Your organization can host these unique programs for professionals and deafened people presented by two leading deafened researchers/ consultants.

Professional development

This one-day program will cover:

• the phenomenon of acquired deafness including stigma and the adjustment process
• therapy and rehabilitation processes for family and vocational environments, including recognition of factors that help and hinder adjustment
• specific issues related to psychosocial readiness for cochlear implantation and other therapies

Who should attend: clinic directors, audiologists, hearing health counsellors, social workers and psychologists providing therapy and counselling to deafened people.

We will be happy to certify applications to relevant professional bodies for having the program evaluated for continuing education credits. (The host agency should determine what professional bodies are to be approached and what paperwork is required.)

(Subject to publication) we can arrange for copies in quantity of a reference book written by the program leaders, so that registration cost can include this book. For programs delivered before book release, key point reference outlines will be provided.

Presenters (link)

If the joint program in self help/leadership is presented, the professional program can conclude with an early-evening facilitated panel presentation by local deafened people participating in the self-help program.

Self help and self-help leadership training program

This one-day program will cover:

• the phenomenon of acquired deafness and adjustment needs and individual differences
• orientation to the self-help method, self-help rules and procedures
• small-group self-help sessions for practice and for personal growth

Participants who complete the program and lead a self-help session will receive a certificate in self-help leadership for deafened people.

(Subject to publication) we can arrange for copies in quantity of a reference book written by the program leaders, so that registration cost can include this book. For programs delivered before book release, key point reference outlines will be provided.

Who should attend: Deafened people, people progressively becoming deafened. Also suitable for deaf people and hard-of-hearing people interested in learning the self-help method. May be useful for families with deafened members, counselling/rehabilitation professionals working with deafened people. Training in the self-help method is open to anyone. Participation in the actual deafened self-help practice sessions is limited to people who are deafened or are in the process of becoming deaf progressively; if there is sufficient interest, small-groups for families of deafened people, hard-of-hearing people, etc. can be arranged.

Both presenters were certified as self-help leaders by the Association of Late-Deafened Adults.

Requirements

Refreshments appropriate to the time of day and local conventions.

Facility in optimum location for prospective participants. Must have adequate lighting. Access for people with other disabilities should be ascertained.

For the self-help program, there needs to be a plenary facility and break-out spaces. This can be accomplished by using small group meeting rooms near the main presentation room.

Communication access for the self-help program will require one typist per 8 participants, to transcribe the self-help sessions. Palantype/court stenography is preferred but a skilled keyboard notetaker is adequate for the self-help groups. For the training portion, a Palantypist/stenographer is required, with display size and position adequate for the audience size and seating arrangement. Local conventions should prevail, but no single module will exceed 75 minutes duration, and training and self-help practice will alternate through the day.

For the professional program, the communication access depends on participation. If some participants are deaf/deafened, then Palantype/stenography transcription and projection/display is required. If all participants have normal hearing, then only transcription (for questions/interaction) or ASL interpreting is required.