In true spirit for World Hearing Day (March 3), Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE, made its ‘Deafening’ documentary available for free, worldwide viewing on the RTE Player platform.
This documentary sought to explore the current experience of being deaf in Ireland (avoiding a political discourse) and succeeded by representing the diversity in today’s deaf population – with all four people profiled, choosing to be in silence at times.
Discreet camerawork shows the bonds among the hearing and deaf family members in this footage – confirming the importance of family support in a deaf person’s life.
Historic Lack Of Speech Services In Ireland
Ireland’s lack of speech therapy services surfaces when we meet the teenage Visser siblings, who received cochlear implants and auditory-verbal therapy in their native South Africa before moving to Waterford. This infant verbal intervention is the solid bedrock for their lives today at mainstream school, time with friends and their competitive tae kwon do routines.
Let's complete the jigsaw puzzle of #hearing & #speech services in #Ireland. #deafening https://t.co/f0doKNO1Ii
— Caroline Carswell (@soundadvice_pro) March 2, 2017
Hearing and speech services are a human right, and Ireland made good progress in recent years – however, some work remains for families with deaf infants aged 0 to 3, to access the specialist auditory-verbal therapy services children like the Vissers get in other countries.
Put simply, today’s deaf infants deserve guidance in their social, emotional and literacy skills – to ‘grow’ in the mainstream education system and to take into their future workplaces. Cochlear implants are only the first step in this learning to hear and talk process.
@Ournewears Great to see #diversity in the #deaf population shown. Today's kids have less need to answer "I didn't know deaf people talked".
— Caroline Carswell (@soundadvice_pro) March 2, 2017
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