Dr. Denyse Hayward is a professor of Educational Psychology (Special Education) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. She is a co-author of two language and literacy assessments the Test of Early Language and Literacy (TELL), and the Edmonton Narrative Norms Instrument (ENNI). She is also a co-author of the Sound Access Parent Outcomes Instrument (SAPOI) designed to assess indicators of progress in the use of hearing for children with complex needs. She has recently published Other Ways of Seeing Inclusive Education, a textbook constructed with learner diversity at the forefront (chapters may be watched with audio and closed captioning or read). She has also co-authored an alphabet book for beginning and struggling readers based on emergent literacy research evidence, Alphabet Stage.

Dr. Lynn McQuarrie is a Professor of Educational Psychology (Special Education) & holder of the David Peikoff Endowed Chair in Deaf Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her research explores dual language (ASL – English) learning in deaf children and how signed and spoken languages interact to support reading acquisition. She is the author of the American Sign Language Phonological Awareness Test (ASL-PAT) and founder of Sign2Read Literacy Initiatives. A former classroom teacher, Lynn has worked extensively with bilingual and monolingual deaf children in a variety of educational contexts throughout Canada and internationally.

Linda J Cundy is a life-long educator in the field of deaf education. She had 23 years of classroom teaching and 17 years of consulting work with Edmonton Public Schools. After retirement, she was contracted as a Research Associate for the Western Canadian Centre for Deaf Studies, University of Alberta. The research focused on American Sign Language (ASL) assessment tools for deaf and hard of hearing children and their reading development through the standardized ASL phonology awareness test as well as with some digital educational resources for young children. Other projects involved curriculum development of ASL as the first and second language learning (L1 and L2) with the Second Language Learning Centre as well as the Metro Continuing Centre.

Mr. Rohatyn has a Master of Science in Deaf Studies and Deaf Education from Lamar University, a Bachelor of Education from Queens University, Ontario, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Mr. Rohatyn is currently employed as an American Sign Language (ASL) instructor for Ball State University. At Ball State, Mr. Rohatyn teaches ASL to undergraduate and graduate students. Mr. Rohatyn's work experience includes planning, teaching, and implementing ASL programs for hearing adults, elementary-age students, and community college students. Mr. Rohatyn has taught face-to-face and online using D2L (Brightspace) as the Learning Management System. Mr. Rohatyn has a deep passion for teaching ASL and Deaf Culture and states one of his greatest assets is motivating students.

Jerry Gan (he/him) is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. His research interests include inclusive education and multimodal literacy, with a particular focus on the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in Canadian secondary classrooms. Jerry holds a Master of Education in Special Education, and his thesis explored pre-service teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and concerns about teaching CLD students. Drawing from his personal, professional, and academic background, Jerry is deeply committed to fostering equitable learning environments that support the academic success and social-emotional well-being of marginalized students.

Sydney Dickner (she/her) is a graduate student in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at the University of Calgary. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Alberta, where she developed a strong foundation in developmental and educational psychology. Sydney is passionate about supporting children with developmental disabilities and their families, with a particular emphasis on strength-based and neuro-affirming approaches. Her interest in this field began early and was shaped by her lived experience growing up with a younger brother who is Deaf, fostering a strong commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and advocacy across developmental and educational settings.

Zachary Jickling (he/him) is entering his third year of his undergraduate program at MacEwan University, pursuing a BA in Psychology with a minor in French. He plans to pursue a MSc in Speech-Language Pathology upon graduation. He is passionate about psycholinguistics, first and second language acquisition, as well as accessibility, particularly accessible architecture. His interest in this field comes from growing up with a Deaf family friend, and being in speech therapy himself. Outside of his studies, he enjoys being involved with many communities and clubs around Edmonton, spending time with family and friends, and writing.

Evlin Glyson (she/her) graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Honours Psychology, where she gained extensive research experience in early childhood development. Her honours research examined how children’s emotion self-regulation varied in relation to the quality of their relationships with teachers. Through this work, she developed experience in school-based mental health and classroom behavioural assessment. Currently working within the school system as a therapy assistant, Evlin has developed a strong passion for supporting children with developmental disabilities and collaborating with teachers and behaviour support teams to help students reach their full learning potential. Evlin is particularly interested in identifying factors that foster resilience, including exploring ways to make classrooms and learning environments more accessible and inclusive for young learners.