FCEI 2020: Don’t miss these keynotes

Dr. Kirsten Smiler
 

The Nuance of “Family”

(who knew it was such a loaded term?)

Kirsten Smiler, PhD (New Zealand) is an Indigenous Lecturer in Maori Health for the School of Health at Victoria University of Wellington. She is a CODA, was an inaugural member of the New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Board and is the Maori advisor to New Zealand´s Universal Newborn Hearing and Early Intervention Programme (UNHSEIP).

Kirsten will speak about her research, “Whānau Ora,” that examined the experiences of Māori raising Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in their native land. She will share how New Zealand’s Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme grappled with operationalizing an approach that would deliver equitable outcomes within this indigenous culture. Smiler demonstrates how within the “consensus” document of the FCEI Principles, the “nuance of context” in a simple term like “family” (whānau) can the potentially loaded with connotations which are not universally shared.

Sari Paloposki
 

Across Borders: Supporting Families throughout Europe

Sari Paloposki (Finland) is president of FEPEDA, a European NGO founded in 1990 representing associations of parents and friends of deaf and hard of hearing children at a European level.

Paloposki will present an overview of FEPEDA´s activities and advocacy work including how this umbrella organization provides support to European families coming from different cultures, languages, and socio-economic situations. Her presentation highlights the importance of cooperation and collaboration across borders with proven strategies for valuing diversity, on-going communication, and shared learning.

A mother of four children, including two who are profoundly deaf, Sari is the Director of the Centre for Interpreting Services for the Disabled in Finland. She was the President of the local parent association from 2002-2012.