The stated goal of the paper is that “deaf and hard-of-hearing children should graduate from school with levels of educational attainment that are on a par with their hearing peers of similar ability.”

Read the paper: The Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Ireland

According to the NCSE presentation, the current challenges are:

1. How best to support deaf/hard of hearing children to learn language at an early age
2. How best to inform parents about communication and education options
3. What professional development should be provided for teachers
4. What supports should be in place in schools
5. What health and education services are needed for deaf/hard of hearing children
6. how best to support deaf/hard of hearing children to learn language at an early age

The new policy paper confirms the need to provide early identification and intervention for deaf children; to provide for interaction with hearing peers; to facilitate CPD for teachers and to equip classrooms with technology.

Further Reading

* Technology Has Revolutionised Deaf Education

* Educational Supports For Deaf Children In Ireland

* The Visiting Teacher Service: Background Details

* The Salamanca Statement (1994) and EPSEN Act (2004)

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 the piece >> Babies Learn Language By Reading Lips

From about 1 year old, the babies tended to shift back to eye contact, from lip-reading. If a new language was heard, the lip-reading tended to re-start.

Babies who are deaf would rely on this lip-reading ability more than others, and continue lip-reading past the researchers’ watershed age of 12 months.

Hearing devices can simplify lip-reading for all ages.  Essentially, babies with hearing-devices can gain early language by lip-reading and hearing sound.

Further Reading

* Babies appear to lipread as part of language-acquisition

* Parent Question: How Early To Teach Lip-Reading?

* Lipreading For Children: Challenges And Benefits

* Lipreading: The Challenges And Benefits

* Lip-Reading Training Benefits From Technology

* Listening & Speakng: A Link To Reading/Writing?

Read the article>> Irish Deaf Kids (Education + Technology)

IDK was established in 2007 and in September 2008, became a company limited by guarantee (CRO 462323) with later charitable status (CHY 18589).

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

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

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

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)