Fostering Joy for Audiologists: Why and How to Embrace a "Joy Lens" in Working with Families

This presentation will highlight Fostering Joy, a project that brings together families of children deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), DHH leaders, and professionals working to support children who are DHH and their families. Fostering Joy is aimed at promoting positive engagement in families with DHH children, celebrating “magic moments” of connection and growth, and bolstering professionals' ability to emphasize joy in the work that they do with children who are DHH. Audiologists and audiology trainees are at the heart of “setting the tone” for families. Join this workshop to learn about the rationale for and strategies to infuse JOY into the work that you do.

Learning Objectives:

Following the presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Describe at least two facts of “joyful mindsets”

2. List a minimum of two strategies that can be shared with families with children who are DHH to foster joy in their connections with their child

3. Detail two or more tangible, actionable ways that one could take in the workplace to advance Fostering Joy idea amongst colleagues

Presenters:

Amy Szarkowski, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and their families. She is on the LEND faculty at Boston Children's Hospital/Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Szarkowski is also the Director of The Institute at the Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD), which strives to generate and disseminate transformational ideas and practices to support children who are DHH. A founding member of Fostering Joy, she is passionate about promoting joy in families raising children who are DHH.

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