Moderator: Ann Porter
Panellists: Claire Harris, Emily Kecman and Jermy Pang
In the 21st century, the idea that research should be carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ consumers and communities rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ is now broadly accepted by diverse groups including policymakers, research funders, researchers, academic journals and patient, consumer and lay organisations. At present however, research co-design in ear and hearing health research is lagging behind many other health research fields.
This panel discussion features three researchers who are parents of children/young adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. The panellists offer their own lived experience and their individual areas of expertise and knowledge to stimulate discussion about co-design in research and why more meaningful engagement with families is needed to improve the quality, relevance and usefulness of research for the benefit of D/HH children and families themselves.
Ann Porter
Ann Porter is the founder and CEO of Aussie Deaf Kids – a not-for-profit organisation providing online information and support to families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing. She is a member of the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee, Co-chair of the Global Coalition of Parents of Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (GPODHH) and on the Advisory Group for FCEI.
Claire Harris
Claire Harris is a social anthropologist and researcher whose doctoral research focused on parents and young adult’s experiences of navigating deafness and cochlear implants in an Australian setting. She is co-director of the Art Bus – a visual arts organisation that provides community and cultural development programs often with a focus on arts, health and disability.
Emily Kecman
Emily Kecman is currently completing her PhD at Macquarie University. She holds a Master of Research from Macquarie University (2017), a Master of Teaching from the University of Sydney (2004) and a Bachelor of Creative Arts/ Bachelor of Arts from University of Wollongong (2000). She has a background in English and Literacy Education, and has worked in schools and universities in NSW since 2004. Her research is primarily concerned with how families with a child who is deaf or hard of hearing are written about, researched and represented by social scientists and researchers. Some of her work has been published in Deafness and Education International, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education and Sociology Compass.
Jermy Pang
Jermy Pang is a research audiologist at the National Acoustics Laboratories and has lived experience of hearing loss. She is a NSW branch mentor Hear For You mentor for D/HH young people. In 2022 she commenced her Ph.D. project (Audiology) at the University of Queensland, exploring participatory action research with emerging adults with hearing loss.