Celebrating Our Unique Community

Hearing differences impact an individual’s ability to access communication. Communication can be facilitated through a combination of sign language, spoken language, listening, technology (such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, assistive technology, computers, and captioning), speech reading, and written language. Without these communication options, language and communication would be significantly hindered.

Hearing differences bring together a diverse community, including parents, children, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, audiologists, speech pathologists, counselors, interpreters, captioners, rehabilitative specialists, school administrators, paraprofessionals, and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Statewide Conference on Education of the Deaf celebrates the uniqueness of this community, highlighting both its challenges and its successes.