New Words-App For Children With Hearing Devices
By admin | January 27, 2012
A new app enables children with hearing-aids and cochlear implants, to practice their listening and speaking with flash-cards and a range of speech sounds for each letter. Very cleverly, the app has parent tips for its use.
Read more >> New HOPE Words App for iPhones and iPads
Watch the video >> See the Hope Words App in action
The app is a tool for parents and children to interact and to learn new words and literacy skills in a fun way – wherever they may be, at the time.
Further Reading:
* After A Cochlear Implant – The Real Work Begins
* Early Learning With SmartPhones And Tablet PCs
* What Exactly Does Oral-Deaf Education Involve?
* Cochlear Implants: Balanced Views Are Important
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | No Comments »
Deaf Teen Open To IT Work After Caption Support
By admin | January 26, 2012
Having live classroom-captions in school has led a deaf teen in Australia, to consider a career in computer programming or in the general IT field.
Read his story >> Real-time captions for deaf HSC student
Interestingly, the student emphasises how classroom-captions have boosted his literacy skills, while providing a detailed set of notes from each class.
Further Reading
* Australia To Take Classroom Captioning ‘National’
* Captions In The Classroom Boost Literacy Skills
* Accessibility In Computer-Training Environments
* Deaf Student Uses Captions In Operating Theatre
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | No Comments »
Apologies! (January E-Zine)
By caroline | January 24, 2012
If you received a dubious-looking file earlier today, in an email from the IDK address, there’s no need to worry – and you don’t have to do anything!
The file is our January e-zine, which worked in its pre-send tests. However, the file got scrambled after we hit ’send’, and that’s the result you all got.
We are working to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and would like to thank you for your continued support of IDK and its operations.
Please feel free to browse this month’s stories, and the website in general.
~ The IDK Team
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | No Comments »
NTID Expects Deaf Students Who Speak And Sign
By admin | January 23, 2012
Diversity among deaf students at third-level colleges in English-speaking countries means they speak and/or sign, read lips and/or use hearing-aids and/or cochlear implants. Equally diverse teaching-supports are needed.
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), in Rochester, New York is expecting verbal deaf student numbers to grow as more receive cochlear implants at about one year of age, and get to develop their verbal skills.
Read more >> NTID programs help deaf students thrive
About 71% of new students at NTID arrive from mainstream education and use visual, web-based or individual tuition in their studies. Interpreters and captioning devices are available for these students at other RIT colleges.
Further Reading
* Technology Has Revolutionised Deaf Education
* What Tertiary Supports Do Deaf Students Need?
*Insights To The Deaf Education Debate In The US
* Deaf Student Uses Captions In Operating Theatre
* Gallaudet Introduces Captioning Alongside ASL
* Deaf Education: A New Philosophy (RIT, Nov 2010)
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | No Comments »
Early Learning With Smart-Phones And Tablet PCs
By admin | January 18, 2012
Are you curious about what your child will learn when they start school? How will they learn, and with what? Computers, not books! Today’s toddlers are digital natives. Namely, they will grow up knowing how to use smartphones and tablet PCs, regardless of their social or educational background.
More preschoolers know how to use a smartphone than to tie their shoe-laces, judging by a recent piece in the UK’s Guardian broadsheet paper.
The value to toddlers of educational, tablet-based and smartphone apps must not be underestimated. Teaching children letters and numbers early, is a good step to take. Infants after all, have a pre-literacy stage.
Here’s how smart-devices can benefit children with hearing issues:
- Visual display of printed letters (a, b, c …) and numbers (1, 2, 3 …)
- Animal sounds can be learned, if a child’s hearing level allows
- Interactive books have sound for cochlear implant wearers to learn
- Music and words can be played aloud for interactive, aural learning
- Junior snap, lotto & dominoes can be played by children & parents
- Visual prompts are supplied for story-telling by family members
- Fun, multi-sensory learning results, with parent-child engagement
- Children can learn to share the device with others in a social group
- Problem-solving skills are learned when puzzles are completed
The trick is to mix your child’s “device time” with recreational play, and to use the device as a fun way to jointly explore and learn about new concepts.
Further Reading
* Touchscreen Tech Boosts Literacy In Deaf Children
* Deaf Preschoolers’ Literacy Benefits From E-Books
* Literacy Skills In Children Aged Three To Five Years
* Digital Readers (eReaders) Improve Child Literacy
* Educational Revolution With Smartphone Devices
* Young Readers Learn From DVDs and Smartphones
* Video Games – The Literacy Of Problem-Solving
* Using iPads in a speech therapy environment
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Deaf Student Uses Captions In Operating Theatre
By admin | January 12, 2012
Teaching supports like captioning on a tablet PC, can allow deaf students to learn in operating theatre practicals where everyone is masked and gowned.
See how captions work in an operating theatre >>
The University of California solved the issue of a deaf student lip-reading masked colleagues in theatre, by using a tablet PC to provide live-captioning (CART). The PC device was wrapped in clear plastic for hygiene reasons.
Across the US, in Illinois state – “I have seen a completely different shift in what the deaf students are enrolled in,” confirms Karen Adams, disability specialist and coordinator of deaf services at the College of Lake County.
One current nursing student at CLC uses an amplified stethoscope and Skype-facilitated real-time captioning for anatomy and physiology courses.
Read about this nursing student’s journey >>
Medical studies are ‘non-traditional’ areas for deaf students, but with college supports and technologies like these, there is no reason not to train as a doctor, dentist or veterinarian if this is where a student’s real interest lies.
Further Reading
* Deaf Student Doctor Adds Perspective To Training
* Deaf Masters Degree Student Trains As A Teacher
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | No Comments »
Blogging Benefits Students’ Varied Learning Styles
By admin | January 11, 2012
Word of the global QuadBlogging initiative was posted in IDK’s Facebook group, for interested parents and educators. Since late 2010, many schools in Ireland have kept blogs, and are seeing obvious educational benefits for the students (and teachers!) who participate in creating the blog-posts.
A past IDK piece, “Using Blog Tools For Story-Telling And Picture Diaries“, explains how blogs can be used to teach literacy to young deaf children.
Scoilnet.ie also lists the benefits of having a blog for your school:
- Blog-writing encourages students’ higher order skills such as reflection and analysis of the information that is received.
- Students’ group-reading, writing and collaboration skills are developed.
- Publishing blog-posts and blog-comments engenders peer learning, assessment and creates ownership (highly motivational for students)
- Blogging technology is easy to use for teachers, students and resource teachers (and for parents to access, as needed).
- Video, audio and other media and file types are supported for a very dynamic learning experience that suits varied learning styles.
- Learning extends outside of the classroom environment and beyond national boundaries, if international blog-projects are participated in.
- Children of all ages can start learning to read with simple blogs. Posts with labeled photos and simple stories are ideal for learning to read.
Primary schools like Scoil Eoin in Cork, have their own blog. They use it to share school-information and the option to select a class to get their news, such as first communion events or stories of visitors to the school.
Portmarnock Community School in Dublin was one of the first schools to use blogs for class history projects. Every student has their own (monitored) blog with YouTube videos, text and images, in the wordpress blog-system.
In Dublin, St Colmcille’s Community School also uses a range of blogs as learning resources. The Leaving Cert chemistry course is an example, with videos and powerpoint slides of class notes for students to download.
Bottom line: students and schools have options, even with recent education cuts. Once school students know how to blog, they can make their mark in the internet world and take this digital learning into their future workplaces.
Schools/teachers that blog: http://www.scoilnet.ie/hp_schoolsthatblog.shtm
(compiled by Miriam Walsh)
Further Reading
* Making Classroom And Literacy Tools Accessible
* Captions In The Classroom Boost Literacy Skills
* Digital Media Content Accessibility For Schools
* The Necessity of Teaching ICT Skills In Schools
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How The HSE Can Use Telepractice To Cut Costs
By admin | January 8, 2012
One year ago, IDK noted how a speech and language telepractice solution in rural Minnesota, could benefit Irish children in resource teaching allocation.
Telepractice is “the application of telecommunications technology to deliver professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client, or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation” (ASHA, 2004).
Here are three ways in which the HSE can use telepractice in Ireland to achieve annual cost-savings and deliver quality speech therapy, audiology and cochlear implant mapping services while maximising human resources.
1. Telepractice For Speech Teaching
Speech-therapy services in Ireland are presently limited by HSE hiring caps and other constraints. A national shortage of speech therapy in Ireland has resulted, with teachers spending valuable time travelling to rural areas.
Delivering speech therapy services in Ireland via a national telepractice system, would free speech-teachers to work with deaf and hard-of-hearing children from early on, while benefiting the childrens’ computer skills.
2. Remote Hearing Tests For Babies
A pilot of a remote newborn hearing test, was initiated in late 2011 between the University of Colorado and the Pacific island of Guam. Within Ireland, a national telepractice system could do similar tests, reducing travel time and expense for the families and the respective medical/administrative staff.
3. Remote Mapping And Analysis of Cochlear Implants
In Australia, cochlear implants can be remotely mapped and analysed over a secure internet link. With this solution, clients in rural populations globally, no longer need to travel long distances for cochlear implant mapping.
National Telepractice Co-Ordination Initiative
A solid case exists for establishing national telepractice initiatives in Ireland, to deliver clinical processes for efficient, national service provision.
Telepractice benefits for the deaf sector include:
- Simpler administration, less duplication of paperwork and processes
- Centralised service delivery from one location, with related benefits
- Increased speech-therapy for students (individual or group lessons)
- Less need for parents to travel for speech and/or audiology services
Telepractice offers endless opportunities for very low-cost, effective and sustainable service delivery to relevant populations, and is an area to watch.
(compiled by Nicola Fox and Caroline Carswell)
Further Reading
* Ireland’s First Virtual Hospital Clinic Logs On
* Technology Has Revolutionised Deaf Education
* The Need To ‘Re-Think Learning’ For Universality
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TCD Evening Seminar For Students With Disability
By admin | January 4, 2012
The Disability Service at Trinity College, Dublin is hosting an information evening this month for potential students with physical/sensory disabilities.
Date: Friday January 27th 2012
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Room 3074, 3rd Floor, Arts Building, TCD
The evening will begin with an overview of the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE), and will outline the range of supports available at TCD.
Advice on course choices at Trinity, and accessibility will also be available. See TCD’s information website for second-level students with disabilities.
To register for this event, email Carol at disab@tcd.ie, or call 01-896 3111.
Trinity College Dublin has over 900 students with disabilities, the highest number of the colleges in Ireland. All potential CAO/DARE applicants with disabilities are welcome to this information evening.
Further Reading:
* Advice For Deaf Students Going To Third-Level
* What Tertiary Supports Do Deaf Students Need?
* IDK’s Post-School Options Seminar (November 2011)
* TCD Summer School For Deaf Students: June 2011
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | No Comments »
Deaf Masters Degree Student Trains As A Teacher
By admin | January 3, 2012
This inspiring story tells how a deaf woman is training to become a masters degree-certified teacher, and is working in an oral-deaf program in Texas.
Read more >> Life comes full-circle for student, teacher
Here’s why the story is notable:
- The student is the only deaf person in a teacher-of-the-deaf course
- Her fellow trainee-teachers will benefit from her insights to the class
- Her journey as a deaf pupil will inform her own teaching practices
- She is teaching oral-deaf pupils despite initial self-doubts about this
- Deaf teachers typically work via sign language, not the oral method
- The local school district is open to hiring/working with deaf teachers
- Teachers at schools that hire this student, will gain unique insights
Individuals who are deaf should be involved in generic teacher-training and policy-formation for all teachers, just as medical patients join clinical trials for doctors to better understand their issues. This is the only way forward.
Further Reading:
* Technology Has Revolutionised Deaf Education
* Preparing Kids For Mainstream School Settings
* Making Literacy and Classroom Tools Accessible
* Technology Bridges The Deaf and Hearing Worlds
Topics: Irish Deaf Kids | 1 Comment »