New Study: Babies Learn Language By Lip-reading
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012All babies lip-read from about 6 months of age, to learn mouth-shapes for the sounds they hear, according to researchers at Florida Atlantic University.
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 [...]
New Words-App For Children With Hearing Devices
Friday, January 27th, 2012A 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 [...]
Early Learning With Smart-Phones And Tablet PCs
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012Are 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 [...]
Newborn Hearing Tests In Waterford And Wexford
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011From November 7th, 2011, babies born at Waterford and Wexford Regional Hospitals can have free newborn hearing tests, in an opt-in programme that is also available to babies born outside of hospital in Waterford.
These new hospital newborn hearing test programmes, costing in the region of €1.1 million annually, are part of the HSE’s Newborn Hearing Screening Programme for the [...]
Write-Up Of IDK’s Tech Event (Oct 10th, 2011)
Sunday, October 23rd, 2011Irish Deaf Kids held a technology and education event in Dublin on October 10th, 2011. The event proved to be invaluable for all attendees, and was put together to give parents, educators and other stakeholders in-depth insights to how deaf and hard-of-hearing (hoh) children can use digital tools to better communicate and learn in a [...]
Insights To The Deaf Education Debate In The US
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011A deaf person’s life-experience of the education system, shapes their views on deaf education, according to a new post on the Paraquad Disability Blog.
The Deaf Education Debate Continues: Influences of technology, policy and environment
The different perspectives in this post are worth reading, for a better understanding of the core issues around school placements for students.
Further [...]
Technology Has Revolutionised Deaf Education
Thursday, September 15th, 2011The teaching of children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing has altered as a result of technologies such as cochlear implants and speech-to-text tools, according to a recent report from Project Forum, at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, in the United States (see summary).
Technology Has Changed The Teaching Of Deaf Students
Notable findings [...]
After A Cochlear Implant – The Real Work Begins
Thursday, September 8th, 2011In response to a mum’s recent mail, here’s what may be expected when a child’s cochlear implant is switched on for the first time.
After a cochlear implant is activated, a child can take more than a month to respond to sounds they hear. Then, “the real work begins”, families are told.
(Lights, Sound) Activation!
As the child [...]
What To Do If Your Child’s Support Hours Are Cut
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011The parent of a deaf student emailed IDK. Her child’s secondary-school teaching support hours were cut during Transition Year, when the regional SENO said this was not the case. A deadlock had resulted, so our advice was sought. Here’s what we suggested.
Get a statement of resource teaching &/or SNA hours at the start.
All arrangements with [...]
NY Times: Budget Cuts Polarising Deaf Education
Friday, August 5th, 2011The increasing cohort of 21st century parents and deaf children who choose technology like cochlear implants in place of learning sign-language, is documented in a front-page article in The New York Times (July 27, 2011).
Less than 20 percent of all families [with deaf children] choose American Sign Language, with 80 percent wanting their children to enjoy [...]