Public Speaking 

Sheri has presented over 720 public speeches in South Africa and abroad.

  • She addressed an international conference held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, and also the United Nations at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. She advocated for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and addressed many policymakers and ambassadors from various countries.
  • She presented the opening speech at the International Down Syndrome Conference in 2012 and a keynote speech at the opening day of the next International Down syndrome conference, in Chennai, India. She also addressed the International Down syndrome conference in Scotland where she officially represented South Africa.
  • She addressed an education symposium at the University of Canterbury in the UK, as well as the delegates of two Oxford Education Symposiums. She received an Oxford scholarship to do another keynote speech at their Education Research Symposium in March 2020, which was postponed due to Covid-19. She also spoke at a World Inclusion conference at the Cambridge University in England.
  • Shéri addressed numerous schools and events in different towns in New Zealand. Due to the positive feedback after these speeches, she was invited to an interview on National Television, Good Morning New Zealand.
  • Shéri addressed audiences in Namibia to help them acquire funds for their learners with special needs.
  • She spoke at an Education conference in Botswana and talked to rural communities and schools to motivate people to accept their children with disabilities.
  • In Aberystwyth in Wales, Shéri gave the main Conference Banquet keynote presentation at the Childs World Conference.
  • She addressed an International Conference on Disability and Human Development in Jerusalem, Israel.
  • She was the keynote speaker at the international “Women in Academic Leadership” conference in Johannesburg.
  • She also delivered a keynote speech at the 7th Annual Disability Rights Conference for the African region, in Johannesburg.
  • She also did a spotlight speech at the European Education Conference in Brighton, England.
  • She addressed the First South African Symposium on Teacher Education for Inclusion. She also delivered a paper at the SAERA Conference. All the above was a first ever for a person with Down syndrome.
  • She spoke at the World Nursing and Healthcare Conference in London and her speech was chosen as the presentation which received the best feedback. She was the main speaker at a lunchtime seminar of the London University College and delivered a keynote speech at the “9th Euro Nursing and Medicare Summit” which was held in Rome, Italy. She also had the opportunity to do a keynote speech at a conference of the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
  • She did the opening keynote speech at the 23rd World Nursing and Healthcare Conference in Berlin, Germany and she was part of a Down syndrome online summit, organised from Bonn, Germany. She presented a speech online. This speech and the questions she answered, was presented on the internet (with translations into German).
  • She co-presented a workshop to develop new perspectives and skills in medical practitioners and teachers to assist people with Down syndrome, presented by Belmatt Healthcare Training, in London.
  • She was invited to do keynote speeches at the World Conference on Community Nursing in Cape Town and a Down syndrome seminar in the townships in Khayelitsha, where she spoke about the uncertainties of parents and therapists working with children with disabilities.
  • She addressed the Inclusion Africa General Assembly and represented South Africa as an international self-advocate in 2019. She was part of a short course hosted by the Centre for Human Rights, at the University of Pretoria and she addressed the 8th Annual Disability Rights Conference, hosted by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.

  • She had the opportunity to address more than 10 000 people at an amphitheatre on Christmas day in Hartenbos, South Africa. The huge audience gave her a standing ovation.