Guide By Your Side is a Hands & Voices program that is offered free to families in British Columbia as part of the BC Early Hearing Program.
http://www.phsa.ca/our-services/programs-services/bc-early-hearing-program/resources-support
(American Sign Language Translation Video)
What is Guide By Your Side?
In BC, our GBYS program consists of a Coordinator, and a team of Parent and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Guides. Some of the Guides live in large metropolitan areas, and some live in more remote communities. Among them they have a wealth of personal experience raising children who are deaf and hard of hearing, or growing up as deaf or hard of hearing themselves. Some of the Guides have children with other needs in addition to hearing loss, and we have a few Guides who are familiar with a number of cultures and more than one language.
The Power of Parent-to-Parent Support & the Role of the Parent Guide
Every family with a child who is deaf or hard of hearing has a different story to tell, yet we all share a common bond. Parent Guides understand the importance of parents supporting and learning from one another. Families who are just beginning the journey can learn from experienced parents – the challenges as well as the joys of raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Looking back, many parents regret that they did not connect with other parents sooner.
Guide By Your Side Parent Guides are there to support families by listening and sharing stories about their own experiences raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Parent Guides can also share practical advice a parent learns over the years (e.g. how did we keep those hearing aids on our baby’s ears and out of his mouth?).
Parent Guides are trained to support families without bias towards any particular communication approach (e.g. oral, sign, cued speech, combined methods, etc.). We believe in the Hands & Voices slogan, “What works for your child is what makes the choice right.”
More about DHH Guides
DHH Guides are Deaf or hard of hearing adult role models who provide families with invaluable perspectives that come from personal, lived experience. They are uniquely qualified and trained to provide parents with a positive and hopeful perspective from their day-to-day, real life experiences.
DHH Guide role models give parents the opportunity to ask questions such as “How do you enjoy music? What careers are suitable for people who are deaf/hard of hearing? If you were teased, how did you handle it? Why is it so important to point out all the sounds in our world if our child most likely won’t hear them?”and much more.
Interested in learning from the experiences of DHH Guide role models, but not sure what to ask? Take a look at our DHH Guides Conversation Starter Questions.
Who is Eligible for the Guide By Your Side program?
In British Columbia, Guide By Your Side is offered to families of infants and very young children recently found to have hearing loss through newborn hearing screening. For more information, please contact the Parent Coordinator of the Guide By Your Side program: gbys@cw.bc.ca.
Parent-to-parent support for families of older children is available through early intervention agencies and parent organizations. For more information, please contact BC Hands & Voices: info@bchandsandvoices.com
Meet our Parent Guides
KIM SHAUER is the Coordinator of the BC Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side program, a service offered as part of the BC Early Hearing Program. While raising a Deafblind child with health complexity, her family benefitted from participating in many support services which helped her become more informed and empowered while feeling less isolated. She is passionate about providing these opportunities for parent connection and support to families on their journeys and also enjoys collaborating with other organizations and stakeholders. Kim’s education and professional background is in Marketing Management and Conference/Event Planning and she is also trained as a Special Education Assistant.
TERRI DAUVIN lives and works in the Prince George area with her husband and two teenage girls. Her oldest daughter wears hearing aids and was identified at the age of five, as she was born prior to the start of the newborn hearing screening program. Terri is a Parent Guide with the Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side program. She enjoys connecting with families and also sits on the board for the Northern BC Children and Families Hearing Society.
JOY SANTOS is mom to Teanna, who is profoundly Deaf, and uses both a Cochlear Implant and hearing aid. Upon learning that her daughter was Deaf, Joy immediately took an interest in learning more about the subject. She picked up American Sign Language and involved herself in the community. Joy currently runs a Family Childcare in Richmond, and is a licensed Early Childhood Educator. As a board member, she is excited to be with a group of positive and proactive individuals, and enjoys being affiliated with an open-minded organization that focuses on supporting the well-being of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
CATHERINE KALCHBRENNER joined the BC Hands and Voices team as the administrative assistant though she’s also a parent guide with the “Guide by Your Side” Program. She takes care of many behind-the-scenes tasks such as sending out email announcements, updating the website, and managing the membership database. Catherine has a background in International Business along with some teaching experience. Catherine and her partner have two kids; her eldest wears a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid. Her whole family is also currently learning ASL. She is thrilled to be a part of H&V, helping other families on the same journey.
AMY HO’s first language is Chinese. Having raised a daughter who was born with hearing challenges, she is familiar with the issues facing ESL families with children who have similar conditions. She has intimate knowledge of community resources and services that parents can use to help with their child’s development. As a parent guide with the GBYS program and fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, Amy is ready to share her knowledge and experience with parents facing similar challenges.
LAURA CORDER relocated with her husband and two girls from Alberta to Kamloops in 2020, shortly after her youngest daughter was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss. The whole family jumped in feet first trying to learn as much as they could so they could make up for lost time! One of the highlights of Laura’s journey has been connecting with other families and meeting a whole new community of people to learn from who understand their journey. In her free time Laura loves camping, hiking and gardening.
SANDRA BANKS lives in Vancouver with her husband and two daughters. Her youngest was born profoundly deaf and now uses cochlear implants. From the start, Sandra and her family have felt welcomed by other families in the Deaf community, and they are incredibly appreciative of all the services that their daughter received through the BC Early Hearing Program. Now that Sandra is a Parent Guide herself with GBYS, she is happy to have the opportunity to give that support back to new families. In her free time Sandra likes swimming, theatre, taking ASL classes, being outdoors, and hanging out with her family and their new puppy.
Meet our DHH Guides
MONIQUE LES was born with a profound, bilateral hearing loss due to rubella contracted by her mother during pregnancy. She was fitted with hearing aids at the age of 6 months and received a cochlear implant at the age of 17. Then in the spring of 2023, Monique received her second cochlear implant. Monique is excited to share her story growing up Deaf and Hard of Hearing with families. Monique holds a Masters degree in Criminology from SFU, and has worked for the
Federal and Provincial governments. Monique lives in beautiful Victoria, BC with her husband and four young children. She is currently loving being a stay-at-home mom and advocating on hearing loss issues.
Check out Monique’s introduction video here: https://youtu.be/YkYJ9UvwpSA
TARA DYCK is a Deaf/Hard of Hearing Guide with the BC Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side Program. She grew up in different cities across Canada and now lives in the Okanagan with her husband and two boys. She is a registered Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers. She has been providing mental health/clinical services since 2007. She currently runs her own private practice. She received her Bachelor of Science in Social Work from the Rochester Institute of Technology and then Master of Social Work from University of Toronto. Some fun facts: Tara once held the Deaf World Record in the 50m Freestyle. She won 6 medals at the 1997 Deaflympics in Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 medals at the 2001 Deaflympics in Rome, Italy. She’s also fluent in Italian Sign Language (Lingua dei Segni Italiana).
Check out Tara’s introduction video here: https://youtu.be/oHshTQcQ-1k
JOY GONG grew up using hearing aids bilaterally, and later received a cochlear implant as a young adult. She also has experience with American Sign Language, and can speak Mandarin. She has a Master of Education degree from UBC, and currently works as a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She lives in the lower mainland with her husband and toddler. She looks forward to the opportunity to meet new families and share her experience with others.
Check out Joy’s introduction video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KH2HvwP-3o
SUZY FAIRWEATHER is a Deaf/Hard of Hearing Guide with the BC Hands & Voices Guide Program and identifies as a deaf person with Cochlear Implants. She used hearing aids as a child and moved to the United States with her family to attend school. After moving back to Canada to seek independence, she learned how to advocate for herself and spent over 20 years of her career working with dhh children and their families. She has two grown children, a certified hearing ear dog, and a partner who she shares life with in the beautiful mountains of Revelstoke. She is passionate about the outdoors, and has enjoyed marathons, triathlons, and being on ski patrol. Suzy now has a more relaxed lifestyle with a multitude of hobbies such as listening to audiobooks and music and keeping up her ASL skills at every opportunity.
Check out Suzy’s introduction video here: https://youtu.be/uTUob4wVnw8
Interested in learning from the experiences of DHH Guide role models, but not sure what to ask?
Here’s a new resource with some ideas! DHH Guides Conversation Starter Questions
