Deafness is called the ‘invisible disability’, and teens can be very reluctant to disclose what they see as a social vulnerability. A librarian who has hearing issues herself, shares some communication tips – which can be used almost anywhere a pen, paper, the internet or a mobile phone is available. Read: Serving teens with hearing
All babies lip-read from about 6 months of age, to learn mouth-shapes for the sounds they hear, according to researchers at Florida Atlantic University. When a baby gazes intently at a speaker’s mouth, this indicates they are working to learn to form syllables for themselves, instead of just babbling. Read: Babies Learn Language By Reading
Everyone lipreads to an extent regardless of their hearing, to get a sense of what people are saying to us. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people can rely almost fully on lip-reading, as they may not have the sound input to know what others are saying to them, or to follow a conversation. Charlie Swinbourne, a deaf writer
A new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests computers are now better at lip-reading than humans. The performance of a computer based lip-reading system was compared to that of 19 human lip-readers. Results showed the computerised system was over 50% better at recognition than the humans completing the same task. Simultaneously, the
More and more deaf students are being taught in third-level classes, some mainstream and others not. Here, Sinead Quealy, from Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), shares her experience of teaching a group of adult deaf students. Her experience may help lecturers who teach deaf students. I taught adults for three years in Waterford City VEC. During
A recent conference hosted by AHEAD got me thinking about my education, and learning situations where tuition support might have helped. By far the most challenging of my three third-level courses was the IT conversion course. These courses are known for their accelerated pace. That wasn’t the problem, however. Computer-based classroom practicals were the glaring
Lip-reading can be an imprecise science at times, but certain children and individuals find it’s a lifeline to understanding what’s said around them. Babies naturally look at peoples’ faces when their attention is attracted, or they are spoken to. It’s never too early to teach lipreading, regardless of how a baby is going to communicate eventually. Babies Lipread
Communication is a major decision for parents of deaf children, as it will shape their child’s life and prospects from an early age, with implications for their education and working life. Here’s a communication options chart with all the options and their commitments for families to review. Printing the chart to discuss with your family and others may help
Deafness isn’t the tragedy that it was, at one time. With sustained early intervention and hearing-devices from birth to age three, a baby or child who is deaf achieves a good quality of life with their own personal milestones. However, if deafness is diagnosed at a late stage (after the child is 2.5 years of
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