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 [...]
Lamh - The Manual Language Explained
Thursday, November 19th, 2009After receiving several queries about Lamh, the manual language, we asked Mary Cullen, Lamh Development Officer, a few questions.
What is Lámh?
Lámh is the accepted manual sign system used by children and adults with intellectual disability in Ireland. Some people use Lámh as their main way of communicating while others use Lámh together with speech and [...]
Interview With DS3 Project Officer, Emma Clarke
Monday, November 16th, 2009Miriam Walsh, IDK´s journalist intern, recently met Emma Clarke, project officer of Trinity College Dublin´s Deaf Support at Third-Level (DS3) project to find out what supports students can use.
Starting college is never easy. Sometimes none of your friends are at the same college and you may be far away from home. Being deaf or hard of hearing [...]
Lip-Reading Training Benefits From Technology
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009A new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests computers are now better at lip-reading than humans.
The performance of a computer based lip-reading system was compared to that of 19 human lip-readers. Results showed the computerised system was over 50% better at recognition than the humans completing the same task.
Simultaneously, the study found [...]
Training For Specialist Teachers of Deaf Pupils
Monday, June 1st, 2009Teachers in Ireland who wish to specifically work with deaf children, should first complete an undergraduate degree course in education, which enables them to teach in every primary and secondary school nationwide.
Ireland currently has no courses for specialist teachers of deaf pupils but the UK has several flexible postgraduate e-learning courses. The best known, from [...]
Accessibility In Computer Training Environments
Friday, May 1st, 2009A recent conference hosted by AHEAD got me thinking about my education, and learning situations where tuition support might have helped.
By far the most challenging of my three third-level courses was the IT conversion course. These courses are well-known for their accelerated pace.
That wasn’t the problem, however. Computer-based classroom practicals were the glaring issue. In [...]
NCC Statement On Education & Training
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009The National Competitiveness Council recently issued key points to prepare the country’s education system to contribute to future economic growth.
Some recommendations are a direct fit for IDK’s messages.
1) Develop a formal pre-primary education system as a key priority
Specifically:
integrating disadvantaged children into education as early as possible
providing pre-primary education & centre-based daycare at one venue
re-orienting the childcare sector as a cost-effective [...]
Teaching New Concepts With Dolls And Puppets
Thursday, November 27th, 2008For young deaf children having difficulty learning new concepts such as numbers, the alphabet, shapes and self-care, dolls can provide a solution.
Signing children will like the doll puppet from Finkel Education’s Hope Catalogue, which has gloves for “hands that talk”. It arrives with alphabet blocks, numbers & six shapes, making it perfect in early education settings.
eBay [...]
What’s It Like To Be Deaf?
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008When I’m asked this question, it’s tempting to reply, “what’s it like to be hearing?” - but that doesn’t achieve much!
This simulator is brilliant for explaining how deaf people are challenged every day, and why background noise irritates hearing-device wearers.
Simulators for autism, dyslexia and visual impairment are also included on this site, which was built for [...]