Welcome
11th National Deafblind Conference, 2022
Pre-Conference Wednesday 29th June, 2022
Main Conference Thursday 30th of June to Friday 1st of July
Esplanade Hotel Fremantle by Rydges, Western Australia
On behalf of SensesWA and the conference planning and scientific committees, welcome to the 11th National Deafblind Conference, to be held on Thursday 30th of June to Friday 1st of July, 2022. Pre-conference will be held Wednesday 29th of June, 2022. The theme for the conference is “Deafblind Keeping Connected through COVID and beyond”.
In 2022 the National conference “Deafblind Keeping Connected through COVID and beyond” will support connection and reconnecting people with deafblindness and those who support them across Australia, The National Deafblind Conference is the only forum in Australia with capacity to educate, connect, and support across sectors: deafblind individuals, families, service providers, educators, allied health and community organisations.
The latest research developments and service improvements in the specialised world of deafblindness will be showcased. This is particularly pertinent with the rapid changes that have been required to adapt to living with COVID in 2020/21 and beyond. This conference is an opportunity to learn from one another, for professional collaborations, education to the broader community on the support needs of people who are deafblind, friendships and networks to develop and a national agenda of important issues to be established particularly in the current COVID environment.
The conference will be a hybrid event – hosted online simultaneously with a face to face event in Perth, Western Australia. There will also be Conference Hubs located in Melbourne and the Hunter Valley where a selection of the presentations will be shown.
About the Conference
This will be the first National deafblind conference in six years. The 11th National Deafblind Conference will bring together individuals and organisations working to ensure that deafblind are included in service delivery and design, decision making processes, advocacy, research and meaningful community involvement. To achieve this the conference theme will be streamed into the following areas:
• Deafblind communication: Face-to-face and using technology
• Innovations in service delivery
• COVID-19: Impacts and solutions
• Deafblind led awareness raising, peer support and advocacy
• Other
The conference will have a mix of keynote presentations, panel discussions and workshops covering a broad range of topics related to the themes. The pre-conference will provide an additional opportunity to bring together people in special interest areas for example Usher Syndrome and CHARGE syndrome.
We expect over 100 delegates to attend the conference from all over Australia and online from across Australia and beyond. Delegates from the deafblind community, disability service sector, advocates, policy makers, support staff and researchers will contribute to the conference.
Platform interpreters will be available for all conference sessions and volunteers will be available for minor support, however NDIA participants planning to attend the conference will need to provide their own interpreting and communication guide support, if accessing the platform interpreters provided may be challenging. You can ask for these supports in your NDIS plan, by stating that one of your goals is to participate in the 11th National Deafblind Conference and the supports you will need to do this are:
- Interpreter (6 hrs for pre-conference, 1 – 2hrs opening cocktail party, 8hrs per day for 2 conference days, 2 – 4hrs conference dinner)
- Communication Guide (as above, plus additional time in the morning and evening for support with breakfast and dinner, plus support with travel to and from the conference)
Enquiries
Please contact the Conference Secretariat Iceberg Events for queries about any and all aspects of the conference.
Chloe Brix, Event Assistant
07 3876 4988
This conference is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Go to www.dss.gov.au for more information.
© Iceberg Events Conference & Event Management
Last updated:
Monday, June 6, 2022
