Scottish-US study to help deaf and hard of hearing children with maths August 14, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Curriculum, Hearing Impairment , add a commentScientists in Scotland and the US will undertake a study to investigate why children who are deaf or hard of hearing experience problems with maths.www.LTScotland.org.uk/news/2008/educational/august/news_tcm4497816.asp
Researchers in Scotland and the US will now spend four years investigating the problem after being awarded £800,000 in funding from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development in America.
The study will examine a number of areas including memory and attention skills, parental and child attitudes to maths and basic number skills.
New signs of the times for deaf learners January 29, 2008
Posted by Hilery Williams in : Access, Hearing Impairment , add a commenthttp://www.theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.2000723.0.New_signs_of_the_times_for_deaf_learners.phpThe Herald Society reports that hundreds of deaf pupils could benefit from a project that is building a suite of new sign language symbols for scientific terms and concepts. Edinburgh University’s School of Education has developed glossaries for British Sign Language (BSL) covering biology, physics and chemistry.
The school’s Scottish Sensory Centre had already produced more than 80 individual signs for mathematicss in a pilot project. So far, more than 250 words or phrases have been created in response to growing demand from deaf pupils and teachers for a wider scientific vocabulary in the commonly used language.
Cochlear Implantation February 16, 2007
Posted by Eleanor Carnell in : Cochlear implant, Hearing Impairment , 1 comment so far
I have been supporting a family whose deaf 3year old has just had a Cochlear Implant ( a hearing device that is implanted into the cochlea to deliver a sound sensation that the brain can interpret for speech). This has been a very exciting time for us all, but a very nerve wracking and emotional time for the family. I also was able to meet the implant team in Kilmarnock (our national implant centre) to discuss the procedure and likely outcomes. Research has shown that the earlier a deaf child is implanted the more likely the success, although sucess is not guaranteed. They are now implanting at a year old! Our 3 year old will have 3 years to make up once her implant is ‘tuned’ in (one month from implantation to enable the operated site to heal)as well as trying to keep up with her peers.
Having supported the family so far I now feel that I will have to deliver strategies to ‘catch up’ the missed years, both for her nursery placement and her family. Our aim is to limit the gaps in language so that she can access the curriculum especially in the later primary years, and then into high school where I hope her choices and attainments will be limitless. A tall order? Our expectations must be high for her and support at these early stages will lay the foundations for good speech and access to language.
This child will still be deaf and need extra support throughout her education but she will also access the hearing world and have choices. Cochlear implants have proved to be successful for many users and as I learn and ecperience more of them I am amazed at the outcomes that I never dreamed would occur.
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