Second announcement

Croatian Association of DeafBlind Persons Dodir

in cooperation with Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb and Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb

is inviting you to

3^rd International scientific and expert conference ‘’ THE RESULTS OF (UN)SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT’’ 

under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Ministry od Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and Education, the City of Zagreb and City Assembly of the City of Zagreb

21^st of November 2019., Avenija Većeslava Holjevca 10 (INA – Industrija nafte, d.d.), Zagreb (Croatia).

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT

Theme of the conference is language acquisition, the importance of early intervention for deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind children and ensuring quality of support in education system.

The aim is to raise awareness of language acquisition process for deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind child and what happens when child is not exposed to natural language on time. Furthermore, we would like to point out the importance of ensuring and improving inclusive surrounding for deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind children who are neglected by the system.

This conference is intended for preschool and school teachers, sign language interpreters in kindergarten and school, pedagogues, speech and language therapists, phoneticians, special educators, psychologists, scientists, students and other experts who are engaged in this area.

It is obligatory for all the participants to register on this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13x-Rh4uk0EpfAzyFSncfMV02Ch6UP4S4LM-BmtmSKus/

We are kindly inviting you to submit your papers on the conference topics:

1. Lost in translation

This section will focus on the valid acts and regulations which we have to respect when it comes to ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. One of the most important ones is the Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which, among the others, highlights education as one of the fundamental human rights. Other acts and regulations point out the importance of schools being able to accommodate all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, linguistic or other conditions, and that inclusive education is one of the most important goals which should be achieved on a global level by the year of 2030.

• The right of education – fundamental human right
• Article 24 – the Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• The Salamanca Statement and Framework for action on special needs education
• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

2. Language acquisition mystery – sign language, spoken language or both?

In order for a child to acquire language during the critical period for its acquisition, it is important to give support to child and its parents as early as possible. That support refers on choosing the best language acquisition option, but also providing support to child’s parents since they are the ones who spend the most time with it during the early life period. Regarding all, this section will focus on:

• Sensory deprivation effect on linguistic- cognitive and wholesome development of a child
• The importance of early / consequences of late language acquisition
• How to begin? – creating language – communication relationship with a child
• Early intervention (programs, approaches and multidisciplinary team)

3. I want to hear game too!

This section will focus on including a child in kindergarten and all the challenges that a child, parents and experts have to face. Language will be put into context of preschool education which means the differences and benefits of mother tongue and foreign language will be pointed out, together with support needed for their acquisition. Furthermore, roles of the ones who are engaged in child’s preschool education will be defined.

• Spoken/sign language as a foreign language
• Support to children and parents in learning spoken and/or sign language
• Sign language interpreter in kindergarten
• Development of good – quality interaction between kindergarten team and sign language interpreter

4. Inclusive school for all?

The last section will focus on including a child in mainstream school, challenges which appear during the education process and the support which is needed in order to overcome those challenges and provide good – quality inclusion. Examples of successful inclusion will be shown in order to share a good practice which can help during improvement of other education systems.

• Interpreting in educational surrounding
• Support to children and parents
• Development of good – quality interaction between school team and sign language interpreter
• Examples of good practice in inclusive education

The official languages of the conference: Croatian, English, Croatian sign language

Contact: conference@dodir.hr

Hrvatski savez gluhoslijepih osoba “Dodir” je Centar znanja u području unapređenja kvalitete življenja osoba s invaliditetom u okviru Razvojne suradnje s Nacionalnom zakladom.