Cathy has been involved in the development and provision of services to adults and children who are deafblind since the early ’80s. Her career began working with children who were congenitally deafblind in the provincial school in Ontario, first in the school setting and later as a resource consultant supporting children and families across the province of Ontario.
Cathy left the education sector and began her work with adults that were transitioning from the school setting to adult services. Through her work with the Canadian Deafblind and Rubella Association Ontario Chapter, Cathy was a practitioner and an advisor in the development and provision of Intervenor services and service agencies in Ontario. Cathy continues to work closely with the provincial government as part of an Intervenor Services Advisory Group to continue the transformation of Intervenor services to adults with deafblindness in Ontario.
A passion for Cathy has been the education and training of intervenors. She was a member of the first Program Advisory Committee for the training of intervenors at George Brown College in the early 1990s. More recently Cathy was the Chair of the Intervenor Services Human Resource Strategy –Education and Training Committee. Leading a team of professionals, this committee developed technical competencies for Intervenors working with adults who are deafblind. In addition, Cathy has embraced the need for training and support for families and as a result, she been an active participant in the planning and delivery of 10 parent conferences that her agency has hosted. She has been a presenter at provincial, national and international conferences.
As a collaborative member of the deafblind services sector, Cathy has been involved in various projects. These have included: the development of the InteRai Assessment – Deafblind Supplement, a partnership project with the Canadian Hearing Society that resulted in the development of a case management system for people that were deafblind in service, and currently the development of a web-based application system for individuals that are deafblind to easily apply for Intervenor Services.
Cathy is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sensity –Deafblind and Sensory Support Network of Canada. In a volunteer capacity, she is the Chair of the Deafblind Network of Ontario.
On an International level, Cathy is a Board Member of Deafblind International and has been for the past 12 years. In addition, her agency Sensity is the current Secretariat for DBI.
Cathy left the education sector and began her work with adults that were transitioning from the school setting to adult services. Through her work with the Canadian Deafblind and Rubella Association Ontario Chapter, Cathy was a practitioner and an advisor in the development and provision of Intervenor services and service agencies in Ontario. Cathy continues to work closely with the provincial government as part of an Intervenor Services Advisory Group to continue the transformation of Intervenor services to adults with deafblindness in Ontario.
A passion for Cathy has been the education and training of intervenors. She was a member of the first Program Advisory Committee for the training of intervenors at George Brown College in the early 1990s. More recently Cathy was the Chair of the Intervenor Services Human Resource Strategy –Education and Training Committee. Leading a team of professionals, this committee developed technical competencies for Intervenors working with adults who are deafblind. In addition, Cathy has embraced the need for training and support for families and as a result, she been an active participant in the planning and delivery of 10 parent conferences that her agency has hosted. She has been a presenter at provincial, national and international conferences.
As a collaborative member of the deafblind services sector, Cathy has been involved in various projects. These have included: the development of the InteRai Assessment – Deafblind Supplement, a partnership project with the Canadian Hearing Society that resulted in the development of a case management system for people that were deafblind in service, and currently the development of a web-based application system for individuals that are deafblind to easily apply for Intervenor Services.
Cathy is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sensity –Deafblind and Sensory Support Network of Canada. In a volunteer capacity, she is the Chair of the Deafblind Network of Ontario.
On an International level, Cathy is a Board Member of Deafblind International and has been for the past 12 years. In addition, her agency Sensity is the current Secretariat for DBI.