ADVOCACY FOR DEAF & HARD-OF-HEARING CHILDREN & FAMILY MEMBERS
This hour-long continuing education training was recorded on May 22, 2019, by the Texas State CASA program and features speakers Dr. Jon Bergeron and Shelly Bergeron discussing best practices in advocacy for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children and family members involved in the child welfare system. Shelly and Jon have extensive experience with CASA and child welfare; and have adopted two Deaf sons, one through CPS and one internationally.
Why is this topic important for CASA and others who work with children and families?
The reality is that there is a major gap in understanding the importance of working with interpreters to ensure that the rights of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children and family members involved in the child welfare system are being honored.
Shelly and Jon shared a story that captures the urgency of why we need more education around advocacy for the Deaf: after becoming licensed foster parents trained to care for children with special needs, the two got a call from CPS asking to place a Deaf child in their home, despite the fact that they did not know any sign language at the time. Over the two years that they fostered their son, none of the case parties who regularly visited their home to check in on how the child was doing ever attempted to communicate directly with the child and give him an opportunity to express his needs and desires.
Jon Bergeron, PhD is a clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience. He specializes in working with foster and adoptive families struggling with attachment and trauma-related difficulties. Shelly Bergeron is the Statewide Family Services Coordinator in the Educational Resource Center on Deafness at the Texas School for the Deaf, where she coordinates programs and services that promote parent involvement as it relates to families with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Jon and Shelly live in Austin, TX and have two sons who are deaf and adopted (through DFPS after fostering and internationally). Jon and Shelly have extensive experience with CASA and have established and coordinated parent support groups related to both deafness and adoption.
Don't forget to complete your continuing education credit report for each training you complete. This will help to ensure that you are receiving credit for any training hours completed and that those hours are applied to your 12 hours per year in-service requirements.