National Audiology Review Seeks Service Feedback
Monday, March 8th, 2010Ireland’s audiology service raises serious concerns, according to reports in the national press - and forum members on the irishdeafkids.ie website.
March 19th is the deadline for having your say on this essential issue.
The National Audiology Review is looking for parents, carers and service users to inform the HSE of their concerns and experiences with the [...]
Inclusive Education Is ‘All-Encompassing’ Learning
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Inclusive education gives all children mutual learning experiences - while also benefiting teachers’ preparation skills and professional development.
Fundamentally, inclusive education teaches children about diversity, and leads teachers to diversify within their own professions, for social benefit.
This academic blog post, “Inclusion Is Needed In Classrooms“, makes a solid case for inclusive education, with an itemised reading [...]
Including Deaf Children At Preschool - Part Two
Thursday, February 25th, 2010This post continues the piece, Including Deaf Children At Preschool (Part One). A key question was put to the mum & creche manager:
How did you identify the potential challenges you (mum & creche) might meet during Charlie’s early days there?
(The Mum)
Once Charlie’s deafness was confirmed, we understood that communication methods had to be adjusted. He [...]
Including Deaf Children At Preschool - Part One
Monday, February 15th, 2010This spring, the Irish government rolls out its free preschool year for all children born between February 2, 2005 to June 30, 2006 (with exemptions for children with special needs). The Early Child Care & Education (ECCE) initiative, which is open to all preschools in Ireland, is profiled on IDK.
IDK will this week [...]
Teacher Question: Sourcing A Soundfield System
Thursday, February 11th, 2010A teacher recently asked IDK how to source a soundfield system for a child at their school. The system needed to be movable between classrooms.
Our first response was to ask if the school has any contact with the Visiting Teacher service for deaf students at the Department of Education (DES). If yes, the visiting teacher [...]
IDK & Special Stories on TV3’s Ireland:AM Show
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010TV3’s Ireland:AM team invited Caroline Carswell from IDK, and Kate Gaynor from Special Stories, into the studio to talk about their “Birthday For Ben” book after Special Stories received a Moonbeam award in the US during late 2009. The video clip of the interview is online at the TV3 website.
Subtitled video clips are also available [...]
IBM’s KidSmart PC Supports Language Teaching
Friday, January 29th, 2010IBM’s KidSmart program was recently displayed at the Young Scientists’ Exhibition in the RDS. This program aims to integrate interactive teaching and learning activities into pre-schools and is aimed at 3-7 year olds.
The program is currently used with over 2 million children in 60 countries. The focus is on underprivileged areas as well as educating [...]
‘Experience’ Books From Off We Go! Publishing
Monday, January 18th, 2010Irish company, Off We Go! Publishing, has released a set of books for children to learn about different first-time experiences in early life.
These books benefit those with special needs and any young child experiencing these outings for the first time.
Twelve different titles are in the series, including “Going on a Plane’, “Going to the Optician” [...]
DeafHear Information Weekend March 5-7, 2010
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010DeafHear’s 2010 Information Weekend for families with newly-diagnosed deaf children is from March 5th to 7th, at the Heritage Hotel in Portlaoise.
This annual weekend fills up very quickly but a profile of the 2008 event is on the DeafHear website. Queries can be directed to DeafHear if wished.
Friday, January 29th is the booking deadline for this weekend, which [...]
Hearing Screening For Newborns Brings Results
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010A pilot scheme in the UK which aims to improve service co-ordination for children with deafness, is expected to be underway by early 2010.
The Local Record of Deaf Children in the UK seeks to improve services and raise awareness of the numbers of young people living with hearing loss. Information will be shared by state [...]