Here are some of the exciting line up of Key Note Speakers.

Margaret du Feu - Ireland

Margaret du Feu qualified in medicine in Cambridge and London. She started training in psychiatry after the birth of her daughter, Frances in 1983. In 1991 she was appointed in Birmingham to develop the third service in England (after Manchester and London) for Mental Health and Deafness. In 2003 she started working half the week in Northern Ireland and in 2005 left Birmingham to include the Republic of Ireland in her work. She now lives in Belfast.

Margaret has been progressively deafened by cochlear otosclerosis and is now profoundly Deaf. She had a cochlear implant in 1999. She works in British Sign Language and is learning Irish Sign Language. Her daughter is now a final year medical student. Frances is learning to sign and has written Deaf awareness material for medical students.

Margaret believes that the experiences of patients should benefit others so that the cycle of early deprivation and later mental distress can be broken. Therefore, although she has collaborated in academic research on schizophrenia in Deaf people, her main focus is on increasing awareness of mental health issues for Deaf people, and on teaching mental health professionals about Deafness. She has been involved in preparing teaching material in writing and on DVDs and lectures widely. Her article “Sensory Impairment & Mental Health” was commissioned for Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2003) Vol.9, 95-103 by the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Robert Pollard Ph.D - USA

Robert Pollard, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.  He is director of the Deaf Wellness Center (DWC), home to numerous clinical service, training, and research initiatives.  The DWC provides individual, family, and group psychotherapy and evaluation services and is a clinical and research training site for deaf individuals pursuing careers in the mental health fields.  Dr. Pollard is known for his scholarship on mental illness epidemiology and manifestations in the deaf population, psychological testing, research ethics, pre-operative evaluations of cochlear implant candidates, interpreting in mental health settings, and the history of the deaf mental health field.  He is co-developer of the demand control schema for interpreting work and has authored many publications on this topic.  His most recent work has focused on occupational health in the interpreting field, health disparities in the deaf population, adaptation of health education materials for deaf audiences, and partner violence affecting deaf people.  He has been principal investigator on over 30 federal, foundation, regional, and local grants totaling ~$4M and has published over 70 articles and book chapters.  He also has produced 13 educational films in American Sign Language.  Dr. Pollard’s work has been recognized with many awards and honors.  He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and is active in several organizations, especially the American Psychological Association, where he founded a Special Interest Section on Deafness.  read more »

The National Reference group of the 4th World Congress on Deaf and Mental Health are calling for individuals to apply to become a member of the Interpreting team in the provision of communication access for Deaf and hearing individuals attending the World Congress.

The Congress official languages will be Australian Sign Language and English. We will require interpreters in both Auslan and International Sign (IS).

We will be offering both part time and full time contract for successful applicants for the duration of the congress.  read more »

beyondblue and Vicdeaf have produced the fact sheet "Depression in People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing" and Deaf Children Australia have recognised this important work by endorsing the factsheet. Vicdeaf is also represented on our National Reference Group for the 4th World Congress on Mental Health and Deafness in Brisbane.  read more »

Recent articles on deaf, hearing impairment and mental health or related news stories;

The Deaf Children, Young People And Family Service, based at the ...
The Press in York - York,North Yorkshire,UK
“One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in our lifetime and for deaf children and young people, these problems can present greater ...

Chat with Dan Gottlieb
Blinq - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Dan will be joined by two guests today, both are mental health professionals. The chat will be about the mental health of people who are deaf or hard of ...

You can have a mental illness and a life
Sarah Russell - The Age, Australia
Statistics don't tell the whole story about living with manic depression. We hear so much about the depressing side of mental illness. Statistics focus on the high rates of suicide, homelessness, substance abuse, criminal behaviour, unemployment and divorce. Mental health professionals describe the burden of mental illness in terms of pain, suffering, disability and death......

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The Press - Christchurch,New Zealand
To number 14, The NFD (National Foundation for the Deaf) is not a Deaf (the ... these people have deeper underlying mental issues that need to be sorted, ...  read more »