Network Newsmembers in Europe since150 participants cametogether in Paris to <strong>at</strong>tendthe course. Most of themcame from Europe, but it isworth noticing th<strong>at</strong> Canada,Australia, Brazil and Japanwere also represented.A special mention mustbe made of the Swedishparticipants th<strong>at</strong> madethe big effort to miss theirMidsummer Night which, intheir country, is as importantas Christmas.“The magic of dialogue”explored various domainsof life th<strong>at</strong> are relevant forunderstanding how thisdialogicality of mind works;in human beings in general:this aspect was addressed byvarious university researcherswho are not specialists ofdeafblindness; in the caseof congenital deafblindness:the members of the DbICommunic<strong>at</strong>ions NetworkHanna Pitroff, winner of DbI Distinguished Service AwardCheers to Communic<strong>at</strong>ion66 • DbI Review • Jan u a r y – Ju n e 2011
Network Newstook care of th<strong>at</strong> throughanswers to the main lecturersand video analysis sessions.Each day addressed aspecific topic:June 22: Dialogicality inCulturel Lecture by Prof ColwynTrevarthen (EmeritusUniversity of Edinburgh– Scotland) followed byanswers from Paul Hart andInger Rodbroe.June 23: Dialogicality andLanguagel Video-taped lecture byProf Per Linell (Universityof Linköping - Sweden),followed by answers fromMarleen Janssen andMarlene Daelman.June 24: Dialogicality andNarr<strong>at</strong>ivityl Lecture by Prof JacquesBres (University ofMontpellier – France),followed by answersfrom Jacques Souriau andFlemming Ask Larsen.June 25: Dialogicality andTrustl Lecture by Prof IvanaMarkova (Universityof Stirling - Scotland),followed by answers fromAnne Nafstad and TonVisser.Through plenarysessions and video analysisworkshops, the courseprovided a context for anongoing dialogue amongscientists, specialists ofcongenital deafblindness andparticipants.This Paris course wouldnot have been possiblewithout the hard work ofmany people, including:Anne Quesada and N<strong>at</strong>halieLewi-Dumont from the INS-HEA, Magnus Gudnaso, LasseWehner and Charlotte Larsenfrom NVC and Ton Visserfrom VIATAAL. Also we mustacknowledge the membersof the DbI Communic<strong>at</strong>ionNetwork: Anne Nafstad,Inger Rodbroe, Flemming AskLarsen, Ton Visser, MarleenJanssen, Marlene Daelman,Paul Hart and JacquesSouriau.The Conference Proceedingswill eventually be availableon the DbI website. Inthe interim, copies of thepapers will be available bycontacting Dr. Paul Hart,Sense Scotland (phart@sensescotland.org.uk)Jacques SOURIAUParis – INS HEA 58-60avenue des Landes. 92150SURESNESJune 22-25, 2010Siblings NetworkSabine Kersten reportsAutumn, the time of the yearto look back on this oneand make plans for thenew year.At the end of July I was ableto join the wonderful familyconference “Listen to me”. It wasnice to talk to so many familiesfrom all over Europe and to heartheir experiences. I think thisshould be the heart of the work ofall people working in the deafblindfield: families and their experiences.I also went to the ADBNConference in Aalborg, Denmarkwhere I gave a present<strong>at</strong>ionabout my own experiences as asister (which you can read in thismagazine). It is not always easy totalk about your own experiences infront of a large audience, but it is away to show people the impact ofliving with deafblindness.I also presented a workshopwhere I talked about differentfeelings siblings may have and theimportance of acknowledgementthese feelings.At this point, the networkhas two main goals: Raisingawareness for siblings andproviding inform<strong>at</strong>ion. Inform<strong>at</strong>ionis very important for siblings. Itwill answer some questions anddecrease some worries they mayhave. I hope we will be ableto start developing some ageappropri<strong>at</strong>e inform<strong>at</strong>ion thiscoming year.I wish you all a wonderful NewYear! For more inform<strong>at</strong>ion on thenetwork or wh<strong>at</strong> we can do foryour organis<strong>at</strong>ion, please contact:Sabine Kersten <strong>at</strong>siblingsnetwork@gmx.netJan u a r y – Ju n e 2011 • DbI Review • 67