ICED 2025 in Rome, Italy
Monday 28 July
Royal Kentalis is excited to have been a part of the most recent International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) in Rome, Italy, that took place in July 2025. This marked another opportunity for us to engage with global experts, share our research and practises, and contribute to the ongoing dialogue on education for individuals who are Deaf of hard of hearing (DHH).
Reflecting on Past Success
This year's event followed the success of our previous ICED engagements, including the 2015 conference in Greece and the 2021 edition that was held online during the COVID-19 pandemic. At both events, Kentalis made meaningful contributions, and we are grateful that we were able to build on that momentum with more meaningful presentations and discussions at ICED 2025.
Who Attended?
Kentalis sent a delegation of 40 passionate professionals, including researchers and educators in the field of DHH, as well as colleagues from Kentalis International Foundation. Of them, 22 members were invited to present their latest research, methodologies, and innovations aimed at enhancing the quality of education and support for DHH learners.
Get to know the people behind Kentalis
Below you will find some of our team members who were present in Rome. Feel free to reach out to them and connect further!
- Romy Verhoeven - PhD Candidate in Learning Development Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children
- Susan Zant - Director of Kentalis school Talent DHH
- Nynke Dethmers - Mental Health Psychologist & PhD candidate
- Corrie Tijsseling (PhD) - Senior Researcher Kentalis Academy
- Lynn Rood - Reseacher DHH Kentalis Academy
- Marloes Williams - Project Manager Kentalis International Foundation
Kentalis Presentations at ICED 2025
Our colleagues have delivered a variety of (poster) presentations on topics in DHH education. Find the program of Kentalis' contributions to ICED below. Click on the image to zoom in.
Presentations and other materials
Find materials from our ICED sessions below. This will be updated as more materials become available. Click to enlarge.
Developing a Policy for Inclusive Eduational Practice
Presentation 'Identity, a Quest in Words and Signs' (click to view the complete presentation)
Poster presentations (sometimes made in the context of a Deelkracht project)
Vlog
Get a visual glimpse of ICED 2025 through this vlog by two Kentalis colleagues! This vlog is in the Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) and subtitled in Dutch. This is the English transcript:
Good morning! Today we are going to ICED in Rome. We are Evelien and Lisa. Today is the third day of ICED. Join us!
Presentations at ICED are translated into several languages:International Sign, Italian Sign language, American Sign Language, and Sign Language of the Netherlands. Furthermore, there are English subtitles and English audio. We are happy about the accessibility of the conference.
We just saw an interesting key note presentation about sign language skills of hearing parents with Deaf children. An important finding was that parents of Deaf children should be taught and use visual strategies. Those 4 visual strategies are:
1. Self discovery by children.
2. Eye contact: parents should ensure they have their child’s attention
3. Repetition
4. Elaborate: elaborate on the child’s language production
There were numerous interesting poster presentations, of which we highlight one. The poster was about tools to improve reading comprehension in Deaf children as it can be challenging for them. An app was developed, which uses AI to increase accessibility and possibly foster understanding of texts. We are curious how the app will be developed in the future.
Looking Forward to ICED 2030
For those who visited ICED in Rome: we hope that you were able to meet some of our colleagues and found new inspiration and information from our presentations! Do you have any questions or would you like to continue the conversation? Reach out to us at international@kentalis.nl.
In the meantime, we are happy to share that the next edition, ICED 2030, will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa! This will be the 25th edition of the congress and the first time it comes to the African continent. Hosting ICED in Africa finally brings long-needed visibility to the African context for deaf learners, which differs greatly from Western settings. We welcome this important step toward a truly global conversation on Deaf education and look forward to the unique insights that Johannesburg 2023 will bring!
Want to follow us in the meantime? Follow Royal Kentalis (in the Netherlands) and Kentalis International on LinkedIn!
