Over 3,300 deaf children (90% of the total) are mainstream-educated in Ireland with under 4% using sign language (#NCSE, 2011). Supports are provided by the visiting teacher service and from state hearing-services. Technology and digital tools are a major leveller in mainstream education and must factor when choosing a school for the children. Today’s Deaf Children Hear And
How Many Deaf People In Ireland Use Sign Language? Ireland has just 1,077 Deaf native Irish Sign Language users. In February 2015 an RTE TV interview noted that only 0.1% of deaf people sign (that’s zero point one per cent). About 800,000 people in Ireland have hearing loss but do not sign, preferring to speak, lipread and use
Hearing Devices The latest product information, direct from the vendors themselves. Cochlear UK-Ireland | Cochlear International Phonak UK | Phonak Europe Teens CI For Teens (cochlear implants and teenagers) Spoken Language Guidance Parenting Aussie Deaf Kids lists international parent-support groups for hearing issues. France – UNAPEDA Germany – Professor Ernst Lenhardt-Stiftung Global – GPOD UK – NDCS | The Ear Foundation |
Outcomes for children receiving remote-speech therapy by telepractice, are similar to in-person sessions with a therapist. A report by Hear and Say, on using Skype to deliver teletherapy services to remote areas of Australia, was published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare (read below). Read: Pilot Study of Telepractice For Delivering Speech Therapy Early Intervention Boosts
Several fascinating articles on cochlear implants and literacy appeared in the recent world press, some of which are collated here for reading. Early Child Literacy Child literacy improves when a cochlear implant is accessed before age 3, to maximise a child’s residual hearing, and to address early vocabulary gaps with activities like parent-child talking interactions and
There’s a new generation of born-deaf people growing up as a technically hard-of-hearing subgroup (with their hearing-devices) – who identify with hearing culture and must educate on daily assumptions made by others. Mainstreamed with hearing-devices Jillian Ash, writer of this piece, wore hearing-aids since infancy, and moved to a cochlear implant at age 9. She
Time was, when a child with hearing issues was asked what they wanted to do after finishing education, their answer might be indistinct. With cochlear implants, this has all changed. Today’s children can have clearly defined life goals, and know what careers they’d like to move into, when they’re adults. Six-year-old Vivek tells Press Club