Deaf Awareness Week - Signing

I forgot to mention yestersday this great website full of resources for helping your children learn to sign.

Chelltune is the UK's first specialist baby signing store containing all the materials you need to get you babies and children signing. Owned by Michelle who holds a level three qualification in British Sign Language and is a communicator for Deaf people signing came naturally with her own (hearing) children. As well as the shop there is also a forum to discuss signing and ask any questions.

Deaf Awareness Week

This week - 7th - 13th May 2007, is Deaf Awareness Week. The theme for this years week is 'Look At Me, which aims to improve understanding of the different types of deafness by highlighting the many different methods of communication used by deaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people, such as sign language and lipreading. Deaf Awareness week is supported by over one hundred deaf charities and organisations under the umbrella of the UK Council on Deafness and it involves a UK wide series of national and local events.

The RNID are inviting you to take one simple step a day to help change the world. The steps include learning to fingerspell, improving your communication skills or taking part in our big sound check - check their website each day for the next step.

Activity Ideas for Children:

• Experiment with lip-reading: Some deaf people can watch your lips and understand what you are saying from the shapes your mouth makes. Try this with a friend, say a word without making a sound and see if your friend can guess what it was. Some words look the same, which ones?
• Practice Sign-Language: Some deaf people do not speak, instead they use British Sign Language (BSL). The words are made by making shapes with their hands. See if you can learn some simple signs or the fingerspelling alphabet.

If you are trying to communicate with a deaf person, remember the following things:

• Face the person while you are speaking, don't turn away.
• Speak clearly without shouting.
• If the person can not understand you, don't give up! Write it down or draw a picture.

Glue Ear

Introduction
We've recently been undergoing hospital appointments for our eldest son due to a long term ear infection. At our last appointment we were told he had "glue ear" so I thought as this is the most common cause of hearing loss in children some information may be useful. Glue ear affects about 4 in 5 children have had glue ear at some point by the time they are four years old and that glue ear remains common among children up to the age of six years old and it causes long-lasting hearing problems in about 1 in 20 five year olds.

What is Glue Ear?
The ear is divided into three parts - the outer, middle, and inner ear. The middle ear behind the eardrum is normally filled with air. The middle ear is connected to the back of the nose by a thin channel, the Eustachian tube. Glue ear is a condition where the middle ear becomes filled with fluid that looks like glue instead of draining away down the Eustacian tube - it can affect one or both ears. The fluid dampens the vibrations of the eardrum and bones (ossicles) made by the sound waves, the cochlea receives dampened vibrations, and so the 'volume' of the hearing is 'turned down'.

What are the Symptoms of Glue Ear?
Dulled hearing is the main symptom of glue ear. The hearing does not go completely and the loss can vary from mild to severe, and can vary from day to day. Pain is not usually a main symptom, but ear ache may occur from time to time as the gluey substance is a good food for bacteria, and ear infections are more common in children with glue ear. Delopment and behaviour may be affected in a small number of children.

Teaching Children with Glue Ear
First off if you are a teacher / teaching assistant you may be the one who spots a child with hearing difficulty. Children with glue ear can experience different levels of hearing loss from day to day even from lesson to lesson, so it is sometimes tricky to notice.

Common signs are:

• inattention - seeming to hear only what they want to hear
• talking too loudly
• being quiet and spending time in a world of their own
• needing to turn up the volume control on PCs and televisions
• saying pardon or what? more than usual or needing instructions repeated
• copying their friends actions
• reacting less to noises and instructions especially from behind them
• complaining of ear ache and not feeling well
• mispronunciation of some sounds or words
• getting very tired during the day as having to concentrate very hard to hear people uses up a lot of energy

For children identified with hearing impairment the following ideas will help them listen:

• ensure they have the best seating position (e g. away background noise where possible.)
• make sure that they can see your face (many children quickly learn to lip read and read facial expressions)
• attract the childs attention by saying their name before asking a question or giving a instruction
• be prepared to repeat points
• when talking to the child speak clearly using a normal voice at normal speed but use gesture / signs to reinforce what you say and keep instructions short
• if appropriate provide a list of vocabulary, context and visual clues especially for new subjects
• during class discussion allow one pupil to speak at a time and indicate where the speaker is - allow the child to turn around to see other children when they are talking
• be aware that difficulty with spelling / phonics can result from hearing loss

Further Information
For more information contact:
Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)









The National Deaf Children's Society