The Core Points Newborn hearing tests (since 2012) and infant education give today’s kids a headstart. Today’s cochlear implants and hearing-aids give digital sound quality like never before. Infant verbal education leads children into preschool with peer-level spoken language. Over 3,300 deaf children in Ireland (90%) are mainstream-educated, with under 4% using sign language (#NCSE, 2011). Currently
The teaching of children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing has altered with technologies like cochlear implants and speech-to-text tools, according to a recent report from Project Forum, at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, in the US. Read: Technology Has Changed The Teaching Of Deaf Students Notable findings in the report include: Greater acceptance
A recent news story cited the Virginia School for Deaf and Blind (VSDB), to show how an IT implementation can go wrong. One very surprising aspect of the story, is that it happened in the United States, which leads Ireland in the availability of technology and resources to deaf & hard-of-hearing children. The story details
In response to a mum’s recent mail, here’s what may be expected when a child’s cochlear implant is switched on for the first time. After a cochlear implant is activated, a child can take more than a month to respond to sounds they hear. Then, “the real work begins”, families are told. (Lights, Sound) Activation!
Statistically, more deaf and hard-of-hearing students are enrolling in mainstream third-level institutions in the US (Raue & Lewis, 2011). The same is happening in Ireland, with more students in this diverse deaf population accessing higher education than ever before. Tertiary education supports students who: have hearing aids and use their residual hearing have a cochlear implant (CI)
If you’re a parent or teacher with a deaf child starting a new school year, here’s a quick reference list that might answer some of your questions. Hearing Assistance Entitlements Educational Supports in Ireland Advocating For Your Child’s Service Provision The Visiting Teacher Service: Background Details The Effective Use of IEPs in Irish Classrooms What
Ireland has about 880,000 people with hearing issues (deafened, and deaf), while about 1,077 people who use ISL are in the signing Deaf community, at 0.1% (zero point one per cent) of the total population. During a recent chat in a Dublin hotel, two of the Sound Advice team were interrupted by an academic. He
The parent of a deaf student emailed IDK. Her child’s secondary-school teaching support hours were cut during Transition Year, when the regional SENO said this was not the case. A deadlock had resulted, so our advice was sought. Here’s what we suggested. Get a statement of resource teaching &/or SNA hours at the start. All
To celebrate its tenth birthday, Dublin-based Elevate PR offered a PR campaign worth €10K to the small firm or non-profit in Ireland that wrote the best 500-word pitch. The eight finalists were Treehouse Republic, Dayout.ie, Digital Mines, An Oige, FirstDate.ie, Irish Girl Guides, Sensational Kids and Sound Advice (then called Irish Deaf Kids). The winner was Sensational Kids, also a Social
Parents of deaf children, who are debating on a cochlear implant for their child, may gain insights from two articles written by deaf adults in the UK. The first, published by writer Charlie Swinbourne in The Guardian, is titled “Not all deaf people want to be fixed” and offers a very balanced view on why