Keynote Presenters
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MaryKay Therres is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Auditory-Verbal Therapist who has over 15 years experience working with children who have a cochlear implant and/or hearing aid(s). She was a member of the cochlear implant team and the Management Coordinator of the Speech/Language Centre at Children’s Hospital & Research Centre at Oakland, California, USA. Currently, she is a member of the Cochlear Implant Program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is co-author of “AuSpLan: A Manual For Professionals Working With Children Who Have Cochlear Implants Or Amplification”. She has presented on the topic of cochlear implants nationally and internationally. She has provided short courses for professional organizations and seminars, workshops and in-services to school districts along with guest lecturing and mentoring students at several USA state universities. |
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Adeline McClatchie, L.C.S.T., Dip.Aud. CCC-A is presently a consulting audiologist on cochlear implant use in children. Previously she was the non-medical director and the primary mapping audiologist for the Cochlear Implant Centre at the Children’s Hospital and Research Centre at Oakland, California, USA. that she established in 1991. Adeline has presented workshops on cochlear implants in children at national conferences and seminars. She regularly presents to school districts regarding implant technology and its effect on the changing educational and therapy needs for deaf children. Her role as consultant provides opportunities for observations of deaf children’s progress in the classroom and in therapy and she assists in setting educational and therapy goals based on their auditory function. She received her Speech Pathology degree from Leicester, England and her degree in Audiology from Manchester University, England. She is co-author of “AuSpLan: A Manual For Professionals Working With Children Who Have Cochlear Implants Or Amplification”. |
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Professor Greg Leigh, PhD, FACE is Chair of The Renwick Centre for Professional Education and Research—a joint facility of the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children and The University of Newcastle. Professor Leigh holds degrees in Education and Special Education from Griffith University; a Master of Science (Speech and Hearing) degree from Washington University (Central Institute for the Deaf) in the USA; and a PhD in Special Education from Monash University. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. Professor Leigh has published numerous articles, chapters, and monographs on aspects of education of deaf children. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education and Deafness and Education International. He serves on numerous Australian government consultative committees on issues related to deafness and is Chairman of the National Newborn Hearing Screening Committee. |
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Alex Jones has been deaf from birth, but he hasn’t let that stand in the way of pursuing his two passions - acting and educating. He was recruited to Australia by the Australian Theatre of the Deaf, and has continued to extend his string of theatre, TV and film credits while developing communication and education skills training for both Deaf and hearing students from primary to adult. Alex is a principal of TAJ Productions, a specialist production and consulting company, that has been assisting FOXTEL and ASTRA develop their rollout plans for closed captioning on Subscription TV. He is an integral part of Heads UP! shows, an exciting and innovative school theatre production that brings hearing and Deaf culture together for Australian school children (both Deaf and hearing). Alex was the Festival Director for the critically acclaimed 2005 Deaflympic Games Cultural Festival in Melbourne - the first in the world. He is very active and committed to raising community awareness, and to achieving equal access, for Deaf and hearing impaired people, and others with a disability. He was the first Auslan-using Libby Harricks memorial Orator, presenting his Oration in 2005. |
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John Anderson works as the Mainstream Adjustment Counselor for the Mainstream Center at CLARKE School for the Deaf/Center for Oral Education, Northampton Massachusetts, USA. He grew up with a progressive hearing loss and now uses a cochlear implant. He earned his MA in counseling psychology from Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene NH. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Massachusetts. He works primarily with students in the mainstream who are struggling to succeed either academically and/or socially. He frequently gives workshops on experience of hearing loss for students in mainstream schools and is the author of a children’s book on adjustment to hearing loss called: My Hearing Loss and Me: We Get Along Most of the Time. |
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Proffesor Loretta Giorcelli has a Bachelor’s degree in Education, a Master’s degree in Special Education and a PhD (Linguistics and Communication Disabilities) from the University of Illinios (USA). She has worked as a teacher, consultant, school principal and was the NSW Director of Special Education and Equity Programs. Loretta currently works extensively as a specialist consultant with schools as well as with government, NGOs, private agencies and parent groups as a keynote speaker, staff developer and long-range planner. She is also a Visiting Professor of Special Education to San Francisco State University (USA). Currently she is involved in one of the largest national projects investigating the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms in Australia. Loretta is a Life Member of the Australian Teachers of the Deaf Association. |
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Gretchen Young is employed as the Senior Project Officer - Early Intervention, for the Queensland Health, Healthy Hearing Program. Gretchen commenced working in the field of hearing loss ten years ago when she worked as a researcher and speech pathologist within the Royal Children’s Hospital Cochlear Implant Program. Prior to commencing in her current position, Gretchen filled the role of Clinical Service Director - Speech and Hearing Services at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, which included management of the RCH Cochlear Implant Program. Gretchen has a particular interest in enabling parents of children with a hearing loss to make well informed decisions about their child’s future and in ensuring that services and the broader community have the capacity to effectively respond to these choices. |
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Dr Jill Duncan holds several degrees including a PhD in Applied Linguistics, a Master’s of Educational Management and a Master’s of Deaf Education. Dr Duncan has been the director of deaf education programs in both Australia and the United States and been a member of the Education Faculty of the University of Melbourne and Renwick Centre for Professional Development and Research. She has been a practicing auditory-verbal therapist since 1988 when she worked at the Helen Beebe Speech and Hearing Centre with the esteemed Helen Beebe in Pennsylvania, USA. She has published in the area of pedagogical domains within auditory-verbal methodology, complex skills development and adolescents with hearing impairment. |
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Robin Birchell has been a Teacher of the Deaf in NSW for more than 35 years and has taught hearing impaired students from birth to 18 years of age in a range of school settings such as school for the deaf, support classes and in mainstream classes. |
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Ellen Panjari is the Parent Adviser for Preschool Hearing Impaired Children in the Northern Metropolitan region of Melbourne. She has been a Teacher of the Deaf for more than 25 years. Ellen has worked with Indigenous children and their families in Darwin and remote communities in the Northern Territory. She also worked within the Deafness Studies Unit at the University of Melbourne, contributing to a range of research projects. Ellen has extensive experience in the provision of Early Intervention services to families in the Western and Northern Metropolitan regions of Melbourne. Ellen has a specific interest in supporting the needs of newly diagnosed families and in particular, working collaboratively with families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds. |