Find more tips from the mum of a deaf boy, and a creche manager online: Including Deaf Children At Preschool (Part One), & Part Two.
Key Question: what information sources did you use for advice on Charlie’s early learning in the creche? (internet / flyers / other?)
(The Mum)
Our creche owner contacted the NAD (now DeafHear) – we were foundering then – and their liasion met us at the creche where we started to speak out loud about deafness and the fact that Charlie was deaf. In the early days I didn’t use the Internet much, but I did buy a lot of books to read about how to work with a profoundly deaf child. Once I started to understand deafness better and after about a year, I started to use the internet more.
(The Creche Manager)
The mum and myself were in constant contact and discussed any new information that either of us had gathered. The visiting teacher probably was the best source of information we had.
Was some of/all of this information given to the creche owner?
(The Mum)
Any information I passed to the creche was done in conversation more than in any formal way. Our visiting teacher went to the creche and explained where Charlie should sit for story time, but at that point, there was no formal structure. I was lucky to have a good relationship with the creche and found them helpful and interested. In fact, they sourced information independently and passed it to me. One example was the Lamh course some of the girls took. I attended this introductory course, which the creche organised for me – Lamh courses not being open to parents of deaf kids!
