Conference 2023

Dr. Caroline Guardino is a Professor of Exceptional Student and Deaf Education at the University of North Florida. Her research interests involve technology and deafness as well as inclusive learning environments for students with disabilities. She enjoys research and teaching in both disciplines, Exceptional Student and Deaf Education, as this combined knowledge provides a platform for her passion to provide professionals with better strategies and resources when working with students who are Deaf with Disabilities and/or Deaf Multilingual Learners. 

Jessica Scott is an associate professor in deaf education in the Department of Learning Sciences. She earned her undergraduate degree in deaf education from Flagler College, and both her Ed.M. in language and literacy with reading specialist licensure and Ed.D. in human development and education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Scott began her career in deaf education as a high school English teacher at the Alaska School for the Deaf. While earning her master’s degree, she also worked as a reading specialist at The Learning Center for the Deaf in Massachusetts.

Her dissertation won Harvard University’s Jeanne S. Chall student research award. In it, she focused on the influence of American Sign Language and academic English proficiency on reading comprehension among deaf and hard of hearing middle and high school students. As an associate professor in deaf education, Scott is interested in further exploring the role that American Sign Language plays in the reading of deaf and hard of hearing students, as well as literacy instruction for deaf students. She is also interested in the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students in developing countries.

Dr. Joanna E. Cannon is a Professor in the Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education department at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Cannon has 9 years’ experience as an itinerant and resource teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students and is the parent of a deaf adult with disabilities. She serves as the coordinator of the Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing graduate program and her areas of research include supporting students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing with disabilities and those whose families utilize a different spoken and/or sign language than the school community.

Moderator, Dr. Patricia Hodgdon-Dickman.

Special Education Consultant in Deafness

School Psychologist, NCSP

Dr. Patricia Hodgdon-Dickman is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and a Special Education Consultant in Deafness. She has been working as a School Psychologist for 25 years in both public schools and schools for the deaf all over the country.

Currently, her work mostly involves consultations regarding behavior and learning as well as performing Psychoeducational Evaluations, Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Plans. She also teaches graduate students at Franklin Pierce University.

She received her Ph.D. in Special Education Administration in 2005. Her dissertation was on “Bullying in Schools Implications for Special Education Administration”. She recently co-wrote a research paper with Dr. Dani Ocha from Gallaudet University on “The Impact of Bullying Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Residential Schools and Distressful Behaviors of Deaf Students”, which was published in May of 2019 in the International Journal of Psychology and Counseling.

Patti is married to a wonderful man named William and they share many hobbies together. They also have 5 beautiful dogs and 4 egg-laying chickens. She lives in Plymouth, Vermont. She enjoys the country and the beautiful outdoors that Vermont offers. She is also a homebody who enjoys being home with her family.