Ian Noon: The impact of concentration fatigue on deaf children should be factored in

Article from The Limping Chicken by NDCS's Ian Noon on concentration fatigue of deaf children.

I went to a great conference today. It was riveting and I was hooked on pretty much every word.

And then I got home and collapsed on the sofa. I’m not just tired, I’m shattered. I’ve had to turn my ears off to rest in silence and my eyes are burning. I’ve also had about 3 cups of tea just to write this paragraph.

Boo-hoo, so the Noon is tired, so what? True. People go through worse.

But I do also think the fact that the impact of deafness doesn’t just manifest itself in communication is ever really that well understood. It’s about the energy involved in lipreading and being attentive all day long.

Processing and constructing meaning out of half-heard words and sentences. Making guesses and figuring out context. And then thinking of something intelligent to say in response to an invariably random question.

Read the full article on The Limping Chicken

have you signed up yet?

So far the NDCS have  collected 35,000 signatures for their online petition but they need to reach 100,000 to secure the debate in Parliament and put pressure on the Government to take action and stop cuts to deaf education.

 

So if you have not signed up yet - click here. 

 

It takes two minutes to sign the petition and could make a huge difference to the lives of thousands of deaf children.

Deaf Education in the past

With the recent increased national focus on the impact of Government cuts on today's deaf education, some readers might wish to learn more about deaf education in the past decades.

Last year we shared a post which give a fascinating insight into life for deaf children in the 1950s.

Recently Sussex Deaf History have shared a very interesting exhibition about  Deaf Education in the Seventies. The online exhibition, part of the Hidden Histories: Intercultural Dialogue project is very insight and worth a visit. Want to learn more...click here

Government cuts cause fall in GCSE results say NDCS

The UK's largest charity for deaf children  NDCS (National Deaf Children's Society) reported on Friday that only 37% of deaf children achieved five A* to C grades at GCSE compared to 69% of their hearing peers. In addition to that, for the first time, the number of deaf children achieving A* to C grades fell by 2.4%. This is a grave sign for the education of Britain's deaf children. 

NDCS Deputy Campaigns director went on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday to explain the findings and why parents of deaf children should be concerned. You can listen to the programme here or read the transcript here. 

Locally, according to the NDCS cuts map, there are no cuts to education in Peterborough but NDCS has been asking parents of deaf children at Middleton School for their views following news that staffing provision had been reduced. 

Moving On Event and Cambridgeshire Deaf Teen Award of the Year

The HIT (Hearing Impaired Teenagers) support group have confirmed the date (19th October) for this year's Moving On Event.

The event will host an array of services including Careers Advice, Financial support, Audiology, Deaf groups, education services plus much more.

This year will include the Cambridgeshire Deaf Teen Award of the Year.

For more information visit http://www.hitgroupcambridge.co.uk/

The History of Deaf Education - BSLBT

This week and next week 'The Hub' present a two part programme on the 'The History of Deaf Education'.

"A journey through Deaf experience of education through history from early sign-language schools in Britain and abroad to the dramatic oralism of the Milan conference of 1880. "

The programme is available on the various TV channels listed as well through the BSLBT website  www.bslbt.co.uk/programmes/the-hubMonday

 

Part1:

March 19th and repeated on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

 

Part 2:

March 26th and repeated on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

 

 

 

 

One Teacher of the Deaf for 95 Deaf Children..NDCS Slams Islington Council

Islington News reports today that NDCS (National Deaf Children's Society) have criticised Islington Council for their woeful provision of teaching support for deaf children.

According to NDCS, Islington only provide one specialist Teacher of the Deaf for 95 deaf children in the borough. That's almost double the average workload and all going on right under the nose of NDCS who are based in .. you guessed it.. Islington! The Council were not going to get away with it for long..

The local MP is getting involved too. Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington south and Finsbury, who has added her weight to the campaign, said: 

“I am writing to the local authority asking them to have a look at the problem and how we can get together to make sure deaf children get the help they need. Some children are being left out in the cold and we need to know why.”

In Peterborough, the good news is that there will be no cuts to the service for deaf children but that's not the story in many places across the UK. The NDCS Cuts Map show the damage but pressure on councils is paying off to reverse some of the cuts being imposed on the education of deaf children and their families. 

Lets hope this one gets sorted before they end up in court too..

Battles rage against cuts to deaf kids services

A tale of two cities this week as the fightback against cuts in services for deaf children builds up steam.

Stoke

NDCS campaigners in Stoke have forced the council to review their decision to cut services for deaf children after they forced a judicial review which halted any cuts anyway until the case could be heard in the High Court.  Councillor Debra Gratton, cabinet member for children's services, said the decision supported by full council to reduce spending on services for deaf children had been "very difficult" to make.

"But the welfare and education of all the city's children is, and always will be, very important.
"We have listened to the arguments made by the National Deaf Children's Society, and we have listened to parents, children and teachers.
"In light of this, it has been agreed that the original decisions be reviewed, following proper and meaningful consultation, to help us to continue to provide the best level of services for city children."

Protests in Stoke

The council also cried foul over the potential costs of the court case which the council claim is a waste of tax payers money. Funny that the same argument wasn't made when they increased the pay of their Chief Executive by £50,000 to £195,000 (a 34% increase) at the height of the recession in 2010. See the BBC Story here.
No wonder parents in Stoke are angry..


Southampton
Ahead of  the council's meeting this week where cuts to services for deaf children will be discussed, hundred of parents have signed a petition asking for the reinstatement of a part-time teacher of the deaf. NDCS already say that Southampton has the worst level of school back-up for deaf children in the entire country but, apparently not content with that, Southampton council could make it even worse.

Tracey Pettit, whose nine-year-old son William is deaf, said: 

"We are overwhelmed at the level of support that residents of Southampton have given our petition to save services for deaf children.
"It shows how much everyone cares about the right of deaf children to thrive in school and beyond."

Again, BBC takes it up..

PDDCS sends its good wishes to Stoke and Southampton..

What do we want? Sign language classes... When do we want them? NOW!

Click here to add your support to the campaign to persuade the department of education to offer family sign language classes to parents of deaf children to get communication in the home kick-started from a very young age.....just like it is for hearing children. 

90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, usually with no idea how to say 'I love you' in sign language.. 

Here is the petition text..

Nine out of ten deaf children are born to hearing families who have little to no experience of deafness. Communicating with your child is a basic right, but many families are not getting the support they need to learn British Sign Language. Sign language courses vary throughout the UK in regards to availability and price. It is unacceptable that parents of deaf children who wish to learn sign language are not getting the help they need to communicate with their child. We, the undersigned, are calling on the Department for Education to roll out family sign language classes for families of deaf children, and to incorporate national standards on sign language support in family services, early years settings, schools and further and higher education in any forthcoming special education needs legislation.

Sign your name .. it only takes a minute 

Confirmed: No Cuts to Hearing Support in Peterborough

Peterborough Town Hall

Exclusive

Good news for the city's deaf children and their families as PDDCS gets it confirmed that there will be no cuts to the budget in 2011/12

NDCS's Cuts Map still shows that there is no information from Peterborough but we had it confirmed by the Head of Inclusion and Sensory Support, Claire George, who emailed to say: 

"I am able to confirm that there are no planned cuts to the sensory service budget in the current financial year."

In addition, Claire George also said that they had filled in a long and detailed questionnaire about funding for the service in response to a freedom of information request from NDCS.

That's great news - but PDDCS now wonders what's going to happen next year...

Deaf Children interested in University? Read on..

How accessible is University? A FREE event for D/deaf pupils who are curious about if University is for them. (Parents, carers and professionals welcome.) It is organised by the Disability Services of various colleges of the University of London. This event is suitable for any pupil over 11 years but is likely to be of particular interest to those in Years 9-11 and at FE College.

It's on Saturday 24th September between 11.30am and 4.15pm at SOAS (the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London) London, WC1H 0XG.

For a booking form and more detailed information please contact: Deb Viney, SOAS tel: 0207 898 4957 email: diversity@soas.ac.uk

Video: Ethiopian School for Deaf Children

We got this video via At the Rim. Its a fascinating look inside a school for deaf children in Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa. The presenter is Nicolas Ansell.

Takes only a few minutes. 

Deaf Kids Travel Miles for an Education, Part II

Another story broke today about deaf children travelling ridiculous distances to get a decent education.

This time, the Belfast Telegraph reports that seven deaf children from Northern Ireland are having to travel to ENGLAND to get the education they deserve at a combined annual cost to the taxpayer of £250,000. The reason is because Northern Ireland cannot offer Grammar School standard education to deaf children, forcing them to travel big distances and face separation from their families and friends in order to fulfil their potential.

One of the Mums, Mrs Massey, who teaches in a Co Antrim secondary school, said: "Why should my son be denied a grammar school education just because of his hearing loss? I wanted only the best for him and in my opinion the best was Mary Hare, the National Grammar School for the Deaf."

"It was a huge wrench, breaking up our family, fear of the unknown, worrying if the right decision had been made - and criticism, usually unspoken but still felt, that it was a terrible thing to send your child away."

"You do what's right for your child and we feel we made the right decision sending him to board - he has really blossomed."

Happens more than you'd think...

Click here for the full story

180 mile round trip to school - just because you're deaf

A shocking story appeared in the Mirror yesterday which gave an example of the lengths some deaf children need to go to, to get an education.

Michaela Mowat, 11, from Kendal has been forced to travel from Cumbria to school in Boston Spa near Leeds where she will stay from Monday to Friday. And the reason why? Acoustics in the classroom are so poor at the school in Kendal that Michaela's hearing aids are useless for hearing what the teacher is saying.

Michaela will now see less of her friends and family potentially compounding the child's sense of isolation.

In Kendal being deaf and going to a local school is just too difficult to get sorted.

The Mirror picks up the story... 

Deaf University Student? Check This Out..

David (left) in My Song

Star of deaf related hit film My Song, David Hay, is conducting research into experience of university life for deaf students for the University of Wolverhampton.


You can have gone to any UK University to take part or still be a student. The aim of the survey is to get statistical information about universities across the UK and how they accommodate deaf students.

Click here to take the survey

For a good cause - and it won't take long..