Every year, it gets better.
Beth Donofrio and I headed out to Breckenridge last Thursday for the annual Hands & Voices Leadership Workshop. Beth is a close friend of mine as well as an Illinois Hands & Voices board member. She’s a mom of five kids, with lots of experience in assisting parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids throughout the years.
Each year, the workshop has grown, and this year, we had folks from as far away as Saipan joining us. On the left, you can see the states that are involved with Hands & Voices. We are spreading wordwide as well. It has been amazing to see the growth– from a few chapters a few years ago to nearly every state with a chapter or a start-up. There are a lot of us out there who believe “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.”
On Friday night, I teamed up with Erin, a mom from the Pennsylvania chapter to host an icebreaker. You’ve heard of “speed dating?” We did “Speed Greeting.” Everyone left with a new best friend that night.
There were several of us there raising three deaf/hard of hearing kids and it was nice to bond with those families. Everywhere I went, moms would share bits and pieces from their lives, wisdom was exchanged and ideas explored. I wanted more time– there’s never enough time! The weekend went by way too quickly.
In the photo on the left, is our team from Illinois. Left to right: Leeanne Seaver, Executive Director of Hands & Voices, Beth Donofrio, myelf and Ginger Mullen, the EHDI Coordinator for newborn hearing screening. We are working together to set up a parent-to-parent program in Illinois that will provide parent support after a diagnosis.
Someone asked me once, why does Hands & Voices appeal to me so much? From the time I first set eyes on their mission and their stance on communication modes, I knew I had found my “home.” I wanted a safe place to explore answers for my kids, a place where I could learn advocacy skills and a place that was going to roll up the sleeves and help me make changes in the way that families receive information upon diagnosis. I love the variety– I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to meet families using all kinds of communication modes.
I came across a quote over the weekend that I thought was really profound:
“A community that excludes even one of its members is not a community at all.” –Dan Wilkins
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5 responses to “We Are Indeed, Hands & Voices”
“A community that excludes even one of its members is no community at all.” –Dan Wilkins
I had this posted on the wall the whole year my daughter with Down S. (and mild hearing loss) was excluded from the schools in our community. (Eventually we went to court)
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@Rickismom
Thanks for the source!
I have a poster with this quote on my refrigerator right now! I love The Nth Degree!
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Where would I be without Hands and Voices, without the open, generous community committed to learning and support that is this group! I have learned a lot about communication modes since my daughter’s diagnosis with hearing loss, and I’ve also learned that I don’t really want to talk about the topic with folks who aren’t on board with the Hands and Voices mission…….
By the way Karen, new blog design looks great.
thanks for doing the cool mixer at the H&V Leadership Conference, Karen and Erin. That was a blast.
Your blog is GREAT, and Hands & Voices is so blessed by your support and promotion of what we’re trying to do…support all families and kids regardless of how they communicate.