversity wherever she goes. She received her certification in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from Cornell University and does consulting and training professionally. Djenne and her husband Michael of 30 years have 3 children. Malik, 26 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. Djenne and Michael is enjoying their empty nest by traveling, growing their consulting business, and enjoying evening wine on the porch! Please visit her website:(www.todaywithdjenne.com)


ASHA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.

Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.

AAA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
Financial relationship with .
Nature: .

Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with .
Nature: .

Michelle Hu (), 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 -
Financial relationship with Rady Children's Hospital.
Nature: .

Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.

Mariana Barquet (), Indiana Hands & Voices, mbarquet@health.in.gov;
Mariana Barquet was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. She moved to the US in 2004 and married an Indiana native in 2005. She started working as the Hispanic Parent Guide in Indiana in 2015 and has served in that position since. She spearheaded the efforts to start the Educational Advocacy Program under Hands & Voices, ASTra (Advocacy, Support and Training) and became the ASTra Program Coordinator in April 2019, when the Program officially started to operate. Shortly after, she took over the position of the Guide By Your Side Program coordinator as the previous coordinator stepped down. As the Programs Coordinator she oversees all operations of the ASTra and GBYS Programs that provide Parent to Parent support for all families of newly identified children with hearing differences all the way to exit of High School. She was awarded the National Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Family Leadership Award for improving the involvement of the Hispanic families with children with hearing difference in the Early Intervention Program by 11% over this population growth in the State of Indiana through the last 4 years grant period under CDC requirements. She has served in the Hands & Voices Latino Council since 2016 and has presented in the EHDI National Conference, Hands & Voices Leadership Conference, and several state conferences in Indiana. She has a deep passion for supporting families through the different stages of the educational process that often require the parents to become skilled advocates.


ASHA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.

Nonfinancial -
• Has a Personal relationship for Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels.
• Has a Personal (Board Member) relationship for Board membership,Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels.

AAA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
Financial relationship with IN Hands & Voices Hands & Voices.
Nature: .

Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with IN Hands & Voices Hands & Voices.
Nature: .

Christine Yoshinaga-Itano (), University of Colorado-Boulder, Christie.Yoshi@colorado.edu;
Dr. Christine Yoshinaga-Itano is a Research Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science, Professor Emerita, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Visiting Professor, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Centre for Deaf. She has over 125 published articles and chapters with a focus on universal newborn hearing screening and predictors of developmental outcomes of children with hearing loss with an emphasis on children and families from multicultural/linguistic backgrounds, and those with socio-economic and linguistic challenges. She presented on this topic throughout the United States and globally. She received Honors from the American Speech/Language & Hearing Association and was a Jerger Career Research Awardee from the American Academy of Audiology. She serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Audiology and is a member of the Audiology committee for the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP).


ASHA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.

Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (Emerita Board Member) relationship for Volunteer teaching and speaking,Volunteer consulting,Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels,Other volunteer activities.

AAA DISCLOSURE:

Financial -
Financial relationship with Hands & Voices, Emerita Board Member.
Nature: I have no financial disclosures. I am an unpaid Emerita Board Member of Hands & Voices Inc.

Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with Hands & Voices, Emerita Board Member.
Nature: I have no financial disclosures. I am an unpaid Emerita Board Member of Hands & Voices Inc.