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This free, 5-episode virtual conversation series offers a warm and inviting opportunity to connect with other parents and families of children with differences in or challenges to their development. Through a series of conversations with parents of children with developmental differences, challenges, or disabilities, we will explore the unique as well as common experiences of loving and raising children whose developmental process and journey is delayed or atypical. We will discuss the challenges and joys of family life with children with a wide array of ways of being in the world. Over the five conversations, we will cover topics near and dear to the hearts and experiences of families as we all learn from each other about how to best support and advocate for our children, the whole family, and our communities.
All are welcome to join and engage in these powerful conversations!
The series will run for five Mondays from September 9 through December 16, 2024. All episodes will be one hour, with live Spanish translation and closed captioning available.
This series is moderated by Jayne Singer, PhD, IECMH-E®, Director of Developmental and Relational Health at the Brazelton Touchpoints Center.
Episode 1: Our Journey – Finding Inclusion in a Hearing World
September 9, 2024, 3 – 4 PM ET / 12 – 1 PM PT
Join us for a conversation with mother and daughter, Darla and Tiffany Gundler. Darla is the Associate Director of the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center for Equity at the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Prior to this, she served as Director of the EI Parent Leadership Project at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Her daughter, Tiffany, was diagnosed as an infant with a bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Tiffany received her cochlear implant at the age of 16. She is a senior R&D engineer with Getinge working in New Product Development of Endovascular products. Join us for a conversation about their journey advocating for inclusion in a hearing world.
Darla Gundler
Associate Director of the ECIPC-E at the Federation for Children with Special Needs
Darla Gundler is the Associate Director of the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center for Equity at the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Prior to joining ECIPC-Equity, she spent over 20 years as Director of the EI Parent Leadership Project at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Darla joined the ECIPC-E Leadership Team to enhance Family Partnerships within state leadership teams and higher education programs focusing on workforce development. She works to promote family partnerships, leadership development, inclusion, and access for all families. A priority for Darla is to reach out to families who have diverse perspectives and whose voices are often not included in the conversations and support them to develop their own skills and find their voice. Her life experience as a parent of a now adult with a disability fuel her passion for supporting policies and practices at the state and national levels that enhance the lives of all families.
Over the years has served in a variety of leadership positions including many years on the Massachusetts EI Conference Planning Committee, the Office of Special Education Conference Committee, Improving Data, Improving Outcomes Conference Committee, and the Division for Early Childhood Conference committee. Past- President of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children and this year was awarded the DEC Family Award.
Darla works to promote family partnerships, leadership development, inclusion, and access for all families. A priority for Darla is to reach out to families who have diverse perspectives and whose voices are often not included in the conversations and support them to develop their own skills and find their voice. Her life experience as a parent of a now adult with a disability fuel her passion for supporting policies and practices at the state and national levels that enhance the lives of all families.
Darla joined the ECIPC-E Leadership Team to enhance Family Partnerships within state leadership teams and higher education programs focusing on workforce development. She works to promote family partnerships, leadership development, inclusion, and access for all families. A priority for Darla is to reach out to families who have diverse perspectives and whose voices are often not included in the conversations and support them to develop their own skills and find their voice. Her life experience as a parent of a now adult with a disability fuel her passion for supporting policies and practices at the state and national levels that enhance the lives of all families.
Over the years has served in a variety of leadership positions including many years on the Massachusetts EI Conference Planning Committee, the Office of Special Education Conference Committee, Improving Data, Improving Outcomes Conference Committee, and the Division for Early Childhood Conference committee. Past- President of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children and this year was awarded the DEC Family Award.
Darla works to promote family partnerships, leadership development, inclusion, and access for all families. A priority for Darla is to reach out to families who have diverse perspectives and whose voices are often not included in the conversations and support them to develop their own skills and find their voice. Her life experience as a parent of a now adult with a disability fuel her passion for supporting policies and practices at the state and national levels that enhance the lives of all families.
Tiffany Gundler
Senior Engineer with Getinge working in the Acute Care Therapies R&D group
Tiffany Gundler is a Senior Engineer with Getinge working in the Acute Care Therapies R&D group.
Tiffany received Early Intervention services from 1 month until age 3. She was diagnosed with a bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss at 10 days of age and was fitted with her first pair of hearing aids at 5 months old. At age 3, she enrolled into the Clarke School for the Deaf Integrated Preschool program where she was able to learn along with both hearing and deaf children. Tiffany and her parents would endure an hour drive to and from school every day for 13 years, however, Clarke was the best fit due to the onsite services available and the educational services they provided. She resided at Clarke School until she graduated 8th grade and transitioned to a public high school in her hometown. She was on an IEP all throughout high school and received her cochlear implant at age 16.
After graduating high school, Tiffany attended the Rochester Institute of Technology as a cross registered student in their College of Engineering while receiving services from the National Technical
Institute for the Deaf. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering along with minors in
Mechanical Engineering and Science Technology and Society.
Tiffany remains an active part of the special education community through her volunteer work with the Federation for Children with Special Needs, Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional
Children, the Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC) a federally funded technical assistance center, and Cochlear Americas. She has presented workshops, received a self-advocacy award from the Federation for Children with Special Needs Annual Conference, shared her story across several platforms, provides mentorship, and continues to be a daily advocate for herself and others.cross-registered
Tiffany received Early Intervention services from 1 month until age 3. She was diagnosed with a bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss at 10 days of age and was fitted with her first pair of hearing aids at 5 months old. At age 3, she enrolled into the Clarke School for the Deaf Integrated Preschool program where she was able to learn along with both hearing and deaf children. Tiffany and her parents would endure an hour drive to and from school every day for 13 years, however, Clarke was the best fit due to the onsite services available and the educational services they provided. She resided at Clarke School until she graduated 8th grade and transitioned to a public high school in her hometown. She was on an IEP all throughout high school and received her cochlear implant at age 16.
After graduating high school, Tiffany attended the Rochester Institute of Technology as a cross registered student in their College of Engineering while receiving services from the National Technical
Institute for the Deaf. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering along with minors in
Mechanical Engineering and Science Technology and Society.
Tiffany remains an active part of the special education community through her volunteer work with the Federation for Children with Special Needs, Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional
Children, the Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC) a federally funded technical assistance center, and Cochlear Americas. She has presented workshops, received a self-advocacy award from the Federation for Children with Special Needs Annual Conference, shared her story across several platforms, provides mentorship, and continues to be a daily advocate for herself and others.cross-registered
Episode 2: NICU, Early Intervention and Beyond
September 23, 2024, 3 – 4 PM ET / 12 – 1 PM PT
Join us for a journey through one family’s experience with extreme prematurity. We will explore early experiences in the NICU, coming home, early interventions, and now transitioning to preschool.
Diana Sanford, PhD
Diana Sanford, PhD, is the mom to Edward, who is now three and was
born very prematurely, at 26 weeks. He spent over a year in the hospital before coming home with a tracheostomy, ventilator, and g-tube. She is passionate about prematurity advocacy and connecting with parents of children with medical complexities.
Episode 3: October 21, 2024, 3 – 4 PM ET / 12–1 PM PT
Episode 4: November 4, 2024, 3 – 4 PM ET / 12–1 PM PT
Episode 5: December 16, 2024, 3 – 4 PM ET / 12–1 PM PT
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