Support Life As a Peripatetic Tod the National Year of Communication Using Video to Support Family-Child Interaction

cover.qxp 10/12/10 12:45 Page 1

British Association of Teachers of the Deaf

MAGAZINE • January 2011 •ISSN 1336-07999 • www.BATOD.org.uk

Support Life as a peripatetic ToD The National Year of Communication Using video to support family-child interaction

Join BATOD to get THE Magazine for professionals working with deaf children batod_ifc.qxp 12/12/10 16:18 Page 40 batod_contents.qxp 10/12/10 12:46 Page 1

Contents From your editor Support This edition of the Magazine The LSA skill set 4 looks at a number of aspects Supporting additional needs 5 of support, ranging from the day-to-day support of students Equality v inclusion 7 in the classroom to the access A new role 10 arrangements given to students The Mary Hare experience 11 during the crucial time of their Together we are stronger 15 examinations, enabling them to show what they A Welsh way of working 16 know and can do. It includes articles about deaf 10 children with additional linguistic and other needs Training for CAs 18 in a variety of settings and also considers issues of mental health. As you read the Magazine you General features may feel that you wish to share some of your own What about Cued Speech? 20 experiences and we always welcome any such From Bercow to Hello 22 suggested articles. Please get in touch if you would Calling all heads of service 23 like to make a contribution – or if you would like to respond to something you have read in this (or any A Canadian adventure 24 other) edition. Take a look at Viewtalk 26 The VIG approach 28 The Magazine also, as usual, contains a wide Listening difficulties 30 range of other articles not linked to the theme Making the most of language 34 which we hope will be of interest. These include features about audiology, research projects and Working towards the standards 36 working overseas – in this case in Canada. Them or us? 38 Research report 40 You will see throughout the Magazine – including Useful kit! 42 24 the presidential article on page 3 – references to the current climate of public spending cuts, Regulars particularly as they affect local authority services for deaf children and young people. The situation Reviews 52 is very fluid and may well have changed between ICT news 54 the preparation of this Magazine and you reading This and that 56 it! Please keep an eye on our website – especially Abbreviations and acronyms 58 the members’ area – where we will try to keep you 56 up to date with relevant developments. As always, Calendar – meetings and training 60 if you would like to share your thoughts or ideas please do not hesitate to contact me at Association business [email protected]. Stronger together 3 Forthcoming topics Change of address notification form 37 March Literacy and maths Have you registered yet? 45 May Conference edition – Representing you – FEAPDA 48 Stronger together Representing you – NDCS 51 September Assistive technology BATOD was there representing you… 53 November Units and resource bases January 2012 Hearing aids Subscription rates 2010/11 59 Officers of Nations and Regions inside back cover 48

Magazine editor

Need to contact BATOD about other matters? Cover picture features Gurdas Sing Taak and a support assistant from Cardiff. Talk to Executive Officer Paul Simpson email: [email protected] answerphone/fax 0845 6435181 For information on advertising rates see www.BATOD.org.uk batod_2.qxp 10/12/10 17:23 Page 40 batod_3.qxp 10/12/10 17:04 Page 41

Association business Stronger together As the New Year dawns, BATOD is as busy as ever, tackling the current issues for ToDs, holding meetings and planning for the Annual Conference, as Gary Anderson reveals

s I write this I am surrounded by a carpet of snow We need to explore these questions to provide following the early arrival of exceptionally cold ongoing professional development of the highest Aweather. Sadly and unusually we have just had to quality for our members. cancel our December NEC meeting and are planning to reschedule in January. To that end, the Steering Group has planned a meeting on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 January 2011. On the Since the last issue of the Magazine I am pleased to Friday evening we will be addressing how we can report that I have been able to visit both the North and market ourselves better as an organisation both to South Regions. What was really apparent was that both recruit new members and to use existing Teachers of regions have been through a period of renewal as the the Deaf across the regions and nations to support the committee members have worked hard to engage with current membership. On the Saturday morning we have their members to discern local needs and priorities. invited a number of members to develop more guidance Both saw a coming forward of new committee members for services around the notion of statutory/critical who are keen to ensure that BATOD continues to be an provision. We hope that our discussions will also be active and supportive presence in the region. I would informed by the publication of the White Paper, the like to take this opportunity to thank once again both Green Paper on SEN and the new Equality Act. current and recent committee members for their time and commitment to making this happen. You will be reminded in this issue of our Annual Conference on Saturday 19 March 2011 at The Marriott In Chorley (North) and Sutton (South) I was struck by Hotel in the MetroCentre, Gateshead. Ann Underwood the common issues that are concerning our Teachers and Mary Fortune have worked incredibly hard to bring of the Deaf. The first issue is about the review of together an excellent range of speakers around the local authority support services in relation to the theme of ‘Communicating – stronger together’ to mark current economic climate and anticipated cutbacks. the National Year of Communication. We are delighted In particular, members are asking for NEC to provide that Jean Gross, Communication Champion for Children guidance on ‘what is statutory’ when defending their with Speech, Language and Communication Needs, will provision for deaf learners and the consequent staffing provide the keynote address. required to meet their needs. I was able to signpost them to the Features of effective services document as One of the reasons for choosing the North East as a start, and Ann Underwood quickly ran out of copies our venue this year is to recognise the work and on the BATOD stall! contribution to BATOD of the late Peter Preston, formerly Head of Service for Newcastle, and, with his The second issue also relates to funding. It was clear partner Judith and son, to present the first Award in that there was an absence of some members at the his name to a practitioner Teacher of the Deaf and/or meeting in the North, which was held in a teachers’ educational audiologist whom NEC feels has written a professional centre (as was the case in Wales and the winning article on audiology in last year’s Magazines. South West), due to the fact that staff were unable to be released from their work during the week. I would also like to record thanks and appreciation Interestingly, while it was a much smaller gathering, the to Paul Simpson as Magazine Editor, supported by meeting in the South took the form of a twilight session his editorial advisers, and to those of you who have in Overton Grange School. This raises the issue of how contributed, for the excellent Magazines which keep to plan us so well informed. for future meetings to meet members’ needs in a new world order. Will we see a return to Saturday meetings I look forward to meeting many of you at the and conferences? Should the emphasis be on smaller Conference. Meanwhile please keep in touch with and more local events in the early evening at a range your Association so that we remain ‘stronger together’ of locations across the region? Do members need to meet in schools and resource bases to save money? Do we need to consider greater use of new opportunities through webinars or other technology, such as updates or briefings via local email networks?

Support The LSA skill set Supporting children with cochlear implants in mainstream settings requires a specific blend of skills, as Jackie Salter and Julie Mather explain

he majority of our profoundly deaf pupils are Unfortunately, a busy and active nursery classroom is cochlear implant users and most of them are now not a cochlear implant friendly environment due to the T being educated in mainstream schools. Many of levels of background noise, and a young cochlear these deaf pupils are supported, for at least some of implant user will almost certainly find it difficult. The the school day, by a learning support assistant (LSA) pupil is likely to require time away from the hustle and and they will almost certainly work for longer periods bustle to be able to develop listening and language of time with the LSA than they will with the Teacher of skills, which may conflict with the aims of the the Deaf. Each stage of education will bring different mainstream setting. challenges for the deaf learner, and the skills of the LSA will need to reflect those challenges. We are Within the early years an LSA will need to: aiming for pupils to leave secondary school: • have an understanding of and preferably a • with good English language which will impact on all qualification in early child development areas of their lives and which will enable them to • ensure that differentiation can occur as it is needed access a wide range of choices for the future within the nursery environment • with exam results which accurately reflect their • understand how to facilitate communication within potential the nursery classroom • as independent young people who are ready for life • understand the importance of monitoring how the beyond school child is using the technology and his or her • as confident and well-adjusted young people who developing language and communication skills feel at ease with their deafness. • liaise effectively with parents, the ToD and the implant team to assist in the management and With these aims in mind, an LSA working with a child programming of the technology and the development of any age will need to: of language programmes. • understand the impact of deafness on learning and how the deaf child’s experience of the world differs Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 from that of his or her hearing peers As children enter a more structured educational day • have a clear understanding of the pupil’s current the pace of the curriculum delivery increases and the spoken language levels and be able to challenge pupil’s day becomes increasingly directed. This makes and develop them within the course of the curriculum it more difficult for the LSA to provide important delivery individual support. The LSA needs to be aware of the • support and facilitate learning while ensuring that the difficulty the pupil will have in accessing incidental pupil is able to take responsibility for his or her own learning from peers, especially within group situations learning and will need to be aware constantly of the need to • understand the advantages and limitations of all the add to and develop the pupil’s language skills. Pupils hearing technology the pupil uses and be able to are likely to require particular support for their maintain it developing literacy skills. • be aware of the impact of deafness on the development of social skills and be able to support As children’s social interactions become more these sensitively sophisticated, deaf children can find themselves • develop good working relationships with mainstream increasingly isolated. The LSA will need to be alert to teachers, Teachers of the Deaf and parents. this and provide sensitive support and encouragement to help the pupil develop good friendships. During the Deaf pupils may choose to use sign language to primary years the LSA will need to: support their communication and this can also be • enhance the pupil’s spoken language development useful for some cochlear implant users. However, throughout the day promoting listening and English language is • differentiate teaching materials as appropriate to essential and care needs to be taken that sufficient enable the pupil to access the curriculum opportunities are available throughout the day to • encourage the pupil to be an independent learner ensure that this happens. while ensuring that he or she is fully accessing the curriculum Early Years/Foundation Stage • ensure that the deaf pupil has an appropriate and This initial entry into mainstream education is likely normal relationship with the class teacher to be an anxious time for the parents and it is very • ensure that the pupil is expected to adhere to the important that the child is happily settled into school same rules and consequences as fellow pupils life and can access the full range of activities. • provide sensitive support for developing social skills

4 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_4,5,6.qxp 10/12/10 12:48 Page 41

Support

• begin to explore with the pupil different support • make clear, and preferably visual, notes where techniques and help the child to determine which appropriate which the pupil will be able to access are most useful independently • continue to manage and monitor the child’s • ensure that the class teacher is aware of the pupil’s technology while gradually allowing the pupil to take needs and has strategies to facilitate learning responsibility for it. • encourage the pupil to be as independent as possible. This means allowing the pupil to fail and to Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 take responsibility for his or her own engagement Students arriving with a cochlear implant at with the lesson so that he or she learns about secondary school often have very good speech which consequences does not necessarily equate to age-appropriate • encourage the pupil to make his or her listening language or general knowledge. If the deaf pupil needs known to staff presents with good speech and can chat easily in a • give the pupil space to make friends and conduct one-to-one situation, it is easy to overlook the his or her own conversations problems he or she has, and inappropriate • take steps, if the pupil is lonely, to counter this expectations add to the pressures faced by the pupil. situation with a circle of friends, supporting at clubs and teaching those skills required to make and The listening environment in secondary schools is retain friends often poor and this adds hugely to the difficulties of • make sure that the pupil has the opportunity to those young people with a cochlear implant. discuss deafness and its impact on his or her life • encourage the pupil to direct the support he or she Within a secondary school environment an LSA will will find most useful for particular lessons. need to: • continue to challenge and stretch the pupil’s The needs of cochlear implant users are very understanding and use of the English language different from those of the profoundly deaf children • support literacy skills by providing appropriate texts of the past – those working with them still need to that stretch the pupil’s language ability and which be highly skilled if these children are to reach their he or she can also access independently potential, but the mix of skills required is different. • provide a range of visual support – particularly important at secondary level as the curriculum Jackie Salter and Julie Mather are part of The Ear becomes increasingly text based Foundation Education Team.

Supporting additional needs Joyce Sewell-Rutter outlines her work in London and the South East supporting teachers and teaching assistants working with children with additional learning needs

ave you come across this logo yet? It represents It also highlighted the training priorities for those the project work of the Burwood Park services. It was apparent that deaf children with visual HFoundation. Over the past two years I have been difficulties, again classified differently in different operating in London and the South East seeking to areas, were catered for in many services because of support those working with deaf children who have the presence of MSI-trained personnel or access to additional learning needs. the services of Sense (www.sense.org.uk).

The work began with an attempt to survey the number The largest cohort was pupils with a moderate of deaf children and young people who make up this learning difficulty and some level of deafness, many group, and the training needs of staff working with of whom were placed in mainstream settings. It was them. Several colleagues from specialist schools and therefore decided to offer a training event for teachers services responded to a telephone questionnaire and assistants in mainstream with such clientele. which was very helpful and revealing. It soon became ‘Making it work’ was a training day focusing on clear that authorities had different ways of defining particular pupils with suggestions and strategies for and recording additional specific needs, so accurate greater inclusion. The content of the day changed a numerical data was hard to come by. However, the little as the demand for training from Teachers of the survey did give some indicators as to the range of Deaf matched that from mainstream colleagues. The needs and the particular ways services responded. training was well received, with discussion revealing

Support

the programs and study examples of how to implement Bid for access their use in both inclusive to computers and discrete settings. more often Delegates came from both during school mainstream and specialist day schools and services and each took something from the day to change practice for the better. Some of the comments are shown here.

In addition to planning and delivering training events I make visits to useful insights around the nature and level of support deaf pupils with a range of Relaxed, systems – especially the habitual weekly visits which additional needs and I support informative, were not deemed always to produce the most useful the Teacher of the Deaf or the interactive and outcomes. teaching assistant to enhance relevant the child’s programme. This is done in a variety of ways at little or no cost to the commissioning agents – see some case study examples on www.ewing-foundation.org.uk/burwood/

There is so little research on children with combined difficulties and where expertise exists there is no network to exploit the practice. While accepting that all children and young people are individuals, the hope is to build up this knowledge through observation, recording and sharing.

One of the original questions in the survey was aimed at finding Really professional expertise and/or yet approachable. interest in a particular Can ask questions There was a request from the group for a ‘hands-on combination of learning confidently without software to support literacy’ training day. This was difficulties so that feeling inadequate held recently at the South Camden Learning Centre colleagues could be and focused on the practical use of Clicker 5, signposted to knowledgeable Communicate: In Print and 2Simple programs with practitioners. early years and primary pupils (see examples above and below). Sheila Powderly from Sellincourt Unit in If you feel you have experience of deaf children with, Wandsworth and I supported 11 delegates to explore for example, autistic spectrum disorders, CHARGE syndrome, Down syndrome or additional specific language difficulties, I would like to hear from you so that I can put your skills to good effect by helping someone else facing a similar challenge. If you would just like a visit to support you in I will definitely use your work and are within Clicker to support and London or the South East develop children’s then please email me at burwood@ewing- learning, eg sentence foundation.org.uk or building/developing telephone 07803 616708. colour knowledge

Joyce Sewell-Rutter is an educational consultant with the Ewing Foundation.

6 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_7,8,9.qxp 10/12/10 12:49 Page 41

Support Equality v inclusion Mr Equality (Andy Owen) and Ms Inclusion (Janet Williams) debate the hot topic of support for d/Deaf candidates in qualifications and assessments

r Equality: Equality and inclusion provisions and to them, the task is clear because they work for d/Deaf candidates in examinations have with d/Deaf learners through the academic year Mundergone many changes over the years. and are well aware of communication needs. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) introduced However, the examination regulations force them the most fundamental changes for the educational into disparate roles, like ill-fitting suits that impair year 2003–04. It attempted to separate and clarify natural movement. the different roles of personnel in the examination room so that candidates could be offered parity, Ms Inclusion: Before 2003–04 the regulations those with the full range of disabilities could be allowed the use of communicators but only for d/Deaf covered, and the roles could become more candidates. A communicator was allowed to explain accountable and transparent. This has led to some non-technical words/parts of the question when artificial divisions of the roles and has left some asked to do so by the d/Deaf candidate. The support staff confused. This confusion has continued communicator could use spoken, written or sign through succeeding years, as different organisations language. When the regulations were revised the have scrutinised, advised and campaigned. Do you use of a communicator was extended to include any think that the situation has become too complicated, disabled candidate who struggled to understand and should there be a fundamental review? what they were reading. This ensured that JCQ was not discriminating between candidates with different Ms Inclusion: There is no doubt that the JCQ disabilities. But the use of a communicator could give regulations that cover examination arrangements an unfair advantage to any candidate whose reading for candidates with special requirements are comprehension was not impaired, so it became complicated. Whether there should be a fundamental necessary for the candidate to show evidence of review is debatable. Any changes in the regulations need. must consider the interests of all candidates. Equality and inclusion for all candidates has been a guiding The use of a sign language interpreter (SLI) principle in the examination system for many years. as an arrangement was then separated from a lt is the cornerstone of all qualifications. communicator because it seemed unfair to expect BSL users to supply evidence of a below average The awarding bodies want to give fair access to all reading comprehension if all they wanted was a candidates but they must take care not to change the straight translation from English to BSL. The name level of difficulty. It is important that a qualification communicator was then changed to oral language gained by a candidate who uses access arrangements modifier (OLM). An artificial division of arrangements is not considered to be easier or of less value than for d/Deaf learners was introduced in an attempt to any other. Examination access arrangements must satisfy the needs of all candidates, so the ‘ill-fitting maintain the rigour of the exam. In the 2003–04 suit’ analogy has an element of truth. This problem revisions the regulations changed from focusing on was compounded when the 2010–11 regulations different disabilities to looking at the needs of the excluded the use of BSL when using an OLM. candidate regardless of the nature of the disability. This removed some discrepancies between what Mr Equality: As you know, the OLM provision is was available for candidates with different types of used by d/Deaf candidates who communicate orally disabilities. but because of deafness and/or other needs have a low reading comprehension level. The regulations Mr Equality: Other questions involve communication offer the provision of OLMs for this group, which support workers (CSWs). When these changes were covers other disabilities such as dyslexia. It is initially taking place, CSWs were the main resource presumed that candidates will require help at a for the exam-room access roles, but there was single word or phrase level, for which the OLM can no one at ground level to refer to because the voice, write, sign in Sign Supported English (SSE) Association of Communication Support Workers and clarify (the cover sheets intimate this also). (ACSW) was not founded until October 2005. However, the normal way of working is typically a far CSWs continue to be the main resource for cry from this minimal support. As the regulations personnel performing the exam support roles, make much of the ‘normal way of working’ do you

Support

think that the OLM role should more fairly reflect It could be argued that where SSE ends and BSL that, or should we be considering a third provision, begins is not always clear. Any learners who could much more akin to the ‘normal way of working’? not provide such evidence could use an SLI, as originally intended, to do a straight translation. Ms Inclusion: OLMs should not be used by candidates who are slow or inaccurate readers. Mr Equality: I would like to press this point more. These candidates can use readers if they have An oral d/Deaf learner typically has an English- evidence of below average reading speed and/or based personal method of communication and reading accuracy. Many dyslexic candidates come English-based access to the curriculum as a ‘normal into this category. OLMs should only be used by way of working’ and this is reflected in a good those who have difficulty understanding what they personal level of English. Such a learner will do well are reading or what is being read or signed to them. in the reading test and be left with the ‘default’ of When JCQ analysed the OLM cover sheets in SLI by reason of his or her educational statement. 2007–09 it found that over 50% of candidates who That seems to be the opposite of what is intended used an OLM used them only as readers. It may be by the regulations. that many deaf candidates who communicate orally need only a reader. Similarly, a BSL learner’s communication is sign based and access to the curriculum is via As you say, access arrangements used during an interpretation into BSL. Such a learner will typically examination should mirror the candidate’s ‘normal score low on the reading test and therefore be way of working’. This is indeed a JCQ principle. eligible for an OLM. That seems to be the opposite But this must not override another JCQ principle, of what is intended by the regulations. Can you which states that access arrangements must not comment on that? compromise the validity of the examination. They must not change the level of difficulty and give an Ms Inclusion: As you suggest, any d/Deaf candidate unfair advantage. The ‘normal way of working’ for a who has a good level of understanding of English d/Deaf learner in the classroom may include a CSW would not be entitled to use an OLM. Also he/she giving a detailed description of a lesson with an would be best advised to manage without the support explanation of technical terms as part of the learning of an SLI in an examination. However skilled and process. But the purpose of an examination is to experienced an SLI or OLM may be, there is always test the learner’s knowledge and understanding a danger that a translation, rewording or explanation of the subject, which will include the ability to of a question may result in a change in the meaning recognise and understand the meaning of subject- of that question. Question setters take great care specific terms. So to use the exact ‘normal way of to choose exactly the right words when writing a working’ could invalidate an examination. question so that the question elicits an answer that will gain the marks. Any changes to a question may Mr Equality: I understand and agree there must prompt a learner to give the wrong answer. be that balance. As you say, CSWs give a detailed description of technical terms in the classroom, but When JCQ analysed the 2007–09 OLM cover also they reinforce an understanding that in an sheets it was concerned to find numerous examples examination such terms cannot be explained. This of reworded questions that could have will be done as part of, and sometimes in addition disadvantaged rather than helped a candidate. to, the learning process (training learners to become candidates). However, in an exam, where non- It seems that most BSL users also need the use technical words are used or where the carrier of an OLM. It is suggested in Section 2.11.3 of the language is difficult there should be latitude that regulations that this is an option: ‘The centre must more fairly reflects the ‘normal way’. determine the most effective access arrangement for the candidate at the start of the course – an OLM Ms Inclusion: When you say there should be and/or an SLI and/or modified language papers.’ latitude that more fairly reflects the ‘normal way’ do you mean the use of BSL by an OLM? I can In the 2010–11 revisions of the regulations, JCQ understand why this division between an OLM and was asked by stakeholders to clarify the use of BSL an SLI has caused difficulties for CSWs and d/Deaf by an OLM. JCQ has clarified this by banning the candidates. To allow an OLM to use SSE and not use of BSL. However, it is difficult to see how using BSL seems to introduce another artificial barrier. BSL would give an unfair advantage to candidates. I don’t think it unreasonable for an OLM to use Perhaps JCQ should be asked to reconsider. Also, BSL provided such candidates are willing to CSWs could be advised to apply to use an OLM and provide evidence of a below average reading an SLI. There is nothing in the regulations to prevent comprehension. I suspect that some OLMs have them from doing this. So it seems unnecessary to always used BSL in their explanation if need be. prohibit the use of BSL by an OLM.

8 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_7,8,9.qxp 10/12/10 12:49 Page 43

Support

Mr Equality: I agree that using BSL as an OLM with a ‘normal way of working’, enable clarification is crucial to the role and would make the suit fit a and explanation of non-subject-specific and little more comfortably, but maybe we should be technical words and phrases, and would provide questioning the OLM role more fundamentally. The CSWs with a much clearer view of their role in the real situation is that d/Deaf learners do not easily fit examination room (such a clear view is missing at into awarding body categories and there are overlaps the moment – hence the ill-filling suit analogy). A and anomalies. CSWs know well that no two learners training module can be recommended within the are the same and that to support learning there must new Signature CSW qualification to prepare CSWs be flexibility and diversification. With the new Equality for this role (cheaper and more streamlined than Act in force and the old Disability Discrimination Act the current OLM training). gone, should we expect a rethink of the regulations to • SLI – for BSL d/Deaf candidates who require match realistically the needs of d/Deaf candidates? If questions to be signed in their first language. so, should we be thinking of a third provision (that of This remains as it is. CSW) that reflects more realistically the ‘normal way of working’? Ms Inclusion: An OLM as an access arrangement came into being specifically for d/Deaf candidates. Ms Inclusion: It is much fairer to put candidates in It is used almost exclusively by d/Deaf candidates groups according to their needs rather than their plus a small number of candidates with learning disabilities. These needs can then be met. For difficulties such as autism. An OLM performs the example, candidates with visual impairments may same function in an examination as a CSW would in need Braille papers or papers with fonts of different the classroom. To my knowledge the only difference sizes, styles or colours. Alternatively, a reader may in their roles is that an OLM: best meet their needs. Similarly, I agree that no two • provides help only when requested by the candidate d/Deaf candidates are the same and that flexibility • does not explain or sign subject-specific terms but must be built into the provision. Some d/Deaf can fingerspell them candidates may need an SLI and/or an OLM. For • avoids changing instructional words such as some, a reader and/or extra time may be enough. ‘describe’ or ‘explain’ There will also be d/Deaf candidates who require no • cannot use BSL (at present). assistance during an examination. The first three differences must continue if we are to To consider need rather than disability is fully maintain the level of difficulty of the examination. supported by the new Equality Act. It allows maximum flexibility and focuses on the needs of So I don’t agree that a third provision (ie a CSW) the candidate as an individual. should be introduced. I believe that OLM and CSW are one and the same. If there are other changes that You mention a third provision. Would the use of BSL could be made to the provision of an OLM to bring while performing the role of an OLM fit this bill? the role more in line with a CSW then they should be considered. Mr Equality: That would be a fairer provision and a step forward, but in practice, because the majority I wholeheartedly agree that there is a training issue of deaf learners have a lower reading age than here. A CSW is a specialist role and staff should their hearing peers, the OLM provision is opted be suitably qualified. Such a qualification should for because the SLI preference does not provide definitely contain a module on supporting learners in clarification, rephrasing and explaining. A third an examination. If this was a freestanding module it provision, such as ‘CSW’ with its own regulations, could also be used to train all OLMs regardless of the would provide a much clearer option and I believe nature of the candidate’s disability. that would be chosen by the majority of d/Deaf candidates. I therefore recommend the following Mr Equality: I agree with your point about training. provisions: As a compromise, allowing the OLM to use BSL and • OLM – for oral d/Deaf candidates only. This step changing the OLM name to CSW to match the name would reduce the numbers of candidates requiring and the mindset of the role (and the new qualification) OLMs, would therefore significantly reduce the would be a huge step forward. However, your need for OLM training (which is expensive and for disagreement highlights the need for further those being trained often throws up more questions consultation by stakeholders, which I would value. than answers) and would provide candidates with a ‘normal way of working’. Janet Williams is an independent educational • CSW – for the majority of d/Deaf candidates consultant with a special interest in diversity and who are supported through the curriculum inclusion. Andy Owen is a full-time communication by CSWs. This would require a reading support worker and Chair of the Association of comprehension test. This would provide candidates Communication Support Workers

Support

A new role When Rachel Cable embarked on a new career as a specialist support assistant she could not have anticipated the rewards it would bring, as she explains

f anyone had said to me two years ago ‘You are going to be a specialist support assistant for a deaf Ichild with bilateral cochlear implants’, I would have said ‘No, I can’t do that.’ But I did, I am and I love it!

My introduction to working with John (name has been changed) was purely by chance. At the time, he was in Reception class and his one-to-one support was off sick. Help was needed and his class teacher approached me. I had never met a deaf child, let alone worked with one, but I was prepared to help and just hoped and prayed we would get on. John was sitting at a computer looking at wild animals. As I sat down beside him a picture of a tiger was on the screen. He turned, looked at me and roared! I screamed and pretended to be frightened. He laughed, pointed that moment of utter silliness (learning body parts being he wanted to go outside to play and beckoned me to one that was extra silly!). When I was given the go with him – our friendship began. opportunity to take the BTEC Advanced Award for assistants working with children with a sensory After several days of working with John I was impairment I jumped at the chance. A work colleague introduced to his Teacher of the Deaf who gave and I both completed the course and found it to be me ideas on how to get the best results from this extremely valuable. I would recommend it to teachers intelligent young man. I was encouraged to apply for and support staff who are in the same position. the position of his one-to-one support and with the backing of the head, class teacher and Teacher of the John’s mum has kindly invited me to go with the Deaf, I decided to apply. family to the implant centre for appointments, which has shown me how important it is to have a fully Did I ever think I would pass Level 1 BSL, CiCFAST, supportive family dedicated to helping a child achieve a BTEC Advanced Award in sensory impairment and all his or her goals in life. learn to differentiate lessons? No, but I did, and the rewards have been endless. I liaise between the class teacher and the family. This enables us to give each other feedback regarding any I am very lucky that I have full support from John’s problems or issues that may arise. John is treated the family, the local sensory support service and the same as any other pupil in a mainstream school and school. I am given weekly lesson plans which I discuss participates in concerts, assemblies and plays, taking with the ToD and this helps me to differentiate certain on a speaking role when necessary (not a dry eye in lessons. We try to keep John in as many class lessons the house!). He joins in after-school clubs which I as possible, literacy being the most difficult, but any attend with him. Watch out Jamie Oliver and Tiger differentiation that is made fits in with the curriculum. Woods, this boy is good!

I am given one hour a week to resource, but most John has a supportive team on his side, including his evenings I can be found making resources that family, the local primary school and the Teachers of are bright, exciting and that I know he will enjoy. the Deaf. Would I go the extra mile to support him? Whenever possible I make sure he works within a Of course I would. Do I have the best job? Yes. Would group. This encourages him to speak and take part. I ever change it? Definitely not! Using the outside environment has proved useful. On many occasions we have been seen chalking on Rachel Cable is a specialist support assistant in a the playground, having the odd rally of tennis (that rural mainstream school in Norfolk. She works with worked wonders with learning the days of the week!), a student with a profound bilateral sensorineural sitting on the playing field for a story or just having a hearing loss and bilateral cochlear implants.

10 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_11,12,13,14.qxp 10/12/10 12:51 Page 41

Support The Mary Hare experience Lesley White and Sandra Wylie present two articles on different aspects of support offered to deaf pupils at Mary Hare School

down glare, and yellow text on a black background Additional language on interactive whiteboards, and it supports the use of support coloured overlays. Any concerns that a student is not Lesley White describes the support offered to pupils doing as well as expected are promptly referred to the at Mary Hare School who particularly struggle with SENCO for additional investigation. language and literacy I am involved with the initial assessment process for have worked at Mary Hare for over ten years. the Year 7 intake, where decisions are made about I started as a care worker in the boarding houses appropriate placement of the student with regard to and I now consider this to have been invaluable teaching group. It is at this point that I use my specialist I training and knowledge to help identify any additional experience in gaining an all-round view of the language challenges that deaf students face. I was learning needs. The internal assessment process is interested in transferring to the secondary school so based on many criteria and is a fluid process designed I attended Newbury College to gain a certificate for to adapt to individual need. There are many ways we literacy and numeracy support. I then moved to the are looking to support the individual needs of the school to support a variety of students with additional students and to use different technology and support needs such as cerebral palsy. techniques. I now work as part of the Specialism Team at Mary Hare and this enables me to work on a The more I worked in school and supported the one-to-one basis with individual teachers and teaching students, the more interested I became in some of assistants in conjunction with the speech and language the additional difficulties I was seeing – students with therapy department. excellent access to sound and often high oral ability but who exhibited a significant discrepancy between what Students are observed and assessed if there are they could say and what they could write or read. This indicators that they may be presenting with challenges growing interest in literacy difficulties and the fact that not wholly explained by their hearing loss. This my work involved the students with more complex approach means that a profile can be developed which learning profiles prompted me to ask the school for examines the student’s strengths and weaknesses at a support in completing a specialist teacher qualification very detailed level and individualised support strategies for students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) and can be worked out. Some of the strategies we employ ultimately to qualify as a PATOSS registered assessor are described below. for SpLD. Visualisation is a new programme I have started One feature throughout my training has been the lack to use with some students and I am currently of meaningful assessment materials for establishing training staff at the primary school. It supports accurate literacy attainment levels for deaf students, as the development of spelling patterns and utilises most tests are standardised on the hearing. Obviously the students’ strength, ie their imagination. I am this is compounded if a deaf student is suspected of developing this for comprehension with targeted having an additional literacy challenge such as dyslexia. students who can decode effectively but who don’t Many deaf students have auditory processing difficulties really make sense of what they are reading. and short-term memory issues so the question is: at what point would you determine that they actually have We also use mind mapping with Inspiration software. additional needs that are not fully attributable to their One example of this is the work I am doing with A-level deafness? art and photography students who find the level of text overwhelming. I work with the students and teachers to At Mary Hare, we adopt a generally pragmatic create visual story boards to explain the themes. The approach in that the teaching methods that the students then use these as a scaffold to develop their school uses – small classroom sizes, optimum ideas. This software can help to structure ideas and acoustics, careful introduction of vocabulary, continual create a text outline. Good use can be made of picture multi-sensory re-enforcement of what is being learnt clues and an alternative format for putting down ideas. and a whole-school awareness and consistency of I work with teachers to develop resources to be approach with regard to learning – would all match incorporated into their lessons and will increasingly train the requirements of a dyslexic learner. The school has other teaching assistants to develop their skills with this policies on the use of reading rulers, buff paper to cut software.

Support

Write Online is a writing software program that gives the curriculum, which is a real asset when I am the students an increased level of confidence by working with a variety of subject teachers. providing predictions of the next word they might want to write. I use it with students who have good I am very proud to work for Mary Hare School. The oral ability and can often articulate the word they school has continually supported my development would like to use but are unable to spell it. The and encouraged me to acquire skills, experience and predictive quality of Write Online is excellent and knowledge. My new role will enable me over the next the software uses context analysis to improve the few years to work increasingly with partner schools in quality of its predictions. Increasingly, because of the local community that may be able to benefit from more efficient use of cochlear implants, the students the specialist knowledge I have gained. can also use the read-back function. This is particularly useful for students whose reading is Lesley White is a teaching support assistant at Mary inaccurate and erratic and so find an accompanying Hare School. voice very effective when reading. I am currently trialling a variety of text reading software to find the most suitable programs for deaf students. A feeling of The school has also invested in Neo 2 writing contentment machines. These have interactive possibilities as well Sandra Wylie explores a whole-school approach to as acting as simple word processors. The students ensuring good mental health and well-being can see their typing appear on the interactive whiteboards and enjoy the immediacy of the feedback According to the charity YoungMinds, 9.6% or nearly and comments on each other’s work. These machines 850,000 children and young people aged between help to boost the confidence of those with handwriting 5 and 16 years have a mental disorder. There are and spelling difficulties and encourage their contribution almost nine million deaf people in the UK and it is in the classroom. Alongside this, I run lunchtime clubs estimated that about 40% of deaf people experience to promote the use of touch typing, which I feel is an a mental health problem at some point in their lives essential skill for all students, particularly those with – that’s well over three million people who are literacy difficulties. therefore likely to have contact with health and social services. We have some very new initiatives which include voice-to-text software and audio and graphic books. These are hard statistics. I am a ToD with 33 years’ Voice-to-text is proving most useful for students with experience, and emotional health and well-being exceptional speech but very poor writing/spelling have always been of particular interest to me, in no who require support from the SLT team. This will small part due to the impact of these statistics. My be a useful tool for those looking to go on to higher philosophy has always been that students who are education as it will enable them to work more ‘happy in their own skin’ achieve the most success. independently. Many students elect to read using Happiness is a much bandied around word – in its audio or graphic books at home so we are looking at lightest meaning it could be a very fleeting aspect in the benefits of offering them in school to complement our lives but in the deeper sense (and in the way that the teaching of set texts and to encourage reading I would interpret it, as contentment) it is the very for those who find decoding text a laborious and foundation of student success. This contentment is time-consuming process. This is not a replacement linked very firmly to a positive self-image. I am sure for reading, merely a supportive technique to promote none of this is news to anyone who is involved in comprehension and enjoyment. There is so much education. It’s very easy to write that happiness or available to support students with good use of contentment is all that is needed but, for schools, residual hearing and well-developed visual skills. supporting students in this important area becomes more problematic and I hope that the Mary Hare My day normally comes to a close at approximately experience can help others to move forward with this. 6pm, as being a residential school we run a prep system in which I have a supporting role for the upper One of the major difficulties is how to measure success school pupils. For the past four years I have run a in this area. Research indicates that students who are daily two-hour after-school ‘club’ which has always secure in their emotional health and well-being have had an informal approach but encourages attendance a greater chance of achieving their potential. Much from those students who find independent study a of the research, however, is qualitative and subjective real challenge. This is an extension of the strategy to the person testing. The book I’m OK Being Me by deployed lower down the school, in that homework (or Anne Betts does have some useful questionnaires prep) is supported. I am able to work on a one-to-one that I have used successfully with students in an basis with students at Key Stages 4 and 5. This has attempt to measure their self-esteem. Their answers enabled me to develop a good grasp of the whole of often lead to useful discussion and help to highlight

12 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_11,12,13,14.qxp 10/12/10 12:51 Page 43

Support

areas that require support for a young person. In my experience young people are very easily engaged in Resources these and other activities supporting self-esteem At Mary Hare there is a special room that is and emotional literacy. recognised as a space for students who need ‘time out’. It is called the ‘Quiet Room’ and is well Where are we and how far have we come in 2010? used by students. It is deliberately furnished in a Various research projects appear to indicate that different way from the usual classrooms, offering a our young people suffer more stress today. We just therapeutic environment. Sofas, soft furnishings have to look at the recent technological advances and muted colours create a calm space where staff in communication, for example social networks, can listen to students. and how these can be used both in a positive and negative way. It is not by accident that one of Useful websites the criteria for National Healthy School Status is www.incentiveplus.co.uk ‘Promoting positive emotional health and well-being www.winslow-cat.com to help pupils understand and express their feelings, www.xtra-cat.com and build their confidence and emotional resilience www.kidscape.org.uk and therefore their capacity to learn.’ www.obmh.nhs.uk/services/a-z/name/oxford-deaf- child-young-people-and-family-service-part-of- How then can a school promote this positive self- national-deaf-camhs-2 (provides basic service esteem? Each school will find its own way to do this. information and referral details which may be useful Over the years Mary Hare has slowly developed a for further information) vision, an approach and a response involving the training of teachers, care staff, medical staff, teaching assistants and more recently our newly trained Further reading emotional literacy support assistants (ELSAs) so Emotional Well Being: An Introductory handbook by that now we are all working much more effectively to Gillian Shotton and Sheila Burton (Teach to Inspire) support our students. Within Mary Hare the behaviour Peer Mediation and Mentoring by Belinda Hopkins policy has recently been reviewed with a new (Optimus Education) emphasis on the promotion of the well-being of I’m OK Being Me by Anne Betts (Lucky Duck) students and recognising that so often poor behaviour Confidence, Assertiveness, Self Esteem by Tina is a result of low self-esteem. Pupils are encouraged Rae (Lucky Duck) to have a voice within student councils and through Introducing Circle Time by Charlie Smith (SAGE) peer mentoring. Through these, students have Circle Time by Teresa Bliss (Lucky Duck) positively contributed to anti-bullying policies and a Anger management (Chalkface) shared behaviour code. 101 Games for Social Skills by J Mosley and The social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) H Sonnet (LDA) are identified throughout the curriculum, and PSHEE 101 Games for Self-Esteem by J Mosley and has within its schemes of work emotional literacy H Sonnet (LDA) and mental health and well-being. Students are Think Good – Feel Good Cognitive Behaviour praised at every opportunity and their achievements Therapy Book by Paul Stallard (Wiley-Blackwell) are celebrated through assemblies, the school magazine and the website. Individuals with short- Resource packs term issues are supported by daily diaries discussed These have all been tried and tested and have with their care staff or individual consultations with proved successful – the students love the bingo the school nurses. In my role of pastoral care adviser games! I teach other strategies, including anger management Safe DVD (NSPCC and NDCS) and friendship themes, explored through circle time Healthy Minds (NDCS) with small groups of students. ELSAs work with Emotional Bingo by Marjorie Mitlin (Incentive Plus) individuals in promoting self-esteem through games and discussion, usually over a period of six weeks. Anger Bingo by Nancy Anne Driscoll (Incentive Plus) But of course, even with this support, there are times Friendship Bingo by Arden Martenz (Incentive Plus) when students find life overwhelming and their self- Emotional Intelligence Cards by Betty Rudd esteem and self-belief flounder. They give up easily, (Incentive Plus) talk themselves down and refuse or find it difficult to Strength Cards (Innovative Resources) acknowledge success. They find it hard to ask for help, even with all the support on offer from teaching, So what can we do when all strategies within the care, support and medical staff and peers; they often school have been explored? We are very fortunate become stuck in a self-fulfilling cycle. to be able to call on professionals and outside

Support

agencies. In past years Mary Hare has referred both deaf and hearing professionals in the team. students through the school nurse and GP to local Following a referral, an initial assessment with the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) family is arranged to establish the young person’s and on occasion this has resulted in a student being need. Invaluable communication is then established referred to Deaf CAMHS at Springfield Hospital. The between the family, school and the Deaf CAMHS launch of the National Deaf CAMHS in October 2009 team. This gives the best possible support to the has regionalised this service, with four hubs in York, student, the family and the staff working within Dudley, London and Taunton and six further satellite school. teams. These teams accept direct referrals but also offer support with professionals working with deaf As a special school Mary Hare often receives families. This has enabled Mary Hare to forge strong students who have, for a variety of reasons, suffered links with the Oxford CAMHS team for deaf children, from low self-esteem. Often it is just the nurturing young people and families (one of the satellite and supportive environment of the school with services). This professional support and advice have various well-tried strategies that is needed to rebuild been and continue to be invaluable. The team offers strong self-esteem. However, I am delighted that the following: slowly the stigma that remains around mental health • Assessment of a child’s emotional and is being addressed and that professionals in outside developmental needs. agencies and schools can work together to forge • Therapeutic support that can be provided to strong relationships and watch vulnerable students individuals and groups. not only blossom but flourish amid all the challenges • Support and advice for the family. that the modern world throws at them. • Deaf awareness for individuals and groups. • Advice and consultation for teachers, care staff On page 13 I have provided some suggestions for and other professionals working with deaf resources that have been used to good effect with children. our pupils. I hope that they will prove useful to others working in this difficult but privileged and The service delivery team includes psychologists, rewarding area of deaf education. nurses, psychiatrists, deaf family support workers, social work practitioners and therapists. There are Sandra Wylie is a ToD at Mary Hare School.

14 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_15.qxp 10/12/10 12:52 Page 15

Support Together we are stronger Support staff play an important role in the team at the Royal School for Deaf Children Margate, as Wendy Eadsforth explains he job description for our educational assistants this method supports pupils and maintains far (EAs) in classrooms states that they ‘work as better outcomes, as consistent communication and T team members under guidance and supervision behavioural strategies can be used throughout the of teaching and other educational staff. They make an day. EAs also play a role in recording learning targets invaluable contribution to the education and learning and incidental learning progress. of pupils and provide essential support to teachers and other staff.’ Teachers’ lesson plans reflect the role that the EAs are expected to undertake in each session. This For us at the Royal School year we are introducing formal observations for EAs for Deaf Children Margate individually rather than through feedback to teachers (RSDCM), the crucial elements during their lesson observations. are ‘team member’ and ‘invaluable contribution’. Our The role of the EAs is not educational and residential only confined to classroom staff work as a team, with work, as they are also our shared focus being the greatly involved in the individual children whom we personal, social and support. emotional aspects of our pupils’ lives. Many of our To enable our staff to carry EAs have undertaken out their jobs safely and effectively it is necessary to training in administration of ensure that they have access to appropriate training. medication, which enables All new staff undertake a week’s comprehensive them to take responsibility induction programme to cover areas such as for administering medication policies/procedures, safeguarding, Deaf awareness, when out on educational communication systems, manual handling, NAPPI visits. EAs also accompany (Non-Abusive Psychological and Physical Intervention), pupils to doctors, dentists or health and safety (including writing risk assessments), other medical appointments medical issues and child development. whenever necessary. They attend annual reviews, including those for looked-after children, when Through annual performance review procedures staff required, as their in-depth knowledge of the pupils highlight further training needs in relation to specific provides an invaluable insight to other parties groups of pupils they may be working with. This might attending these reviews. include gastric feeding routines/protocols, toileting, changing programmes, use of hoists and stair lifts, Not surprisingly our staff are fiercely supportive and and poolside helper certificates. protective of, and competitive for, the children they support. Sports Day is an excellent example of this. At Within the classroom environment in school our EAs Christmas EAs willingly take on roles in the Christmas ensure that they have a good knowledge of individual production to ensure that every pupil is able to pupils within their class group. This is done by reading participate at his or her own level on the stage. pupil files, pen portraits and risk assessments and having discussions with all the education and The role of the EA is, therefore, difficult to sum up. residential staff working with the pupils. They are an integral part of the bigger team alongside our residential support workers and teaching staff. As Staffing ratios are worked out according to pupils’ with all our teams, the EAs feed back to us on how we curriculum needs and their social and emotional, can improve our services through staff questionnaires, behavioural and specialist input needs. Class groups performance-related procedures, staff council or staff often have the same staffing for several years to meetings. Their roles are not always easy ones and as ensure consistency and to allow staff to build up an managers we need to acknowledge and respect their in-depth knowledge of the pupils. feedback to ensure that our philosophy of ‘together we are stronger’ has meaning. When groups move through their weekly timetable to specialist subjects, the EAs in the class group move Wendy Eadsforth is the Chief Executive Officer and with them. Through experience we have found that Principal of the John Townsend Trust.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 15 batod_16_17.qxp 10/12/10 12:55 Page 12

Support

A Welsh way of working Sally Davies explores the support and training opportunities on offer for teaching assistants in Cardiff

focus in these sessions is from the targets set by the Teacher of the Deaf in a programme of work. The forms are collected in at agreed intervals and any comments or issues talked through. They are then held by the Teacher of the Deaf in the pupil’s working file.

Working with deaf pupils is very different from working with pupils with learning difficulties, physical or behavioural issues. Whether TAs have previous experience in these areas or are completely new to the role, it is important that they understand the implications of deafness on the development of language, communication and literacy. They also need to understand the different roles of the class teacher and Teacher of the Deaf and how they fit in to this partnership.

Initial training will also include: • an understanding of the type and degree of deafness of the pupil/pupils they are supporting • how to carry out a listening and visual check of a hearing aid and/or cochlear implant and personal FM system eaching assistants (TAs) play a vital role in • basic fault finding of hearing aids and/or cochlear promoting and facilitating the inclusion of deaf implant and FM systems, as well as the retubing of T pupils in schools and pre-school settings. The an ear mould last ten years have seen significant changes in the • the procedure to follow should there be a problem way TAs work and the responsibilities they have with the hearing aid or FM system taken on board. This has presented challenges in • an understanding of the pupil’s functional language how they are trained and supported in their role. level • an understanding of the effect of the physical and In Cardiff, TA support is allocated to deaf pupils acoustic environment on the deaf pupil, for through the statutory process. Training takes place example background noise, seating position, primarily in situ but also by means of formal courses lighting and training events. There is a close working • Deaf awareness work. relationship between Teachers of the Deaf and TAs, and time is prioritised for liaison, planning and As TAs become more familiar with the pupils they reviewing the delivery of support to the pupil and are supporting there are opportunities for ongoing school. The TAs sit in on Teacher of the Deaf development within the role. Some of these areas support sessions, observing and contributing; this are generic to all deaf pupils and some are specific enables them to develop their own skills, share to individual pupils’ needs. These include: strategies, develop a consistent approach with the • understanding the importance of conversational pupil and take things forward for the remainder of interaction to language development the week. • gaining a greater understanding of the linguistic and communication needs of the supported pupil This way of working also provides opportunity for the • being aware of how reading and writing develop Teacher of the Deaf to direct and monitor the work and the implications of pupils’ hearing loss on their carried out by the TA. This is formalised in the shape phonic awareness of a Specialist Teacher Record of LSA Support form. • gaining a greater understanding of how Each support session is recorded by the TA, with audiological equipment works and having realistic comments regarding interventions and strategies expectations of pupils’ amplified hearing and used as well as the outcomes for the pupil. The listening skills

16 • © BATOD Magazine •January 2011 batod_16_17.qxp 10/12/10 12:55 Page 13

Support

• identifying and recording aspects of the lesson for A case study consolidation work at a later point The hearing-impaired team in Cardiff also • supporting the social as well as academic inclusion employs a full-time TA who is a skilled and of the pupils experienced member of the team working • promoting a positive self-image of the deaf pupils. primarily within early years. The benefit of this centralised peripatetic role is flexibility. Collaboration with The Ear Foundation has proved very successful in recent years. Courses have been Initial and ongoing training, together with delivered locally in Wales and opened up to regional supportive management, ensure that TAs work partners. Topics have included supporting the use effectively. I have worked for 14 years as a of FM systems in mainstream classrooms and specialist TA for the hearing-impaired in Cardiff. supporting pupils with complex needs. During that time I have supported children in different nurseries throughout the authority and in Challenges the last year I have started to make fortnightly • Devolved budgets to schools – as TAs are home visits to pre-school children. employed by schools there can sometimes be divided loyalty or a conflict of interest between the My role is to check that hearing aids and cochlear school and sensory service in directing their time. implants are working correctly, support school staff For example, a TA may be asked by the teacher to in a variety of ways, ensure that children are work with a group within the class. While this may accessing all the activities in the nursery and be desirable in some instances as a means of undertake one-to-one sessions working on IEP supporting inclusion, there may be times when this targets and observations of the child’s progress. compromises the support available to the deaf pupil. I work with nursery staff, Teachers of the Deaf, the • Time set aside for training is time away from cochlear implant team and speech and language pupils – while training is essential and contact with therapists, as well as parents. other TAs working with HI pupils beneficial, it does mean that pupils are left unsupported. Contingency When I started the job I had an induction course planning and the co-operation of the school are where I visited resource bases and special necessary at these times. schools, shadowed Teachers of the Deaf and • Having ToD/HI service involvement in the observed in audiology and cochlear implant clinics. interviewing and selection process is ideal – This helped me to understand hearing aids, TAs working with HI pupils need good communication cochlear implant processors and testing. I have and language skills and must be prepared to take on been trained in using the Derbyshire Language additional training (BSL, Deaf awareness, audiological Scheme and I also went to evening classes to awareness and so on). They also need to be able to study BSL Stages 1 and 2 and Deaf awareness. work in partnership with the school and the HI team, which can be a difficult balance. I keep up to date with new technology and • Monitoring competence and effectiveness –how changes in cochlear implant programmes and will this be carried out? What do competent and have opportunities to attend in-service training effective mean in practice? Who is responsible for and courses when possible. I find all parts of my undertaking this, given devolved funding status? job enjoyable – the variety of age groups and experiences, and especially being part of a For the future…. supportive team. Planning is under way to reinstate regular city-wide specialist in-service training events where all TAs Sue Austin, specialist teaching assistant working with deaf pupils will be invited along to receive specific training and update their skills. This will also provide an opportunity to meet others in a • using effectively pre- and post-tutoring similar role and share experiences and good practice. • monitoring and recording pupils’ progress in line with both school and HI service procedures The Ofsted report in January 2010, Workforce reform • adapting/differentiating/modifying language and in schools: has it made a difference?, suggests that resources as appropriate for the individual pupil all staff working in schools are most effective when • facilitating small group work there is joint planning between teachers and support • contributing to individual education plans (IEPs), staff, when they are well trained, carefully deployed target setting and report writing and are held accountable for their contribution to • maintaining a balance between supporting pupils pupils’ learning and well-being. while encouraging independence wherever possible – knowing when to intervene and when Sally Davies is a specialist teacher of the hearing- to take a step back impaired in Cardiff and a member of BATOD NEC.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 17 batod_18_19.qxp 10/12/10 12:56 Page 12

Support

Training for CAs Classroom assistants play an invaluable role in supporting deaf children in mainstream schools in Northern Ireland. That’s why Sue McCrum believes that the training offered in Belfast is vital for successful inclusion

few weeks into each school year the Belfast Improvements in FM systems and the availability Education and Library Board’s Peripatetic of funding for this equipment during the past few A Support Service for hearing-impaired pupils years have also made a major contribution to the provides a one-day training course for classroom successful inclusion of deaf children in mainstream assistants (CAs) who work with deaf children in the schools. area. This training complements and reinforces the ongoing liaison between the peripatetic teachers These changes in the technology which became and CAs. It also provides a valuable opportunity for available proved to be most timely, because in CAs working with deaf children to meet each other September 2005 the Special Educational Needs and to share their experience. This is important and Disability (NI) Order (SENDO) was passed. because although these CAs are very much part This Order amended and added to the existing (NI) of the school in which they work, they are usually Order of 1996 and brought Northern Ireland schools isolated from others who do a similar job. within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. SENDO introduced new legislation, The fact that we now need to run a course such including the right of children with SEN to be as this reflects the changes which have taken place included in mainstream schools if this was the wish in the education of deaf children in less than a of the parents and as long as such arrangements decade. Time was when a classroom assistant were compatible with the efficient education of working with deaf children would have fulfilled other children. Schools were required to make the role of a general assistant to the teacher in a ‘reasonable adjustments’ to accommodate children special school or unit for the deaf. There remains a with SEN, within the bounds imposed by the place for the valued assistants who work with deaf efficient use of resources. children in this environment, but for others the role has been transformed as a consequence of the More deaf children have been, through parental technological advances and changes in attitude choice, included in mainstream education. This has which have enabled most deaf children to be been made possible with the availability of improved educated in mainstream schools. hearing aid technology, but it has also required the increased use of CAs to support deaf children in First, neonatal hearing screening, which in Northern their mainstream placements. Ireland began with a pilot study at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast in 2003, was rolled out to the The training day whole of Northern Ireland by September 2005. This Classroom assistants who support deaf children in led to the earlier detection of deafness in babies, mainstream schools have a specialist role which with the consequent benefits of early amplification requires knowledge and understanding of deafness. and its implications for language development. The day’s training we provide aims to give a basic understanding of: In the autumn of 2004 the Siemens Prisma 2K, a • hearing and hearing loss (an introduction) small BTE (behind the ear) hearing aid designed • hearing aids – what they do, how they work and with infant ears in mind, was made available. how to check them • cochlear implants – who gets them, what they do In 2002 the fitting of digital hearing aids to children and how to check them began in Northern Ireland. The Royal Victoria • FM systems – their use and checking Hospital fitted eight children with digital aids that • the role of the classroom assistant supporting a year and 74 children in 2003. deaf child • practical strategies for supporting deaf pupils in Of these 74, 47 children were fitted with moderate the mainstream setting. power digital aids and 26 children were fitted with high power digital aids. Three children who needed In Belfast, as elsewhere in Northern Ireland, we high power aids were offered digital, but preferred work in collaboration with other professionals to analogue aids; only one child with a moderate achieve the best provision for each pupil supported power aid preferred an analogue aid. by our service. This is reflected in our CA training,

18 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_18_19.qxp 10/12/10 12:56 Page 13

Support

They monitor the equipment and report any problems to us if they cannot deal with them.

We encourage our CAs to aspire to the ideal expressed in the following comment from the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI): ‘In the best practice observed, the SEN CAs were well informed and encouraged by the class teacher to show initiative; they were sensitive to the needs of the child, involved in fostering social participation with peers, encouraged the pupil to learn independently as part of the class without obtrusive support and helped to achieve targets and raise standards.’ (ETI report, Effective Use of Assistants for Pupils with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools, 2006) The Belfast Education and Library Board’s hearing-impaired team: (left to right) Mary Gordon, Jane Atkinson, Joyce Smith, A further quote from a summary of the recent Sue McCrum, Kerry McAleer Ofsted review of SEN and disability reflects our view that, ‘high aspirations and a determination to when we involve staff from the Paediatric Audiology enable young people to be as independent as Department at the Royal Victoria Hospital and also possible... (lead) …most reliably to the best from the Cochlear Implant Team at Belfast City educational achievement’. Hospital. What do we want our CAs to take away from At our last training day, Glen Houston, an the day? audiological scientist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, We want CAs to encourage the pupils they support to managed to convey relevant information about be as independent as possible in accessing the NI sound, hearing and hearing impairment in a way curriculum. In order to do this we want them to be that engaged his audience. Katie McCrory, an treated as any other pupils, but taking into account audiologist at the Royal, capably took everyone the specific needs that arise from their deafness. through the basics of hearing aids and checking Optimally functioning equipment is essential, as their function. Joanne Clarke-Lyttle, an advisory is good communication, not just with the pupil, teacher at the Regional Cochlear Implant Centre, but between all those concerned with the pupil’s gave us a clear account of cochlear implants and education. Many of the special considerations we how to deal with them. The rest of the day’s training recommend are nothing more than good practice and was delivered by members of the peripatetic team. they benefit all pupils in the class.

CAs receive individual training from peripatetic staff We recognise that our CAs are skilled, dedicated on their pupils’ hearing aids and FM systems, but a individuals who perform an invaluable service. They while spent reinforcing the importance of using this may, through training and experience, be more equipment is time well spent. A general presentation aware of some issues concerning deafness than on the role of the CA was followed by discussion some teachers in mainstream schools and we groups, led by peripatetic staff, for CAs working with encourage them to be confident in approaching pre-school and primary children on the one hand and these teachers, in the pupils’ best interests, to make post-primary on the other. We feel that while some sensitive comments and suggestions. issues are common to all CAs, there are others which apply particularly to the different age groups. We see these people as vital in helping us support deaf children in mainstream schools. The process As peripatetic Teachers of the Deaf subscribing is one of continual learning. We don’t have all to the inclusion agenda, we see our primary role the answers to all the issues, but through good as one of supporting and enabling deaf children communication, based on working as part of a team to access all aspects of the Northern Ireland that has pupils’ best interests at heart, we can and curriculum. We rely on CAs to help us fulfil this role, do aim for the highest achievements in terms of not just in class, but during breaktimes, mealtimes successful inclusion. and other school routines. Good liaison is essential. Sue McCrum is a senior peripatetic teacher of the CAs are expected to support recommendations and hearing-impaired with the Belfast Education and programmes from the class teacher as appropriate. Library Board.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 19 batod_20_21.qxp 10/12/10 17:11 Page 12

Feature

What about Cued Speech? Cued Speech has much to offer deaf children but is the information reaching those who would benefit from it most? Nicholas Orpin seeks to raise awareness ‘ am enthusiastic and optimistic about deaf (albeit auditive ones) to kick start the whole process. children’s education and what they can achieve.’ Instead of an inaccessible sound cue, it is possible II’ve just written those lines in an email to a mum to complement it with an accessible visual prompt. I am teaching so she can start cueing English with These prompts or cues clarify the gaps for the her son. Even though he is four years behind in sounds the pre-language deaf child can’t hear, which literacy, and next year when he leaves school he is why it’s called Cued Speech in English. In French isn’t expected to make the minimum age-appropriate it’s (deep breath) la langue française parlée level in reading, his school maintains that he’s ‘doing complétée, or LPC for short! OK’. So, why be enthusiastic and optimistic? Well, first it’s because his mum refuses to believe that It meant that she was learning this is acceptable. She knows he’s bright and she knows that his potential is way, way above that. French like her hearing brother And second, because my experience tells me that Luckily it’s pretty straightforward to learn; Dr Orin she has good reason to think that too. Cornett devised the system, in which all 44 sounds of English are represented by only eight handshapes I first came into contact with ToDs in France when moving through four places near your mouth as you we were an English-speaking family over there and move your lips in the normal way. We learnt the our then two-year-old daughter was diagnosed with basics in a parents’ support group in around 20 profound deafness, and I found them to be positive hours but had to adapt those sounds/cues from and realistic. But then again, they needed to be! In French to English if we wanted to carry on speaking France, all speech therapy is in French, so we had English at home. We then got a place on the annual to question if it was right to carry on in English at Cued Speech summer school and learnt the extra home and maybe confuse her with that, or because English cues and never really looked back. To help English was our language and both our families our daughter know if we had switched from one were in England, should we risk cutting them off language to another we started cueing English instead? It was an anxious time when all the right-handed and French left-handed so she knew solutions felt complex, and it must have been which shapes on the lips to read. frustrating for the professionals who were advising us too. It really felt as if we would have to give up on The effect on her language development was the experience and opportunity of being bilingual brilliant. It meant that she was learning French because of her deafness. There was something in like her hearing brother and could see what a that which really annoyed me and made me want to horrendous French accent I had, and see all my question it. mistakes too! ‘Dad, it’s la table, not le!’ I think that is what cueing language gave me; it allowed me to be The ToDs (and speech and language therapists) the same dad to both children – not a good one were naturally focused on French; their point was necessarily, but the same one. that in the outside world deaf kids would have to rely on their hearing aids or cochlear implants and lip- At school her results were age-appropriate across reading and to get what they wanted they would the board and she progressed through the school have to articulate to the best of their ability and be fully literate. Deaf identity was also thought to be system normally. Children are forced to stay down important and so when our daughter got a place a year if they don’t make the grade. She could have at primary school in a dedicated class, there were been 13 in a class of 11-year-old pupils, but because signing teachers on the teaching staff for French she had full language, her transition to literacy was sign language fluency and as positive role models. boosted. At home her language developed too, and she took part in family life in English and made the The school was right; there are many opportunities transition to literacy in English too. Even though she for struggling with lip-reading out in the big bad read English books that were below her age group world. The school was focused on giving full access we didn’t overly worry or force her to go faster but to a normal education through French, sound by rather encouraged her to take pleasure in reading. sound – so, the same as for hearing children then – I believe this is common for most bilingual children but doing it visually. As people we are hardwired for and we took into account that with French sign language and from birth the brain is expecting cues language she was now properly trilingual.

20 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_20_21.qxp 10/12/10 17:11 Page 13

Feature

At the end of August 2010 we uprooted from France I would like to see British ToDs getting Cued Speech and moved back to England. The children are now training as part of their professional qualification, at school together and it’s going well. Pearl benefits as their French counterparts do, so that they can from the services of a hearing-impaired resource experience it and support and advise families and for the moment has full access to the teacher’s appropriately. It is a tool for the deaf to access lessons through Cued Speech. She is mostly in the English that is being denied them. There is plenty top sets despite never having had a formal English that parents fear after the diagnosis of deafness lessons before. Meanwhile, I have become the in their child but of course there is much to praise Cued Speech Association UK’s newly appointed and be thankful for too. On a personal level I can’t Development and Fundraising Officer. express how much it has meant to me to have met some brilliant ToDs and TAs along the way. That’s I would like to see ToDs getting why I am enthusiastic and positive about what deaf students can achieve when they get full visual Cued Speech training as part of access to English. their professional qualification Nicholas Orpin is the Development and Fundraising Since arriving in the UK and taking up my new Officer with the Cued Speech Association. He can position, I see that that I have still so much to learn. be contacted at [email protected]. It makes me angry, but also motivates me in my work, when I read that many deaf school leavers For information and training contact the Cued have inadequate reading levels, that huge numbers Speech Association on 01803 832784 or visit grow up in families who never fully communicate the websites at www.cuedspeech.co.uk and with them and that a third of deaf adults rely on www.learntocue.co.uk/ benefits. There is plenty of research, real case studies and information on Cued Speech available, For a scholarly but accessible review of Cued but I’m amazed how little of the up-to-date Speech research read Cued Speech and Cued information is getting through to the people who Language for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children by need it most. Carol LaSasso, Kelly Lamar Crain and Jacqueline Leybaert (Plural Publishing Inc). Families and professionals would do well know what Cued Speech is, how it can reach the goals of inclusion in family life through that family’s own language (ideal for the UK’s multicultural system too) and how it facilitates full access to education and age-appropriate literacy for profoundly deaf children. If anyone has any suggestions or questions on how it might help children in their care then please get in touch and we could try and work on it together.

It’s strange because we are now going through the process that we went through over a decade ago as new-to-all-this parents. I am discovering what a statement is, what MLx means, the difference between a TA and a CSW; that SLT isn’t an illness and ToD and BATOD are acronyms and not actual words – Todd and bat odd. And yet when I asked for advice on language development from a parents’ charity, I got a book on communicating with deaf babies and I read, ‘Of course, children [do] need to have some knowledge of the language in order to recognise what is being cued, so although it can give visual access to spoken language for deaf children, it is not actually a method of promoting language and communication development on its own.’ I am appalled. The opposite is true – the ‘not’ should be between ‘do’ and ‘need’. Research shows that hand cues are interpreted as phonological gestures and induce activity in the language-related circuits of the brain!

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 21 batod_22,23.qxp 10/12/10 14:11 Page 12

Feature

From Bercow to Hello As the National Year of Communication dawns, Wendy Lee is keen to get Teachers of the Deaf involved

n October last year, over 150 of the biggest voices difficulties children have with communication, in children’s communication came together at the including those experienced by children who are IHouse of Commons to say ‘Hello’ to the forthcoming hearing-impaired, such as speech that may be 2011 National Year of Communication – a campaign difficult to understand, difficulties acquiring to increase understanding of how important it is vocabulary, understanding connections between for all children and young people to develop good words or learning English grammatical structures for communication skills, including those with hearing those children whose first language is BSL. It will also impairments. highlight the fact that these difficulties may be hard for others to understand or recognise. The keynote address at the parliamentary launch of Hello (the title of the campaign) was delivered by Hello seeks to support young people, parents, Sarah Teather, Minister of State for Children and practitioners and commissioners wherever they are Families, while parents and young people spoke – in schools, nurseries, health centres, parent and movingly about their experiences of living with baby groups or across local authorities – to help communication difficulties. The event took place just improve the communication skills of children and as the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) young people so that they can fulfil their potential. specifically recommended that the National Year should be fully exploited. Hello will provide information and guidance on typical communication development, how to spot if children Hello is run by The Communication Trust, a coalition are struggling and where to go for help and support. of 39 leading voluntary sector organisations, There will be guidance on how best to communicate in partnership with Jean Gross, the Government’s with children who have speech, language and Communication Champion. The campaign aims to communication needs and how to encourage make communication for all children and young people and support their communication skills, including a priority in homes and schools across the UK so that signposting to specialists who can help, such as they can live life to the full, and it is backed by the speech and language therapists and Teachers of Department for Education and supported by BT. the Deaf.

The National Year was originally proposed by John The children’s workforce will be provided with ages Bercow MP – now Speaker of the House of Commons and stages booklets, milestone posters and clear – in his 2008 Review of Services for Children and and easy symptom checklists that help parents and Young People (0–19) with speech, language and professionals to articulate their concerns. communication needs. The review identified ‘a grossly inadequate recognition across society of Importantly, the excellent work that is already taking the importance of communication development’. place will be championed and acknowledged through a Good Communication awards scheme. This offers In the 21st Century, the ability to communicate – to an exciting opportunity to celebrate best practice express what you want to say and to understand what among the children’s workforce and will shine a light other people are saying – is fundamental. Speech, on outstanding examples of multi-agency working and language and communication underpin everything we innovation. do, though these skills are often taken for granted. There is a series of monthly themes to help you think The Hello campaign aims to raise awareness of creatively about how you can link into the campaign the fact that over one million children and young and to explore in depth some of the key aspects of people have some form of speech, language and children’s communication development. communication need, which can affect them severely and for life. For the latest information on the Hello campaign and for updates on events and resources planned for The campaign will explain the nature of speech, 2011 go to www.hello.org.uk/ You can sign up there language and communication needs. It will highlight to receive regular updates.

22 • © BATOD Magazine •January 2011 batod_22,23.qxp 10/12/10 14:11 Page 13

Feature

Visit www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/hello to Wendy Lee is a professional adviser for The download a range of materials, including a calendar Communication Trust and a qualified speech with key dates for 2011, frequently asked questions and and language therapist with over 25 years’ an e-Communications toolkit. experience.

The Hello calendar of monthly themes January February and March April May

Don’t take Early chatter matters – It’s not just about talking Good communication communication from bump to birth and Children learn to talk by begins at home for granted beyond listening, taking turns and Learn how to turn Learn more about how Babbling babies don’t turn interacting with others – everyday activities into communication involves into talkative toddlers by the building blocks of fun communication you in life. chance. communication. opportunities.

June July August September

Imagine life for those Skills for work, life and Talk and go Back to school that struggle play Develop your child’s Speech and language Over one million children The power of talking, listening and skills are vital in the in the UK struggle to communication helps you communication skills in classroom. Language is communicate. connect with people and the park, at a museum, in the way that teachers live life to the full. a café – even in the car. teach and children learn.

October November December

More than words Celebrating Talk to the future Some children have little or communication Children with severe and no speech. They use facial Our ability to communicate complex communication expressions, signing, is something to celebrate difficulties will struggle for symbols or computer – it’s what makes humans life, not just in 2011. aides to communicate. unique.

Calling all heads of service CRIDE asks for a big response to its survey CRIDE, the Consortium for Research in Deaf at www.ndcs.org.uk/data – feedback from a number of Education (comprising schools and services for deaf colleagues indicates that they have found this national children, professional and voluntary organisations data to be of great value. and university researchers), is continuing to work to improve the quality of data relating to the education Please respond to this survey when it reaches you – of deaf children and young people. This task is more either online or in paper form – so that we can have urgent in current times than ever. the most robust possible set of data to use. The profession is rightly concerned about the government CRIDE is now rolling out its next survey. We really statistics on attainment and CRIDE feels strongly that need a 100% response from heads of services to this. this survey, along with the work of NatSIP which is We know how busy and stretched all heads of service collecting ‘performance information’, will provide a and team leaders currently are but we hope that you much more reliable dataset than the ones currently see the value of this survey and recognise that it available. Many thanks for all your support – without will be very useful in internal discussions about the the heads of service there would be no CRIDE development of local authority specialist services. survey! The responses from the last CRIDE survey, which was led by the NDCS, can be found on its website Paul Simpson writes on behalf of CRIDE.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 23 batod_24_25.qxp 10/12/10 14:12 Page 12

Feature

A Canadian adventure Gaynor Stone made a bold move when she uprooted her family, crossed the Atlantic and took up a post as an itinerant hearing resource teacher in Canada

hen I finally fulfilled a long-term dream to there but had always had the romantic dream of train to become a Teacher of the Deaf, having a holiday in a log cabin and riding on a husky W I never imagined it could be difficult to find dog sled! After a six-day research trip, I felt that a job! Living in beautiful rural Somerset had its adventure was the right thing to do and on my advantages but the downside was the lack of jobs second trip only three months later, I was offered for a newly qualified ToD like me. There were great a job interview for an itinerant hearing resource opportunities in London and the South East, but teacher (HRT) – a peripatetic ToD in UK terms. I was not happy about moving my family to the other I thought the rest would be easy, but although side of the country. When my husband lost his job Canada is a Commonwealth country, I had many at the end of 2008, we had to make a decision to go hoops to jump through, trying to obtain transcripts where the jobs were. We couldn’t face the upheaval and evidence to meet the British Columbia College of moving in the UK but decided if we were going of Teachers requirements. I also had to prove that to uproot our family and leave our home then we my qualifications met the standards of the Canadian should do it in style. To cut a long story short, Association of Educators of the Deaf and Hard of I started looking for jobs around Vancouver, Canada. Hearing. I still have to take six English credits at I had never been to Canada and had no connections university!

24 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_24_25.qxp 10/12/10 14:12 Page 13

Feature

After a lot of red tape, expense and stress I was £300 each, or because of missed diagnosis. The offered the job and started only eight months after hearing aids and personal FM issued are the same initially thinking about the move. It was a baptism as the UK and the methods of assessment are the of fire – my predecessor had retired some months same but have different names and approach. earlier so my role had been vacant and I was desperately needed (it was great to feel so I travel across a school district (35 minutes from welcomed!) in my hearing team of three teachers. beginning to end) with my allotted 12 schools and I spent three days shadowing a retired HRT and 19 students on direct caseload, and I monitor then hit the ground running. Not only did I have to students too. These students are all in mainstream learn about the British Columbian curriculum and schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12, and my style of teaching, I faced a whole new collection of main emphasis is supporting in socials (history, terms and acronyms. When I asked where the test geography) and English or ‘language arts’. box was and what radio aids were used I was met with blank faces – test boxes are used only by the I used to turn up like Miss Marple, sole adults’ and children’s audiologist for the whole school district (like a local authority), and the term tutting under my breath FM replaces ‘radio aid’. I gasped when I stepped in to my first elementary school classroom – no built-in The downside? The 6am alarm, the slow 30-mile Soundfields, only portable ones, no interactive commute each morning and the lack of resources whiteboards, few carpeted floors, and individual and natural daylight in schools. The relaxed attitude desks in rows, with blackboards at the front of the to learning in high schools means that students class. I felt as though I had stepped back in time come to class holding a mega-sized Starbucks 20 years. coffee, chewing gum and wearing an iPod. I used to turn up like Miss Marple, tutting under my breath thinking they should be in school uniform! I realised The one thing I have learnt is that I was fighting a losing battle. However, I do try to deaf issues are the same across persuade a teen with unilateral deafness to take out the Atlantic his iPod and turn off Facebook while I am trying to teach him! My students thought I spoke with a funny accent and I still can’t do lip-reading exercises very well The upside? When it is not raining I can drive to because the lip patterns for English are quite work with a most beautiful backdrop of snow-topped different from Canadian English – try saying ‘daarrg’ mountains. I am paid slightly more than I would be in instead of ‘dog’! I was asked to bring my ‘duotang’ the UK (although I’m still not paid the same as my to a staff meeting – I wasn’t sure if I was supposed Canadian colleagues!) and the lack of half-terms to be bringing refreshments or a medical device! means we have a two-month (unpaid!) summer I spent most of my early months saying, ‘Excuse me, holiday. As the school day starts earlier than the UK can you explain…’ and being met with smiles and school day and lunchtimes are shorter, all schools comments such as, ‘You English are so polite’. finish by 2.35pm. I also have the satisfaction of doing the job I always wanted to do. Everyone has been helpful and I have learnt to write annual individual education plans the size of the Vancouverites work hard but they play hard too, so Domesday Book where a favourite goal is ‘needs at the weekend it is possible to be either walking to self-advocate’. I’ve also learnt to use the term along the beach, enjoying the bustle of downtown ‘period’ instead of ‘full stop’ and ‘parenthesis’ instead Vancouver or snowshoeing up the mountain ten of ‘brackets’. I still cannot bring myself to write ‘math’ minutes’ walk from my house. Maybe I will get that instead of ‘maths’ in my notes or ‘Mom’ instead husky dog sled ride one day after all.... of ‘Mum’ but on the whole I can make myself understood! Oh... and a duotang is a two-pronged folder!

I found myself in an English-speaking country Gaynor Stone works as a hearing resource teacher with the Queen as head of state and indeed a in Vancouver, Canada. photograph of Her Majesty on every office wall, yet I felt a million miles away from the National Curriculum, Numbertime and Jolly Phonics. The one thing I have learnt is that deaf issues are the same across the Atlantic. There are still children not wearing hearing aids because they either choose not to or, in many cases, cannot afford to at a cost of

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 25 batod_26.qxp 10/12/10 14:47 Page 12

Feature

Take a look at Viewtalk Video messaging just got a whole lot more interesting for deaf pupils with the launch of the new web-based communication tool Viewtalk, as Ken Carter reveals

lthough the potential benefits of using digital Viewtalk can be a highly video in educational settings have been well effective tool in the teaching Aresearched, little work has been conducted into and learning of many subjects. how video messaging technologies can actually Existing school assignments support teaching in educational settings. Video is can be varied to include generally used as a ‘passive medium’ whereby pupils collaborative networking by watch a video presentation to ascertain information. video messaging. Here are just a few possible applications. Viewtalk (www.viewtalk.org) has been developed It allows pupils not only the ability to record their own through a three-way communications but also to conduct video conversations partnership between the and role plays around a range of topics, capturing these voluntary sector (Deafax), on video walls. Teachers can use the site to improve academia (Goldsmiths their own teaching and share the latest information, College, University of best practice and guidance. Real-time communications London) and industry between pupils can also be recorded, reviewed and (Correspondent Corp Ltd). played back to create video walls which could work in It is a web-based video messaging tool that brings the same way as school noticeboards. people and information together, creating an environment for debate. As a learning tool Viewtalk Furthermore, the school and pupils can maintain is a highly secure environment to access, share and face-to-face contact with parents using the Viewtalk interact with via video walls and blogs. It requires no Live Chat. The Live Chat video offers unrivalled specialist software or hardware, just a webcam and video quality and smoothness – no freezing or jerky access to the internet. In the context of learning, the moments – something that other live chat systems use of video is often well received because its visual struggle to provide. It is also fully web-based so nature means it is perceived as interesting and requires no download to the computer to enable use. motivating. Research has found that many pupils process visual information far more effectively than Viewtalk can have a significant impact on ancillary oral information alone. skills such as communication, teamwork, organisation, presentation, self-confidence, leadership and time What makes Viewtalk different from social management. Use of the system can boost pupils’ networking sites? self-esteem as recordings of their work and progress Viewtalk is not a social networking site. It uses some can demonstrate their improving ability. It can also of the positive aspects, such as video, storytelling and function as a global online community that allows the option for live chat, but unlike social networking schools for the deaf and hearing support units to sites, video messages are only accessible and partner with schools internationally. viewable to contacts whom the registered user chooses to send them to. A user cannot be searched Viewtalk is a great solution for video messaging within for, or made contact with, via Viewtalk. This protects the education framework, allowing pupils, teachers against unsolicited contact. User safety is a priority, and parents to interact, share ideas and communicate and Viewtalk has security built in from the program in an enclosed and private environment. It gives code upwards. The underlying coding makes it safe schools for the deaf and hearing support units the from internet hacking and virus threats, while the opportunity to explore fully the potential of this real- design makes it safe from other potential online time, pupil-safe, collaborative technology and allows threats. pupils to learn and to communicate with fellow pupils anywhere in the world. With this software and a The site allows public or private use, in a group or normal internet connection, users will need hardly person to person, and the settings can be changed any technical knowledge to get started. for each individual piece of content published. One of its unique aspects is that it can be used as a tool Ken Carter is the Founder and Director of Research for learning. for Deafax.

26 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_27.qxp 10/12/10 17:23 Page 40 batod_28_29_30_31.qxp 10/12/10 14:49 Page 12

Feature

The VIG approach Dr Deborah James describes a new family-centred research programme using video interaction guidance to enhance parent-child communication

he research that we are embarking on with The intervention principle is also underpinned by a families at the National Biomedical Research few strong personal feelings that have arisen from T Unit in Hearing in Nottingham has been my own clinical work with families who have children designed on a few basic principles and aims: with multiple and complex needs. • Inclusive – to use the outcomes of the research in • I want parents to be left thinking and feeling as if a generic way in the complex and messy realities their – not my – outcomes have been worked of the real world. towards. • Impact focused – to understand the critical • I want parents to be in a better position to identify mechanisms of change within the family unit, and get the resources they want for their child’s focusing on the impact of parents on the child’s well-being and development. outcome. • I want my intervention to be meaningful to the • Intervention focused – to generate new knowledge other people who provide services to the family as of the factors that are amenable to change and this will support shared understanding between the have a positive impact on child development as a professionals, thus alleviating potential stress that result of an intervention that could be delivered in arises from multiple professional involvement in the real world. families.

These principles, plus the time constraint of needing We have designed our intervention study around an to deliver tangible outcomes within two years, led to approach called video interaction guidance (VIG). a few design constraints which helped to shape the This intervention is a good example of a minimally exploratory research programme that is now under intrusive intervention largely because the change way. that happens in families is achieved in just a few sessions of filming and sharing reviews of the films. The inclusive principle meant that we have had to We use video and this can be described as an adopt a single case study design. There is just too intrusive tool to use with families. Video is already much variation within a small population to get a widely used with families to support aspects of child group study in one centre up and running within the development so there is acceptance and support for two-year timescale that we are working with. the use of film, but this also means that colleagues are asking what’s new about the approach that we The impact principle meant that we have adopted are taking. This is an important question. One way mixed methods to evaluate the outcomes of our that we can address it is to refer to the evidence work. We look at outcomes in three main ways: base. Video interaction guidance, unlike some other • Child – focused particularly on charting the intervention approaches that use video such as the development of early speech behaviours and Hanen Programme, produces change not just in the socio-cognitive development, so we use a mix parent but also in the child. So we think that the of speech science and psychological science. changes in the child arise from the way in which we • Parents – we explore the way in which parents use film in the VIG approach. We are exploring this change in their feelings of confidence and the further by looking at the dialogue around the use impact of this on the behaviours that we think of film. Here we show how one family attributed a demonstrate self-efficacy, so we use qualitative change in their approach to the use of signing within research methods based in sociology and include the family to the use of film in a piece of family work new quantitative approaches from applied using VIG. linguistics. • Parent and child – the specific scientific hypothesis A case study that we are testing is that parental responsiveness I was invited to work with the family of Anne and is critically related to the child’s early speech Steve by their Teacher of the Deaf, Penny Johnson, development, so we have a particular focus on the from Northern Counties School in Newcastle. Their analysis of contingency between the parent and little boy, Evan, is profoundly deaf, has an additional child. Our main scientific priority for this exploratory diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder work is to develop new understanding about the and is receiving services for children with autism way that speech and language are socially spectrum disorder. He is a non-user of a cochlear constructed within the family. implant and he uses BSL. He was eight years old

28 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_28_29_30_31.qxp 10/12/10 14:49 Page 13

Feature

In the initial goal setting, Anne’s primary concern Video interaction guidance – how it works was to get Evan more included in the family. In that Previous research shows that video interaction meeting, she said that the main thing she wanted guidance can help parents build their confidence to change was her own ability to cope with her and appreciate the communication skills they have child’s behaviour outside the home which she found with their child. A video camera is used to capture challenging at times. Together Anne, Penny and successful moments of real-life communication in I agreed that if we looked for successful moments the home or school. In shared review sessions of co-operation we could use these to build a between the guider and the family participants, better understanding of what could be done to these moments are looked at carefully to see the aid co-operation during moments that would be positive impact of their own naturally occurring potentially quite challenging. behaviour on the communication between them and their child. Change happens after just a few The first film that Anne wanted to do was of Penny filming sessions. We are trialling the use of three working with her son in the classroom. We agreed films and three shared review meetings in that I would analyse the video looking particularly at Nottingham. moments of co-operation between Evan and Penny. The first film was analysed and then a shared review For further information see ‘Video Interaction between me and Penny took place where we looked Guidance in the context of childhood hearing particularly at successful moments of co-operation. In impairment: A tool for family centred practice’ by a second meeting, which took place in school, Penny, D James, A Johnson, C Falck and L Collins in Anne and I met to share these examples. Video Interaction Guidance by Hilary Kennedy et al (Jessica Kingsley). Anne then asked for a second film to be taken at her home and we decided to prepare an activity that we when we started to work together and he is one of knew Evan would be particularly keen on. The film triplets, having a brother and a sister of the same age. was taken in the family home and then Anne and Steve (her husband and Evan’s father) had a shared In an independent semi-structured interview after the review session looking at successful moments in intervention, Anne spoke about using the approach school. During this session the topic of signing and how it had helped her to see that using signing emerged as a strong theme. It was introduced by at home would enable Evan to be more included in Steve and hadn’t come up in the previous sessions. the family. Extracts from that interview reveal Anne’s The still image of Anne engaging both her sons thinking process: while using signing was on the screen when this topic was discussed during the shared review. ’What I do see happening with Evan in the family During this conversation Anne appeared to have is that I do see eventually that we will have to sign a really significant moment of rethinking. She said: all the time… but it’s something that I seem to be ‘and then perhaps maybe… if I’d signed a bit more picking up with Evan… now that I hadn’t picked up consistently… before eerm before it coming to a before.’ situation… then maybe I could ave eh… avoided it or perhaps reduce the anxiety or whatever so… She goes on to reveal her thinking process – eh, you know… I’ve never really thought about it… comparing the communication environment at home it’s only it’s just come out there.’ and at school. Evan is in a total communication environment at school ‘but he’s not actually getting a This piece of work shows that VIG helped the family total communication at home [erm] so even though to find their own mechanism for the change that was mum and dad sign – but we don’t actually… sign important to them. In this case, the mechanism for when we’re talking to the other children.’ change was to sign more in the family home – this will help Evan to be more included. We went on to Anne attributes her new way of thinking to what she observe together that during difficult situations when has seen during the VIG process, ‘I’ve seen things Anne did sign to Evan she was very well able to that I hadn’t really noticed before so I think that’s reduce anxiety in him, prevent challenging behaviour something that’s come out of it for us as a family, and improve co-operation. whereas before I wouldn’t have noticed that now whether or not the programme was set out to do it We are exploring the impact of this work by looking …it just came as a natural… [erh] and the videoing it at theoretical frameworks of the social processes was something and the visits it was something that that support embedding of new interventions within made me think aah ah I think this is something we’re health services; transformational learning in adults; gunna have te … so this is you know coz it seemed parental self-efficacy and responsiveness and the to make him… erm… more included I think.’ social construction of speech and language.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 29 batod_28_29_30_31.qxp 10/12/10 14:49 Page 14

Feature

If you’d like more information about our work, feel free to get in touch by emailing me at [email protected] and you can visit our website at www.hearing.nihr.ac.uk/

For a 30-minute talk which includes video footage showing the intervention being used within a family setting in a family-school partnership approach go to www.hearingseminars.com/p67147587/ You can also watch a five-minute film which gives a flavour of the research approach.

Dr Deborah James is the Lead Scientist with the Child & Family Programme at the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing of the National Institute for Health Research in Nottingham.

Listening difficulties Hannah Maycock and Clare Howard report on recent studies measuring listening effort in the classroom

istening effort can be described as the cognitive children at typical classroom SNRs. The dual task effort required to understand speech. Difficult involved completing a primary listening task of L listening situations demand more cognitive repeating monosyllabic words at SNRs ranging from resources, resulting in increased listening effort. The +4 to -4dB SNR, while remembering a sequence classroom can present a difficult listening situation of five digits for later recall (the secondary task). experienced daily by children, due to poor acoustics, Performance on each single task was assessed, background noise and the teacher speaking from a and then the two tasks were performed together distance. The recommended levels for signal-to-noise as a dual task paradigm. ratios (SNRs) for the acoustics of classrooms, as specified in Building Bulletin 93 and as recommended Digital recall performance by BATOD, are +15 to -20dB SNR. However, it has been reported that classroom SNR is typically -7 decreased significantly with to +4dB SNR and is often 0dB SNR, representing increasingly adverse SNR conditions that are far from ideal for learning. Understanding speech in these conditions demands As would be expected, when listening conditions increased listening effort, the effects of which can be became more adverse (SNR decreased), mean fatigue, frustration and decreased learning. primary task performance decreased. This performance level was, however, maintained Listening effort can be measured using a dual from the single to the dual task situation. As a task paradigm in which a primary task (usually single task, digit recall was not affected by SNR, the listening task) and a competing secondary and mean performance was consistently high. task (such as memorising digits) are performed However, in the dual task condition, mean digit recall simultaneously. If more cognitive resources are performance decreased significantly with increasingly needed to complete the primary listening task, then adverse SNR, representing the increased listening the performance level on the secondary task will effort required for the primary listening task. This is decrease, representing the increased listening effort concerning, considering that the SNRs used in this directed at the primary task. study were typical (and often better) than those experienced daily by children in the classroom, and A recent dual task study looked at the listening the listening effort required is only likely to increase effort required from normally hearing 9–12-year-old for deaf individuals.

30 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_28_29_30_31.qxp 10/12/10 14:49 Page 15

Feature

Considerations when using dual task paradigms other tasks (such as comprehension, notetaking, with children include whether children are able following instructions), therefore compromising to maintain primary task priority according to attainment, academic achievement and behaviour. instruction, something which is contingent on the interpretation of decreasing secondary task It is becoming increasingly apparent that current performance as increased listening effort. It is measures of listening performance such as speech speculated that children of primary school age have tests do not provide a complete representation of not yet developed this ability and may just prioritise the listener’s experience. Dual task paradigms the task that they find the easiest. Also, research could provide a valuable tool, both clinically and suggests that children are less vigilant when in schools, for assessing listening effort and the task conditions are easiest and they feel less deficits faced by deaf individuals in the classroom, challenged, as was shown by atypically poor and subsequently the benefit experienced following secondary task performance when listening the fitting of amplification and/or FM systems. conditions were most favourable. Hannah Maycock and Clare Howard are trainee The studies highlight the clinical scientists in audiology at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. importance of monitoring and improving SNR in the classroom This article was based on studies carried out by Clare Howard, Kevin Munro, Chris Plack These issues were investigated in another study (‘Listening effort at signal-to-noise ratios that are using a similar dual task paradigm, with the addition typical of the school classroom’, International of one more favourable SNR (+8dB SNR) to Journal of Audiology, 2011, available online at investigate vigilance in the easy task conditions. http://informahealthcare.com/toc/ija/0/0) and This study also asked the children to make the Hannah Maycock, Kevin Munro and Chris Plack listening task their primary task (priority), and (an unpublished MSc dissertation ‘Measuring then the digit recall task their primary task in listening effort in school children using a dual two separate dual task situations, to see whether task paradigm’). the children were able to allocate a primary task according to instruction (shown by maintenance of primary task performance from the single to the dual task condition).

When the listening task was the primary task, the study agreed with the earlier one and again demonstrated increased listening effort as a result of increasingly adverse listening conditions. The study also found the children to be less vigilant when task conditions were easiest. This suggests the need for children to be challenged in order to maintain their attention and vigilance; however, this should be with relevant tasks and not background noise. The children were not always able to give priority to the primary task as instructed, and it was digit recall performance that decreased regardless of task priority. This could implicate the interpretation of dual task studies in primary school children, should they not yet have the ability to allocate a primary task.

Both of the studies have demonstrated the negative effects of typical classroom SNRs on listening effort. Listening effort is only likely to increase further for deaf children, children with learning disabilities and those not being taught in their first language. The studies highlight the importance of monitoring and improving SNR in the classroom with good acoustics, the use of FM systems and the reduction of background noise. When listening effort is increased, there are fewer resources available for completing

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 31 batod_32.qxp 10/12/10 17:32 Page 40 batod_32.qxp 10/12/10 17:33 Page 41 batod_34_35.qxp 10/12/10 17:13 Page 12

Feature

Making the most of language Merle Mahon and Robert Adam share their views on the education of bi/multilingual deaf children

utcomes for deaf children leaving school are, with its own grammar and vocabulary, there is a need by and large, based on their literacy in English. for deaf children to learn both a signed language OHowever, many deaf children do not grow up because it is crucial to their educational progress and in English-speaking families. Some are from deaf their identity development, and a spoken language, families where sign language is the family’s first because this maximises opportunities in education language (in the UK this is British Sign Language and employment in adulthood. – BSL); others are from families where English is not the main language spoken at home. Thus, the It has been shown that there are similar patterns of language of education for deaf children in the UK acquisition in both signed and spoken languages. In provides a unique challenge. spoken languages, a child will reach his or her first- word milestone within 9–14 months. In contrast, for Through most of the 20th Century deaf children were deaf children with hearing parents who cannot sign, stopped from using sign language. This was due to a the learning of language (whether spoken or signed) mistaken belief that signing would prevent them from is delayed, which may have a negative effect on the learning to lip-read and speak. The reality was that long-term language development of the deaf child. many deaf children failed to learn English and their Most deaf children (approximately 90–95%) are born education was badly affected. There is an increasing to hearing parents who do not know sign language at recognition that supporting sign-spoken bilingualism the time of their child’s birth, and therefore language in deaf children may well bring benefits in educational acquisition patterns are not typical. Research has and other achievements for the deaf child. shown that the age of exposure to a first language can predict performance on psycholinguistic tasks, By the same token, parents of deaf children in with native signers performing better than people who bi/multilingual families where English is not the main learn a sign language late. It has also been found that language are often advised to speak English to their people who learn sign language later as a second deaf child – even though it is not the language in language perform better than people who acquire a which they are proficient. For these families, many first language later. This happens because the latter of whom are from the UK’s large ethnic minority do not acquire a natural base for languages within the population, there is increasing evidence that they critical period of language acquisition. Also, native would be better advised to use their home language signers perform better than people who learn English with their deaf child. later as a first language.

Researchers from the ESRC Deafness Cognition Research has also been carried out on how and Language Research Centre (DCAL) based language acquisition takes place when the parents at University College London (UCL) have always are deaf. It showed that deaf parents are aware asserted that deaf children who are bilingual in a of, and indeed use, their child’s visual perspective signed language and a spoken language are at no whether using speech or sign. A hearing mother, on disadvantage educationally; sign language can help the other hand, may not be aware that a deaf child children learn spoken language. Studies compared responds best to seeing her face rather than hearing how deaf people who were brought up using British her voice. It has been suggested that hearing parents Sign Language processed BSL with how hearing do not always understand some of the difficulties people processed audio-visual spoken English. their deaf child has in accessing language input and, They found that sign language and spoken language as a consequence, communication opportunities can processing are left-lateralised and processed on the be lost. Deaf parents are actually good models of same side of the brain using very similar networks. early interaction with a child, whether using signing The evidence suggests that there is little difference or speech or both. in how spoken languages and sign languages are processed by the brain. A person does not need to There are also developmental benefits for the child. speak and listen to process language in the classical Full access to a language has been found to have a language processing areas in the brain. positive effect on a child’s development. In a study of the psychosocial development of deaf children it was This supports the widely accepted current found that while psychosocial difficulty in children understanding that bilingualism in all its forms has with a hearing loss was almost four times greater many advantages, such as making the brain more than a comparative group of hearing children, where flexible. Since BSL is a full language like any other, there was evidence of good sign language and/or

34 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_34_35.qxp 10/12/10 17:13 Page 13

Feature

oral language skills, this difficulty was not evident. because unless there are realistic and affordable This raises the question of what happens when the opportunities for all family members to learn English family language at home is neither English nor BSL. quickly and appropriately without undue expense, A recent review of educational issues concerning asking them to speak only English with their deaf deaf children from such homes noted the many child could be a course of action which may fail all challenges the children face. In particular, they are the key players: the families, the deaf children and exposed to oral language input from more than the well-intentioned professionals. one spoken language at home, but must, as deaf learners, also acquire English for their education. If the thinking on bilingualism in deaf education could be extended beyond BSL and spoken Further research with British-Bangladeshi families English, then it would mirror the increasingly living in London explored the languages deaf children accepted situation whereby hearing children from from those families are exposed to at home – usually bi/multilingual families are viewed as ‘emergent Bengali or Sylheti (a version of Bengali spoken in bilinguals’, becoming more fluent in English as they Sylhet Province of Bangladesh), some English and interact to a greater degree beyond their family lots of gestures. While the parents stated that their environment. Applying this to deaf children would own first language and that of their hearing children lead to greater communication ability in the home, was Sylheti, they reported their deaf child’s first the school and the community, as well as an language as being English (because the language increased positive sense of cultural identity and used at school was English). The study analysed in enhanced linguistic competence. detail the conversations between seven-year-old deaf (and hearing) children and their parents and revealed Dr Merle Mahon is a senior lecturer at the the difficulties parents had communicating with their Developmental Science Research Department, deaf child with no language in common, and the Division of Psychology and Language Science impact this had on the child as well as the family. The at University College London. Robert Adam is a findings suggest that families should be encouraged postgraduate researcher at the Deafness Cognition to use their home language with their deaf child, and Language Research Centre.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 35 batod_36_37.qxp 10/12/10 15:30 Page 12

Feature

Working towards the standards Do the FM quality standards provide a practical tool for the Teacher of the Deaf? Mary Gordon shares her thoughts from Northern Ireland

n Northern Ireland we have more than 220 Where small babies are concerned, other hearing-impaired children of all ages, in the five considerations apply and the Guidelines (Section IEducation and Library Boards, using FM systems 1 page 6) clarify these and can help a ToD in ranging from Amigo and Inspiro to Solaris. These explaining to parents why their small child is better figures also include children attached to several with just hearing aids for the moment. hearing-impaired units as well as one school for deaf children. All five services for hearing-impaired children Funding (QSii) is secured for this equipment through are managed by very experienced senior ToDs. As far the education sector, although obviously in the future as the coming on stream of the quality standards for paediatric hearing aids will increasingly become able FM in Northern Ireland goes, I can only reflect on my to accept FM signals through integrated receivers, own implementation and practice in one of the five so the health sector will be funding the receivers services here. I presume all the areas would have and education the transmitters. Funding, in my similar experiences to recount, given the opportunity. experience, is forthcoming, even though many/most Although educational acronyms differ throughout the of our pupils do not have statements of special UK, conversations with other ToDs suggest that our educational need. ‘journeys’ in implementing good practice are not so different. Since new-build schools in Northern Ireland Regarding setting up the FM with the child’s system are not subject to Building Bulletin 93, good FM observing FM advantage (QSiii), this is really the systems, properly set up, are even more essential. key and in the end will make all the difference to the child. Sharing test boxes over a service is no mean ‘The aim is to provide consistency of practice feat but balancing, when done correctly, produces throughout the UK.’ This aspiration in the quality a good result and is very satisfying. Key Stage 1 standards for children with cochlear implants children are fascinated by this process and want to document applies equally to the quality standards for help by pressing the buttons on the FP35 ‘test box’, FM users issued a year ago in England and Wales and sometimes they like to have their own copy of and also rolled out in Northern Ireland. The roll out the printout. However, although balancing a Solaris received a fillip when Joyce Sewell-Rutter of the or an Amigo is fairly straightforward once you Ewing Foundation (one of the original working party) know how, I have no knowledge or experience of presented it to a large group of ToDs and clinical balancing MLx receivers with a ‘toaster’, so that audiologists in February 2009 as part of a two-day area is a priority for me to explore. joint (education and health) conference, ‘Audiology: Joint Working’, in Belfast. Everyone received a Clearly the setting up of an FM system with a copy of the standards document complete with the cochlear implant processor (QSiv) is crucial. I have CD-ROM of the Good Practice Guidelines. witnessed one of my secondary-aged children going through this process at our Regional Implant It would be impossible, in a short article, to discuss Centre with integrated receivers and a ZoomLink every quality standard (QS), so I will just give a taste transmitter. The resultant improved sound quality in here of my experiences with a few of them, starting classes has impressed the (initially reluctant) pupil. with candidacy (QSi). While there are no agreed I can see that with a much younger child who would criteria here for provision, it is the case that all not be able to report, it could be quite problematic children are considered and, to quote one head of to couple FM with an implant processor. I feel I need service, ‘anyone who needs one will get one’. With to know more about this. Colleagues with more some older children a problem sometimes arises experience of FM use with implants have been very in that they point blank refuse to continue to use helpful and the ToDs working in the Implant Centre an FM system in spite of every demonstration and provide advice and expertise. encouragement. A hearing-impaired unit may have all its pupils using FM successfully throughout the In-service training for mainstream teachers on the mainstream school, but for a peripatetic ToD seeing use of the FM and of any assistants involved with individual children in local secondary schools this the child can bring dividends as they are then able does not always work. We cannot be the FM police! to contact you to troubleshoot problems (QSvi). Our

36 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_36_37.qxp 10/12/10 15:30 Page 13

Feature

service has recently run a second annual training one from primary school, may be captivated by the day for these classroom assistants, delivered jointly strangest feature of a different one which sells it to by health (clinical audiologists) and ToDs (see page him. One of my pupils will only use pink hearing aids 18). This supplements the awareness in-service and FM! Thank goodness for the Oticon skins! training we do when a child joins a different mainstream or special school or changes Key As FM gets increasingly more sophisticated we need Stage or type of equipment. Often revisiting continually to update our skills regarding equipment. training/information sessions after the child is in Local BATOD meetings, and presentations from place and the teachers have been using FM systems the various hearing technology companies can be can be even more beneficial. Older children having focused on the complexities of the equipment to the knowledge to change channels themselves help us all to work towards the quality standards. occasionally as they move around a large secondary Help and advice are only a phone call or an email school with various sources of interference has away. Manufacturers have developed the knack of proved useful. One pupil needs to change channel clear explanations over the phone, which was not just for the science labs, while a second does so for always the case. Joint working with local hospital the Year 8 assembly where there is another child on audiology staff is a real boon, as most services in a different (but pre-set) channel. Northern Ireland lack an audiologist as part of the ToD team. Luckily we all enjoy a challenge! Promoting the independent use of FM is crucial. Being able to cope and manage their own I am endeavouring to ensure that our pupils gain equipment and report faults and discuss pros optimum use of their equipment. On a weekly basis and cons at age-appropriate stages increases the I see my ToD colleagues having broadly similar resilience of the users and it is hoped will minimise experiences, doing their best in continuing to that awkward stage when some older children just implement the quality standards and taking account can’t cope with having to hand over the mic to their of the associated guidelines. I have found the teachers, class after class. Guidelines CD-ROM to be extremely useful with its very helpful checklists and guides to procedures. There is no doubt that different FM systems suit Because it provides practical help, it earns its place different children and evaluating different systems as a useful and used tool for the ToD, rather than can bring the reward of greater acceptance. One merely gathering dust on the shelves. As my teenager will love many aspects of the Oticon experience broadens, my practice in following the Amigo, another will run a mile unless supplied with quality standards must run to catch up, and the MLx with a Handymic. Even if on paper both do Guidelines are there to help. the same job, children like to have a say and an element of choice. Another older pupil who will not Mary Gordon is a peripatetic teacher of even try out a new FM system, having hated his old hearing-impaired children in Belfast.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 37 batod_38_39.qxp 10/12/10 15:31 Page 12

Feature

Them or us? Jane Berry and Carol Wells highlight the value of a collaborative approach for those working with children with cochlear implants

fter attending the 2009 British Cochlear Implant child, his/her family and the local professionals Group (BCIG) conference we were left asking involved in the child’s implant journey. Further Athe question ‘How do the local services fit in questions were about identifying areas that were felt with a cochlear implant programme’s model of to be particularly beneficial and areas that could be rehabilitation for the implanted child?’ Disconcertingly, improved. There was also the opportunity to comment the focus at the conference largely omitted the on resources provided by the CI programme. knowledge, skills and experience of local Teachers of the Deaf and speech and language therapists who The results have so much to offer the rehabilitation process. With Respondents were asked to give an overall rating for local professionals providing regular, ongoing support their level of satisfaction for the service provided by to implanted youngsters, how can this implied lack of the Rehabilitation Team. The following graph shows collaboration be in the best interests of the child and the responses, with 1 being rated as low satisfaction family? and 5 denoting the highest level of satisfaction. This indicated that service users were generally very As Teachers of the Deaf working for a cochlear positive about the service provided by the WECIP implant programme we were keen to assess whether Rehabilitation Team. despite our belief in collaborative working this could be true of our own team. We felt it was important to look at this issue in greater depth, focusing on local perceptions of the service we deliver and identifying any shortcomings.

Some background Government legislation in recent years following the Every Child Matters (ECM) initiative and the subsequent 2004 Children Act requires multi-agency partnerships with professionals working together to achieve improved outcomes for all children and young people. It was argued that, in the past, children and families received poorer services because of the failure of professionals to understand each other’s roles, or to work effectively in a multi- Two questions were designed to look at specific disciplinary manner. ECM sought to change this, areas of provision more closely, asking what support stressing that it was important that all professionals had been most helpful and which areas could be working with children were aware of the contribution improved. The overriding themes in the responses that could be made by their own and each other’s seemed to be the importance of good liaison and service, and should plan and deliver their work with the need to ensure a joint approach to working with children and young people accordingly. children, their families and educational settings: ‘Joint visits to families are really helpful and reduce Our method the overall number of visits for a family.’ When the Initially we devised an evaluation form using a series service was criticised, it was because this liaison was of questions, which was sent out to 99 local Teachers not felt to be effective or because the notice given for of the Deaf and speech and language therapists appointments was insufficient to enable the local who are currently working with a West of England professional to attend. Cochlear Implant Programme (WECIP) implanted child. A slightly disappointing 39 questionnaires were Concern was expressed that children were not returned to us, although the responses we obtained frequently visited after the initial two years post- were helpful and informative. implant. Clear information and reports, giving help for planning individual education plan (IEP) targets, The questionnaire asked about practitioners’ ratings were appreciated by local services. Generally it was of the support they receive from the child’s cochlear felt that there was good communication between implant (CI) rehabilitation worker. This would be the local and CI professionals and that working either a ToD or an SLT who would work with the relationships were excellent. Some comments were

38 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_38_39.qxp 10/12/10 15:31 Page 13

Feature

made about the audiology provision from the team should ‘provide long-term support to children, cochlear implant programme, but this was outside their families, carers and teachers’. the remit of this audit. Local professionals were also asked if they felt they needed the cochlear implant Under the National Institute for Health and Clinical programme to provide training for them. Reflecting Excellence Guidelines (NHS, 2009) sequential the growing trend to offer cochlear implants to cochlear implants are now being offered to children children with additional and complex needs, training on the WECIP. Often these children are older in appropriate expectations and ways of working with school-aged children who may not have worn a these children was requested. Similarly, more contra-lateral hearing aid. They may be supported children are now choosing to receive a sequential locally by Teachers of the Deaf or speech and cochlear implant and therefore support for the local language therapists who have little or no experience services in how to develop their listening potential in developing very early listening skills. In this was seen to be very important. situation, dialogue with the WECIP Rehabilitation Team could identify the need for additional advice The Rehabilitation Team has devised a Parent and support for the local service to ensure that the Information Pack (PIP) for use with the families of child reaches his or her listening potential. The young deaf children receiving an implant. The pack WECIP Hierarchy of Listening Skills has been was intended to be used in a similar way to the developed to provide a framework for developing Monitoring Protocol, where it would be held by the auditory skills through the second implant. parents, with professionals supporting it. We asked how helpful this was felt to have been. The pack Children with additional and complex needs are now received mixed responses. Some respondents were routinely being considered for cochlear implantation. not aware of it and had not been involved when the This group of children more than any other stands PIP was introduced to the family, while others felt it to benefit from collaborative working. ‘Staff need to was ‘thorough and provides a good focus when collaborate closely to ensure children and their discussing with families’. families are receiving consistent and coordinated support’ (Listening, hearing and responding: Key points for future provision Department of Health Action Plan – core principles The benefits of joint and collaborative working for the involvement of children and young people, between the Rehabilitation Team and local 2002). Expectations need to be carefully considered professionals were recognised and valued. Good and shared with the child’s family. With this in mind liaison and timely planning of visits are vital to the WECIP Rehabilitation Team has developed an ensure that all the relevant professionals are able assessment protocol and is revising the Parent to attend. This collaborative approach is endorsed Information Pack to move further towards meeting by the Implant Centre Teacher of the Deaf (ICTOD) these children’s needs. Guidelines, updated in 2009: ‘To meet their maximum potential children require the expertise and knowledge The WECIP Rehabilitation Team is aware that of both the local ToD and the ICTOD.’ it is not making best use of the information gained from the Monitoring Protocol. Consequently, the The role of the cochlear implant programme in questionnaire sent to local professionals at the providing training for local services was appreciated. child’s referral has been revised so as to request The constraints of being able to send staff on copies of the summary sheets, as this information courses require us to think of new and more flexible can help to provide a picture of the whole child. ways to deliver this. The team has presented training at the South West regional BATOD meeting and this In conclusion was seen as an ideal venue. We are now planning to ‘Local Teachers of the Deaf (and speech and offer updates at future BATOD meetings and at SLTs’ language therapists) working with children with special interest group meetings as a way of providing cochlear implants are key team members, as it is ongoing training. only with their support that the vital consistency of approach can be achieved.’ (Guidelines for Teachers We looked at the local service’s concern about the of the Deaf working with children with cochlear frequency of visits two years post-implant. In view of implants – www.BATOD.org.uk) the recently published Quality Standards: Cochlear implants for children and young people (BCIG and So we come back to the initial question and conclude NDCS, 2010) where ‘it is recommended at least it is not them or us, but both! annual appointments are offered’, WECIP is currently reviewing the schedule of visits. The ICTOD Guidelines Jane Berry and Carol Wells are specialist Teachers recommend a less prescriptive approach, simply of the Deaf on the West of England Cochlear Implant stating that the implant programme rehabilitation Programme.

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 39 batod_40_41.qxp 10/12/10 15:34 Page 12

Feature

Research report Julie Mather provides the first in an occasional series of articles keeping you up to date with the latest research taking place in deaf education, focusing this time on cochlear implants

s Teachers of the Deaf, we all know the value how the child will perform with implants. of research in providing evidence to guide us • Music and song perception – the current A with regard to expectations, outcomes and generation of cochlear implant systems is able to educational intervention. However, for most of us, transmit musical characteristics better than past catching up on research findings is usually at the ones, allowing the introduction of training for bottom of a very long list of things to do. Also, musical appreciation and pitch. unless you subscribe to a journal, it is not easy • Tinnitus – in some countries hearing adults with to access articles of interest without paying out severe tinnitus are receiving a cochlear implant to considerable amounts of money or negotiating improve their condition. pathways through the internet. Range of outcomes for deaf children It is with this in mind that this page has been We all know that outcomes for deaf children introduced to the Magazine. Through it, the aim vary hugely for a wide range of reasons. It is is to give a feel for current research topics and encouraging to see a number of papers addressing to update teachers on relevant and interesting this issue. research which has been presented in the last six months. Only brief synopses will be given but there Leo de Raeve (1) looks at the importance of early is a bibliography at the end if you wish to pursue multi-disciplinary support for all deaf children, anything further. many of whom now find themselves in mainstream schools. This placement does not negate the need We all know that outcomes for for services but these will need to be flexible and tailored for individuals whose ability and deaf children vary hugely for a achievement profiles show great differences. Among wide range of reasons other wise words he says, ‘the challenge for deaf education is... to embrace the diversity of this One of our aims at The Ear Foundation is to population and to appropriately address the specific ensure that research is made available as widely needs of each child’. as possible. Our particular interest is in cochlear implants but much of the research done in this area Jayne Ramirez Inscoe (2) has looked at the is completely relevant to other deaf children and ‘disproportionate language impairment’ of a group young people. of implanted children by using a battery of tests aimed at identifying specific language impairment in Current research topics – the international normally hearing children. Her research showed that perspective their language difficulties may have a genetic basis. At the International Conference on Cochlear Her hope is that these assessments will identify this Implants and Other Implantable Auditory type of difficulty more promptly in the future and she Technologies 2010 the hot topics included: advises additional training for teachers. Boons et al • Treatment of unilateral deafness – there is a move (3) have also looked at ways of trying to predict in certain countries towards giving cochlear language and auditory performance in implanted implants to those with single-sided deafness. children. Any model produced to identify this would • Bone-anchored hearing aids – these are being probably be of equal benefit to non-implanted increasingly fitted and Oticon has recently brought children. out a competitor for Cochlear’s BAHA. • Bilateral implantation – while research shows the Interaction between mothers and their children benefits of simultaneous bilateral implantation to Abu Bakar and colleages (4) have looked at the young children, the results for those children effect of cochlear implantation on sensitivity in receiving a sequential bilateral implant are more interactions between hearing mothers and their deaf variable. toddlers. As part of this research they have drawn • Auditory neuropathy – the variability of outcomes up a checklist known as the Maternal Sensitivity in this group continues to be debated. Research Rating Scale, which includes 13 traits that a to identify whether the lesion is in or after sensitive mother might show. It would be very the cochlea and the use of MRI to do this is useful for anybody working with mothers and currently taking place and may help to predict young children.

40 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_40_41.qxp 10/12/10 15:34 Page 13

Feature

Reading become involved will get the intervention, some There is a lot of research being carried out with now, some later. To find out more about this regard to reading and the required phonological project turn to the article on page 28 of this skills. The results are often unsurprising but Magazine or visit the NBRUH website at evidence is nevertheless important. www.tinyurl.com\Childandfamily/

Johnson and Goswami (5) explored the The Ear Foundation’s own research projects are phonological awareness skills of deaf children written up as booklets which can be purchased via with cochlear implants and relationships with the website www.earfoundation.org.uk/ The latest vocabulary and reading development. They research booklet (funded by Cochlear Europe) is found that individual differences in age at entitled From early diagnosis of deafness to implant, duration of fit, phonological development, cochlear implantation: the parents’ perspective. vocabulary development, auditory memory, visual memory and speech intelligibility were all strongly Julie Mather is part of The Ear Foundation associated with progress in reading for the Education Team. deaf implanted children. References Wass and Lyxell (6) have found that complex 1 Leo De Raeve: ‘Education and Rehabilitation working memory is predictive of reading of Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants: A comprehension ability. Deaf children performed Multidisciplinary Task’ Cochlear Implants better on tasks requiring phonological skills when International, Vol 11 Supplement 1, June 2010, the words being used were real words instead of 7–14 non-words. 2 Jayne Ramirez Inscoe: ‘Could the disproportionate language impairment found Adolescents in some children using cochlear implants Given that the use of FM systems is a frequent be inherited?’ International Conference on bone of contention with this age group, an Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable interesting paper by Odelius and Johansson (7) Auditory Technologies, Stockholm, June 2010 looks at self-assessment of classroom assistive 3 T Boons, W van Wieringen et al: ‘Predicting listening devices by a group of 10–15 year olds. language and auditory performance in children They are comparing the use of the ‘M’ microphone three years after cochlear implantation’ setting and ‘T’ telecoil setting on their hearing aids. International Conference on Cochlear Implants The paper contains a useful questionnaire, which and Other Implantable Auditory Technologies, could form the basis of any subjective assessment Stockholm, June 2010 of hearing in classrooms. 4 Z Abu Bakar, PM Brown and MD Remine: ‘Sensitivity in Interactions between Hearing Galvin et al’s (8) study of whether adolescents can Mothers and their Toddlers with Hearing Loss: benefit from a sequential bilateral implant produced The Effect of Cochlear Implantation’ Deafness different results from previous studies of this topic. and Education International Vol 12 No 1, March Their nine participants all preferred bilateral 2010, 2–15 implantation within a relatively short period of time. 5 C Johnson and U Goswami: ‘Phonological Awareness, Vocabulary and Reading in Deaf Do you know any families who would like to Children with Cochlear Implants’ Journal of take part in some research? Speech Language and Hearing Research 2010, There is a new research study run by Dr Deborah April 53(2): 237–61. James and her team at the National Biomedical 6 M Wass, B Lyxell et al: ‘Cognitive Skills and Research Unit in Hearing (NBRUH), based in Reading Ability in Children with Cochlear Nottingham, focusing on parent-child interaction. Implants’ Cochlear Implants International, Vol 11 The study investigates the causal effect on the Supplement 1, June 2010, 395–98 development of speech in deaf children using a 7 J Odelius and O Johansson: ‘Self-assessment video-based intervention. The research team is of classroom assistive listening devices’ working with families with children with permanent, International Journal of Audiology 2010, 49: congenital hearing loss and includes any child with 508–17 a permanent moderate, severe or profound hearing 8 K Galvin, K Hughes and M Mok: ‘Can loss who is at a very early stage of language adolescents and young adults with prelingual development, in other words, has less than 20 hearing loss benefit from a second, sequential words or signs. The children may have any degree cochlear implant?’ International Journal of of additional or complex needs and may attend Audiology 2010, 49: 368–77 mainstream or special school. All families who

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 41 batod_42_43_44.qxp 10/12/10 15:36 Page 12

Feature

Useful kit! Testing the use of a Soundfield system in a small class in Belfast, Mary Gordon observed some far-reaching benefits

s a ToD on the National Executive Council of a rectangular or square room, wall mounted, of BATOD, attached to the technology opposite the teacher. It was not coned so there A workstream, I decided to undertake a small were no directionality issues. Having been shown piece of informal research regarding the use of an the various choices, the teacher chose the latest infra-red Soundfield system in a classroom where a type of pendant transmitter, a Swift TX, which has hearing-impaired child was already using an FM a wider frequency response (120Hz to 10kHz) and system. I thought that this would provide valuable better emitting power from the diodes than previous information as to the practicalities of using both styles. She also picked the handheld microphone as simultaneously and so it was trialled in Belfast, an optional extra for the children to pass around for Northern Ireland. individual pupil participation in class. This works on the second of the system’s two channels. Both I approached Connevans in October 2009 and mics work best 15cm from the lips and need to be both Phil Boswell and John Popplestone were very recharged overnight. An FM Soundfield system helpful in furthering this small piece of research. could not use a pass-around second mic in this I planned to use one of their IR Swift systems and way, simultaneously. consulted the headteacher and relevant teacher in a local primary school in West Belfast to see if a I tested the room with a sound level meter early one P7 (ie Year 6) class would try out the Soundfield. morning when it was totally empty and also when This class of 18 children already had a moderately the children were occupying their seats. The room hearing-impaired pupil (average loss 60dB) using registered less than 30dB when unoccupied but a Solaris mic with MLx receivers, as well as a 60dB when the children were putting their coats statemented child with other difficulties. away and settling down.

Both the headteacher and the P7 teacher were The teacher described her class as ‘lively’ and was impressed with the literature, especially the promise delighted at the opportunity to try out the equipment of relief from voice strain and reduced background to see if there would be a difference in their normal noise, and also the BATOD Magazine article from working noise level if she were ‘miked up’. In these September 2009 about Tuckswood Community economically straightened times with much belt Primary School trialling a system (albeit a different tightening in school, all those concerned knew one). The school added the equipment to its that the likelihood of the school purchasing the insurance policy for the five-week trial up to equipment was low but the trial proceeded in order Christmas and I gained permission to speak to the to further knowledge of the use of Soundfield with children (aged ten and over) about the imminent an FM system. installation in early November. The school building is only five years old and the children could not Unlike the situation in England, school buildings in initially give me any specific examples of times Northen Ireland, even new ones, do not have to when it was difficult to hear or to follow lessons, conform to Building Bulletin 93 regulations, so it although they could give many instances from their was of great interest to all concerned to see if the previous schools! They were surveyed halfway infra-red system made a difference acoustically in through the trial (anonymously) with a home-grown this fairly new classroom. The teacher in the trial questionnaire as I had then no knowledge of the felt it would be too expensive to add it to many LIFE-UK Individual Hearing Inventory and was classrooms after a building was completed and anxious to get the trial up and running. suggested it would be excellent in the special needs classroom. However, special needs children are in John Popplestone (the kids loved his name) came every classroom! Integrating Soundfield systems over and demonstrated the ease of use of the into new-build classrooms would only add about equipment to the class teacher, reassuring her that 1% to the cost. Rationale for the use of Soundfield the hearing-impaired child would have the lesson systems in ordinary classrooms has long been re-broadcast to her and that the child would be able understood. to hear just as well as with her FM system alone but with added benefits which would become apparent. One week into the trial my pupil (on FM) felt that This Swift system had one flat speaker at the back the teacher was louder and clearer for her when the

42 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_42_43_44.qxp 10/12/10 15:36 Page 13

Feature

Swift was in use than when not in use, and she harder for her to hear the teacher, but during the noted that the teacher did not have to raise trial they seemed a bit quieter and were listening her voice. She also told me that the teacher better (although they were still fidgeting)! Her views had mentioned that the transmitter was warm so were sought throughout the trial since I was really I investigated this and discovered it was only an interested in her impressions. initial impression and it was not heating up. The teacher reported that her very talkative class It was apparent that the equipment was being remained talkative but she was able to get their utilised regularly over the one-month period when attention much more quickly with the Soundfield I visited the school weekly as part of my normal in use. She did not have it in use all the time but peripatetic teaching. I was plied with nuggets of rather for set piece taught items, as well as reading. information and anecdotes as to how it was going She found that an early feedback issue when going by pupils and staff, including the SENCO. Sadly, too close to the wall speaker was easily resolved, removal and packing of the Swift had to be and she mentioned that connecting up the hearing- arranged as the Christmas holiday approached. impaired pupil’s FM mic for re-broadcasting was Interviews with those concerned together with easy. She also felt that it was more inclusive distribution of another questionnaire, this time wearing a transmitter for everyone instead of just compiled from the LIFE-UK survey, were arranged for the hearing-impaired pupil and it made that child for January 2010. feel more included. While the majority of the class loved the pass-around mic, two children were too Out of 18 children surveyed halfway though the shy to use it. The others particularly loved it when trial, in their written answers, ten used the idea of reading aloud in turn from their novels. One bonus the teacher not needing to ‘project’ (or strain her that hadn’t been anticipated was that a child with voice), obviously having picked this word up from a speech difficulty was actually clearer and easier me when I gave the initial talk at the beginning of to understand when he used it. One reservation the trial. Another felt that it was ‘a lot clearer’ and this experienced teacher had was that a bold or that the pupils were ‘more quiet’ when it was on. difficult class might use the pass-around mic as Some commented that it was easier to hear in class an opportunity to misbehave. but three mentioned it was ‘scary’ when the teacher first spoke. I think they were trying to convey the The classroom assistant (for the statemented child) idea that it was as if the teacher were right beside felt that she had noticed a definite difference in that them, as another had written. One said it was as the sound had been ‘all around’ yet ‘softer’ and if the teacher were behind him! One girl (not the that the trial had been ‘beneficial for all the children’ hearing-impaired child) said that when it was off she and the bonus was that ‘day-dreaming kids’ could not really hear the teacher. A boy said he had were involved more. She had found, for her own noticed that it was ‘easier to learn’, while another one-to-one work with her pupil, that it had been a commented that the teacher’s voice was easier to really pleasant environment to work in. Also she hear and understand. One child said listening was felt that the teacher had been able to use a calmer ‘not good’ when the Soundfield was not on. A voice during the trial, yet this was easy to hear. This couple of children admitted to not being good suggests that the teacher, not having to raise or listeners. All surveyed admitted to being ‘quite strain her voice, was actually using a more normal, chatty’ but most said that they were ‘good listeners’. modulated tone, with normal intonation. Two children admitted that they had been listening more and that they could hear better. After the trial was over and the children were back from their Christmas holiday, I gave out the LIFE- The hearing-impaired child, in her survey answers UK Listening Inventories, using code numbers for (she had put her name on hers by arrangement), anonymity (but with the same children having the reported that she felt as if she were listening better same code as for the previous survey as the and that overall the listening in the class was better. teacher held a master list with the names). This She found a ‘big difference’ when the teacher was was very useful for the correlation of answers. Two using the Soundfield system. She also felt that pupils flagged up no difficulties whatsoever; seven she could hear an awful lot better than when had a problem sometimes if the teacher tried to say the teacher was talking without the mic. In a something to the class when everyone was tidying subsequent interview, this pupil let me know that up. Three (one was hearing-impaired) had a the re-broadcast sound seemed totally normal and problem if they could not see the teacher’s face very clear. She had noticed that, to her, it was when speaking. Five had difficulty hearing the clearer than just using her FM system on its own. teacher speak if children were making noise just She stated that before the trial the class was very outside the room. Four had a problem with hearing noisy, especially at the back of the room, making it an answer given from behind, and five had a

©BATOD Magazine • January 2011 • 43 batod_42_43_44.qxp 10/12/10 15:36 Page 14

Feature

problem if an overhead projector or computer It was apparent that if such systems were an was in use while the teacher was talking. Two integral part of newly built classrooms, many sometimes found it difficult to hear the teacher children would benefit, as would their teachers. during a test situation. Eight found it difficult to The listening and learning environment would be hear one teacher if two teachers were talking in the enhanced. I feel that this very small scale piece of room. Four found it sometimes difficult to hear other qualitative research shows that Soundfield systems children when working in groups, with another (not are serious pieces of educational ‘kit’ alongside the the hearing-impaired child!) finding this ‘mostly computers and interactive whiteboards of today’s difficult’. It was noticeable that the child with the and tomorrow’s classrooms, but they are more hearing loss had fewer difficulties than many other affordable as a planned feature of a new-build children. Presumably this can be explained by rather than as an afterthought. greater familiarity with the use of FM and years of practice in listening as a skill. I am indebted to a very recent literature search on Soundfield systems undertaken by Stuart Whyte of Overall, three children mentioned one area of BATOD‘s technology workstream on the NEC which difficulty, four mentioned two, five (including the assisted the writing of this article. I have thanked all hearing-impaired child) mentioned three, three who took part in this research and the publication focused on four areas and one girl ticked difficulties of this article will act as a further thank you to them with five different scenarios although ticking all – particularly the class teacher for her great ‘sometimes’ rather than ‘mostly’. This suggests that patience. I have respected the right of the school more children have difficulties with listening than and participants to anonymity, but they know who perhaps their teachers realise and lends credibility to they are! the assertion by Soundfield manufacturers and regular users that many children would benefit from regular Mary Gordon is a peripatetic teacher for access to such enhanced listening environments. hearing-impaired children in Belfast.

44 • © BATOD Magazine • January 2011 batod_45_46_47.qxp 10/12/10 16:58 Page 15

Association business

Have you registered yet? Ann Underwood is here to explain how to make good use of the BATOD website

he BATOD website is the fastest way that we have T available to reach all our members on a daily basis if necessary – it’s a great resource and a way of keeping up-to-date and having your say about various issues.

There are two areas of the website – one open to the public and the other for members only. Obviously everyone has access to the public face of the website, but in the members’ only area the National Executive Council posts information that it wants members to see as quickly as possible.

To see any ‘members only’ information you have to have registered on the made to the website. This is done from the orange website and then log in when you visit. You only menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen. need to register once and after that you simply log in using the original information that you supplied. Fast communication – members only You need to have your BATOD membership The purpose of the members’ section is to hold number, the postcode where your Magazine is information that has been developed for our BATOD delivered to and an email address where your members’ benefit. There are some papers visible password will be sent. If you forget your BATOD that provide advice and information so that password then visit our LOST PASSWORD page members can offer good arguments in difficult where we can reset your password and send a new situations. Facts and figures that wouldn’t otherwise one to you in an email. If your email address has be readily available can be found in the BATOD changed, log in using your old email address and position paper The recruitment and retention password, then visit the MY DETAILS page to of Teachers of the Deaf. Features of effective update your email address. services lists the various areas that need to be considered when explaining why your service fulfils The website has several areas, each with its own its tasks. ‘homepage’ – The Association; Articles; Publications – and there are direct links to the calendar, The National Executive Officer (Paul Simpson) situations vacant and a links page to other keeps the Noticeboard up to date with short notices organisations. Each folder also has its own and links to documents and general information of ‘homepage’. The contents of each area are interest – some of these may be time constrained accessible from the relevant homepage. There so waiting for the next BATOD Magazine to share is specific information available in folders in the the information is not an option. There is usually at members’ area but throughout the website you least one new notice per week. BATOD tries to will find items identified on the ‘homepage with represent the range of views of its members when ‘VISIBLE TO MEMBERS ONLY’ if you are logged in. a consultation response is made, and by letting you know about the issue we are giving you the It is possible to set up an RSS feed – this is a link opportunity to send in your thoughts, comments and that lets you know by email that changes have been examples so that we can support our statements.

Association business

About BATOD In this section the basic aims, objectives and constitution can be found. There are details about membership and how to join BATOD, along with application forms to download and complete. This means that you can encourage colleagues to join BATOD and you can provide the relevant information.

BATOD has eight regions/nations which use the region folders to contact members and keep them up to date with information. It is possible for regions to pass out messages, present their local newsletter, advertise forthcoming meetings and also include the presentations from meetings (with the agreement of the presenters). There is a folder that members can use to share congratulations and celebrations, obituaries, news of BATOD members, new ideas and projects. Just send in the information to [email protected]. Folder contents also describe how the NEC works and its current format. There is a history of the Association and a leaflet to download that describes the work of BATOD, which will help those people who are beginning BSL Whenever you visit the website new items will courses and need to know about the background be marked with a NEW tag. This indicates that a of organisations. file has been uploaded since your last visit. You can follow the NEW trail until you come to the Finding your way around the website document. Once you navigate away from the Although you can drill down through various folders website the cookie thinks you have looked at the to find documents of interest or follow the ‘new’ ‘NEW’ pages …perhaps you didn’t have time… so or ‘updated’ markers on your next visit, it is also if you want to check up on all the changes recently possible to use the shortcuts to some popular then use the What’s New link in the orange top part folders on the orange menu bar on the left-hand of the menu bar on the left. It takes you to a page side of the screen. where all the latest documents are listed. Alternatively, throughout the website most Association information documents have key words listed so that if Basic information about the Association is found you want to track down what is published on in the folders on this homepage of the website – www.BATOD.org.uk choose the Search facility. The constitution, membership, conferences and two site searches through documents for the key words large folders, one dealing with the work of BATOD in your search and then presents you with a list of and the other with the structure of the Association. documents where the key word appears. You can There are leaflets that are used on the BATOD then jump to the relevant document(s) with a mouse stand and you can download and share them if you click. are telling colleagues about BATOD (or keeping yourself up to date). One folder contains FAQs – Situations vacant a selection of the questions BATOD is asked most One of the most successful ventures has been to frequently, including enquiries about training to be provide members with a reasonably priced facility a Teacher of the Deaf, financial support, help with to advertise job vacancies – and so allow all dissertations, careers with deaf children, information ToDs and interested people to see a very specific about subscriptions, BATOD publications, sign collection of posts that are available across the UK. language and statistics about deaf children. The advertisements usually appear within 48 hours of receipt and remain visible until the closing date The work of BATOD (or just after). Our evaluation has shown that some The Association deals with all professional aspects responses can be almost instantaneous! of the education of deaf children and their teachers. This folder holds information about the projects that Articles BATOD is or has been involved with, the meetings It was difficult to invent a homepage name to cover that representatives attend and the range of the wealth of information in this area. The folders responses to government papers and consultations. contain archived information as well as current items.

Association business

• Audiology – Audiology Refreshers 2009, Magazine • Current research – It has been agreed that archive, Phonak Naida hearing aids, BB93 BATOD will provide a web page to keep ToDs in application in classrooms, BB93 revision the picture with regard to current research. The response. folder contains details about various projects, • CPD – The BATOD CPD log aims to encourage including the communication abilities of deaf a wider interpretation of what constitutes children with autism; reading and spelling abilities professional development as we realise that all of teenagers who are deaf; a deaf education members may not have easy access to courses research update from Moray House, University of and that many other activities are of great value. Edinburgh; Baschet Structures and music project. • Reasonable adjustments – Archives, access to examinations, oral language modification, Publications exemptions and enhancements, language A benefit of BATOD membership is free access to modification... (more) an electronic version of Deafness and Education • International – News from those working with deaf International. A ‘logged in’ BATOD member can click youngsters in other countries, reports of visits and the link and move directly to the ingentaconnect projects, advice and suggested contacts for those website. needing help. • Early Support – Articles from the BATOD The Magazine is BATOD’s most important Magazine covering the development of the publication and there are items in this folder that Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. support the Magazine and its production – future • Resources – Items that have been published in ideas for focus issues, and a complete index of the BATOD Magazine or on the website which will Magazines since 1999 to complement the CD be useful to those working with deaf children and which has pdf copies of all the Magazines. This is young people. We are hoping to extend this area extremely useful for research and tracking down with the assistance of BATOD members willing to past articles of interest. Information about the share their work. CRIDE survey (a reincarnation of the BATOD • Awards and Scholarships – Information about the Survey) is also visible in this folder. awards made by BATOD: The Mary Grace Wilkins Travelling Scholarship, The Eichholz Prize and the Ann Underwood is the BATOD manager for Peter Preston Audiology Award. publications and the website and was President • Learning Support – Information for communication of BATOD 2008–10. support workers, classroom assistants and teaching assistants about courses, articles of interest and general issues. Reports of meetings with other organisations. • Guidelines – BATOD has issued guidelines to assist ToDs in developing their approaches to various situations. These include the organisation and management of services, guidelines for those attending tribunals, ToDs working with speech and language therapists, setting up access to work and advice on the preparation of worksheets. • Literacy – Materials and information, Literacy Hour. • Numeracy – Access to Maths, A,B & C moments, numeracy ideas. • Being a Teacher of the Deaf – Archive, current issues, pay and conditions, training as a Teacher of the Deaf – available university courses. • Behaviour – Articles from the BATOD Magazine on the theme of behavioural difficulties of some deaf children and young people. • Further and Higher Education – Articles and reports considering issues in the post-16 sector. • Inclusion – Information and articles about the inclusion of deaf children in mainstream schools. • Mental Health and Self-esteem – Articles from the BATOD Magazine on the theme of mental health and self-esteem in deaf children and young people.

Association business

Representing you – FEAPDA Peter Annear gives a round-up of business from the FEAPDA Council Meeting in October 2010

EAPDA brings together associations of Teachers of the Deaf from all over Europe. The aim of F FEAPDA is to represent and support Teachers of the Deaf by sharing good practice principally through organising a biennial congress hosted by one of the member countries.

Recently there have been a number of developments in FEAPDA’s operations. An exciting initiative for combating the exclusion of deaf children by developing teacher training competencies through the Leonardo project has been set up among a number of partner organisations including FEAPDA – this has been described in earlier editions of this Magazine. The the Leonardo project FEAPDA is updating the website to Leonardo project offers the best preparation for the make it more attractive and easier to use, with links to future of Deaf Education, moving towards an inclusive past and future congress abstracts, country member model of excellence and specialised, targeted support. websites and other interactivity. FEAPDA’s logo has served the Federation well over the years but we feel FEAPDA has an increasingly active website (set up it is looking dated (what do you think?) and would like four years ago by a former deaf student of mine) and to design a new logo. We have proposed a logo this along with other developments means that the competition for all countries to encourage colleagues, interests of deaf children and young people in Europe parents and children to design a new logo that has a have never been better identified and promoted. more contemporary feel while promoting the same principles as before. Watch this space for more details Presently BATOD is one of the principal member of how to enter the competition. countries, having the largest association membership. Paul Simpson (National Executive Officer) is We are also keen to have a wider European President of FEAPDA, and the FEAPDA Webmaster membership. Some previous country members have Jason Monger also comes from Britain. I am the dropped out for a number of reasons. Some country BATOD representative, along with Alison Weaver. associations of Teachers of the Deaf have folded but we want to encourage these countries to be The 2010 FEAPDA Council (country representatives) represented and recognised. It was enthusiastically met with the Committee (officers) in Luxembourg. agreed that Macedonia’s application should be We had ten countries represented at the meeting, accepted and I, for one, look forward to visiting comprising the following members: the UK, Germany, this country again, having spoken with Blaze Mitev, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Principal of the State School in Skopje. He described Luxembourg and Slovenia, with apologies from Poland, some great practice and gave some graphic and an observer from Macedonia who has proposed descriptions of the cultural heritage of his country. that the Macedonian Association of Teachers of the Deaf becomes a full member. In addition to standing We have connections now in Malta, Hungary and items for discussion, the main aim of the meeting was Austria and they are being encouraged to become to ensure smooth planning for the 2011 Congress to be members. France (the founding country of FEAPDA) held at St Michielsgestel in The Netherlands on 21 and has also expressed an interest in rejoining after ten 22 October 2011. The theme will be Reading/Literacy in years, with a new association of ToDs being formed. Deaf Children. Arrangements are well in hand, with an international faculty of keynote speakers almost fully Country presentations confirmed – put the date in your diary now! At the latest meeting Belgium representative Guido Lichtert described the screening process in Belgium For BATOD members FEAPDA is becoming a relevant and some of the positive outcomes for support this source of good information on deaf education. Alongside process has produced.

Association business

There is good data collection on deaf education by All staff are trained for sign language and bimodal professionals which is useful and in stark contrast to support. If the choice is for oral education the default data collected by the Belgian Government which is is to mainstream (with advisory support). Their aim is generic and unrepresentative. It is also still the case that for bilingual/bimodal provision. Compulsory nursery government officials decide on the level and type of provision is from four years, and ToDs are involved in support for deaf children purely on unaided thresholds. home guidance support when the child is aged three.

Thomas Mueller from Switzerland reported on an In Sweden there have been some structural changes: intriguing congress held recently that described how • The school inspectorate will now look at special young people are becoming ‘digital natives’ and, schools (good news). startlingly, the suggestion that medication will be taken • A new legal framework identifies central rather than more and more to aid their concentration. Thomas local control for special schools which will take control recognised that deaf digital native children require even of pre-school and after-school support. more precise ToD skills but generic teachers may be • There is a need for special schools to be more flexible used in future; a situation that the Leonardo project in the future, responding to changing needs and should combat. clientele (immigrants). • There is a new law which recognises sign language as The German experience as described by Franz Barthel a minority language. sounds very familiar to UK ToDs. There is early • There is an increasing number of children with intervention in most regions, with a need to get the complex service needs. same conditions in each in order to avoid a ‘postcode • There is a focus on bilingual Swedish/sign language. lottery’. Philosophically he felt Germany was on the The question is how does the reality match up in the road from integration to inclusion, but additional needs, classroom? This needs further definition. earlier diagnosis and family support are all challenges. • Competencies: these will be useful to identify new ToDs coming in. In Italy, diagnosis by medics/audiologists and speech and language therapists leads to intervention. Resources 2000 was a crucial year in Slovenia when legislation on are stretched, according to Lucio Vinetti, and so it can the education of children with special needs was laid take time to get support. Functional diagnosis leads out. Eight definitions of SEN, including hearing- to up to 12 hours a week. Support is by teachers impaired, were defined to clarify inclusive practice. (generically trained for 300 hours in six months). • Deaf children are entitled to additional professional Families can choose schools (but there are very support from the beginning. few schools now). There is a range of services for • A special commissioning body (psychologist, families of deaf children but these are not collaborative paediatrician and teacher) considers requests for provisions. ToDs have a reduced role, which threatens support and will bring in specialists for each of the the profession. eight SEN areas. • For hearing-impaired children there is one advisory Luxembourg has an interesting challenge of high ToD for up to five hours. numbers of immigrants, with implications for language • A sliding scale of support has been introduced. development. Nadine Rischard, a specialised teacher, • Professional centres have been set up to provide has noticed that the world economic downturn means advisory support in different disciplines. that families are moving to Luxembourg with older deaf • Teacher training has three faculties of education children and there are increasing numbers of children providing a four-year programme of study at different with unilateral hearing loss requiring more support levels: special (generic), specialist area (one of the (identified by newborn hearing screening). eight) and learning difficulties.

In Macedonia there is one main centre for deaf As the BATOD representative I am keen to reflect to the education. Blaze outlined a model of technical, Federation concerns, comments or suggestions from mechanical and vocational training that would be members which have a broader or European dimension. familiar to ToDs in the UK who remember the Contact me at [email protected]. I am 1950s and 60s. The school has a model of total pleased to represent BATOD in this way and am communication and he described some exciting creative grateful for the support and encouragement of the and performing arts projects encouraging sign language steering committee and individual members of BATOD. and listening and featuring Macedonian music. We are grateful to the Luxemburg representatives The Netherlands has two organisations, Auris and (Nadine and Claudine) for making all the domestic Kentralis, which provide support to ToDs in the form arrangements and for making us feel so welcome. of training and resources. Support is planned with the family and curriculum goals are set for each child Peter Annear is the Lead Teacher of the Deaf with through three levels: mainstream inclusion, long-term the Hearing Support Team, Sensory, Physical and intervention and vocational intervention. Medical Support Service in Somerset.

Association business

Representing you – NDCS Paul Simpson reports on a meeting held between NDCS and BATOD in October 2010 at NDCS HQ in London

Context This meeting takes place termly and should not be followed to allow such schools to be housed in bring together representatives from BATOD, NDCS, abandoned buildings, office blocks and so on. The RNID and Ofsted. In reality only the first two attend Schools White Paper and the SEN Green Paper regularly, as was the case on this occasion. following the Call to Views are also on the horizon.

Main points from the meeting: NDCS is waiting to see what effects any changes to Ofsted might have on inspections of specialist Present: Brian Gale, Ian Noon, Seonaid Ryan, Paul provision. BATOD is meeting in November with Simpson. Ofsted (at its request) to discuss the use of interpreters in inspections. Following its survey NDCS is asking what the optimum size for a service should be. Should very The Education Select Committee is currently small local authority services combine to form a more enquiring into Ofsted. NDCS has submitted written substantial service? NDCS welcomes comments from evidence. heads of services and others. NDCS is watching carefully to see what cuts are There is concern that the amendment to the taking place to services for deaf children. In theory, Academies Act securing local authority provision support services should be funded from the Direct for low incidence (not yet defined) has been ignored. Schools Grant which should not be affected by the There is nothing on the Department for Education’s local authority cuts. The indications from BATOD’s website, and officials have no answers. NDCS is recent survey are not encouraging. keen for case studies either showing that individual deaf children are not getting support or that funding to There was another discussion about the unreliability the support service has been affected by delegation of the School Census data, particularly where of funds to academies. NDCS is also following this up examination results are concerned. NDCS accepts with the members of the House of Lords who were this but states that using statistics from year to year originally involved. Both BATOD and NDCS are and comparing them is a useful exercise. There keeping a watching brief in relation to the effect of seems to be a significant increase in the number of academies on deaf children. recorded deaf children (around 5%). NDCS wonders whether this might be as a result of the Progression BATOD pointed out the many factors behind the Guidance, which is causing schools to look more Hands up for help! statistics which make them carefully at the achievements of deaf children. problematic and very difficult to compare. NDCS The Department for Education will not separate accepts this but stated that the general trend showed out information about deaf children but will allow a positive link between better GCSE results and appropriately qualified people to do so under certain better ToD:pupil ratios. restrictions. NDCS is to ask CRIDE members whether anyone is able to do that. NDCS described its campaign to write to councillors asking that funding for services for deaf children be NDCS is concerned that there is a misunderstanding unharmed. It recognises that the ToDs can’t write to in NatSIP about the use of data. It is not possible to their employers’ local authorities but if they live in a collect data and then not release it. The Freedom of different local authority from the one in which they Information Act means that all information must be work, they might write. shared unless data protection rules would be broken and individuals could be identified. Brian Gale will There is currently a range of consultations to which raise this with the NatSIP Reference Group. NDCS and BATOD are responding or considering. Both submitted a response to the Call for Views. The Actions for BATOD Equality and Human Rights Commission is consulting • Inform members of this regular meeting. on the Equality Act’s implications on further and • Continue to liaise with NDCS on key issues. higher education. The consultation on free schools is raising a concern because it seems that normal Paul Simpson is the National Executive Officer of planning regulations, for example for acoustics, might BATOD and Editor of this Magazine.

Regulars Reviews

Title John gets ready for school implant users’. I completely missed this Author Joanne Zellweger aspect of the book; however, that isn’t to Publisher Squeeze Marketing Ltd say it is not a good book to share with Publication 2010 young children. It is well presented, ISBN 978 1 906671 010 3 although the soft cover means that it Price £4.99 won’t last too long in the hands of a Reviewer Corinda M Carnelley, peripatetic ToD, toddler. The drawings appeal to pre-school children, London Borough of Croydon who also love the fact that John is ‘naughty’.

This illustrated book is the second in the My Brother This book would be a useful resource for talking about John series about a boy who is deaf and uses both a school and preparing a child for going to school. cochlear implant and a hearing aid. The series was Reading the book could lead to a discussion about inspired by the John Tracy Clinic sibling programme in uniform and the appropriateness of different types of Los Angeles and the book is written from the sibling’s clothes. point of view. It aims to fill a gap in children’s books by presenting a character with a cochlear implant and At the end of the book there are two pages of clear hearing aid. illustrations about cochlear implants and hearing aids. These could be very useful in talking to other Reception The general information suggests that the book ‘raises aged children about the subject and could also be used some of the issues faced by siblings of deaf cochlear in assemblies.

Title Let’s Sign Early Years Curriculum themselves a disservice as the books could easily (Tutor and Student book) be utilised in a wider range of settings and with a Authors Debra May and Alison Wells much older age group. Publication 2010 Publisher Co-Sign Communications The books have been developed by a deaf inclusion ISBN Tutor book: 978 1 905913 15 X worker and an advisory Teacher of the Deaf whose Student book: 978 1 905913 16 B skills and experience have combined to make this an Price Tutor book with CD-ROM: £20; invaluable and much-needed resource for anyone Student book: £10 trying to develop a sign class or promote deaf Reviewer Brian Shannan, educational awareness. I cannot praise this resource enough. audiologist There is very clear and concise information on the linguistic characteristics of BSL and the importance of storytelling. In addition to this information we are provided with some excellent advice on room layout, and this attention to detail is very pleasing. There is also advice regarding the structure of the sessions, and a code of conduct for both students and tutor.

This book also provides ten lesson plans as well as materials that can be used at Christmas. Page 15 of the tutor book includes a table which breaks each lesson down into topics: week three, for instance, covers colours, shapes and pets. Each lesson comes with an individual lesson plan that details the topic, time allocated to each part of the lesson, teacher’s activities, learners’ activities, materials and assessment. In addition to the lesson plan, the This resource consists of two separate books materials for each lesson are also provided. These designed to support the teaching of BSL in the early include graphic cards of the BSL sign as well as years. The books both state on the front cover that cue cards with useful phrases. they are intended for use in the nursery and primary setting and as an invaluable resource for families. The lessons demonstrate that the two authors However, I feel that the authors are doing are skilled and experienced professionals. For

Regulars

example, in week nine the topic is play at school newborn hearing screening. The ready-made and school materials. The lesson begins by lessons provided a structure to the group of recapping the previous lesson, a methodology lessons, which has been difficult to achieve in the that is adopted by many in the teaching profession. past. The parents liked the fact that they had a The lesson covers the BSL vocabulary and goes resource that could be taken home with them, on to introduce conversational grammar and the and the tutors liked the ready-made materials. The importance of placement. It is the broad approach focus on conversation rather than on vocabulary is to BSL rather than vocabulary-driven lessons that both refreshing and consistent with an approach makes this such a refreshing resource. that facilitates attachment and good communication strategies. The materials have a very accessible layout as well as being detailed. They are in a format that any The quality of the resource is excellent. There are teacher will be familiar with. There is a clear index colour flashcards that can be bought separately, at the beginning as well as an additional CD-ROM and the tutor pack comes with an additional CD- in the tutor book. One small criticism is that the ROM of resources. The graphics will be familiar to materials are in black and white and not colour. those who have used Cath Smith’s resources in the Also, the time allocated to some of the lessons is past. There has been an abundance of individual quite ambitious, but this can be tailored easily to sign resources that rely on the individual teacher meet each individual need. to develop the lessons. The fact that these are lesson plans that not only focus on vocabulary but This resource has been used for a family sign conversation and grammar will, it is hoped, mean language group as well as a primary Year 6/7 that more exciting and relevant sign clubs will lunchtime club. The family sign group was for emerge. This is a resource that all services should parents and carers whose children had been purchase and we can only hope that it is the first in identified with congenital deafness through a long line of similar materials.

BATOD was there representing you... Between the NEC meetings, members of BATOD attend various meetings that are of particular interest to Teachers of the Deaf. This list is not exhaustive. Your representatives at the meetings listed included: Gary Anderson, Jill Bussien, Claire Ingham, Liz Reed-Beadle, Seonaid Ryan, Paul Simpson. Date External participants Purpose of meeting Venue

November

2–3 Leonardo project Sixth partnership meeting Newbury 5 CRIDE Preparing the next NDCS/CRIDE survey DCAL, London 15 Ofsted Use of interpreters Ofsted, London 16 NatSIP Reference group Sense, London 17 FM working group Regular meeting London 22 NatSIP SEN funding meeting NDCS, London 25 Leonardo project European projects meeting Luxembourg 29 Skill Pre-DVD meeting Oak Lodge School, London 30 Progression Guidance group Presentation of NatSIP outcomes work London

December

1 Ofqual Spelling, Punctuation and Coventry Grammar Advisory Group 2 Heads’ conference Annual conference Nottingham 6 Ofqual Advisory group workshop Coventry 8 DfE Phonics Screen DfE, London 15 Ofqual Launch of Annual Report British Library, London

January

7–8 Leonardo project Seventh partnership meeting Luxembourg 11 CRIDE Survey meeting Frank Barnes School 12 FLSE SEN conference London 13 University of Birmingham Course consultative meeting Birmingham

Regulars ICT news With another year over, it’s the time for New Year’s resolutions, says Sharon Pointeer

ere are my top ten ICT resolutions which a sentence. These are designed to develop everyone should be making and keeping this understanding, so if an incorrect word is chosen Hyear. users are not allowed to move on until they have the • Back up now! That power cut, hard drive crash or answer correct. The reading level of these activities hardware failure could happen any time and then it tends to be quite high and initially I expected pupils will be too late. to complete the tasks by randomly dragging words • Declutter your email inbox. Delete all those emails into the boxes until they got the correct answer. you thought were important, but that you’ve never However, at the end of the task they are given a looked at again. score which is then emailed with the group results to • Clean your keyboard, mouse and screen. Ugh – all the teacher who set the task. Pupils quickly realised those finger marks! that random drag and drop did not gain them a high • If you are a Windows user, ‘defrag’ your hard disc. mark and as they can also compete against their This is one of the best ways to speed up a sluggish classmates most pupils were motivated to read machine. If you have a Mac, just sit back and gloat. carefully and work out the correct answer first time. • Check for updates and install them. Your computer should be doing this automatically, but it does not In some subjects such as maths there are ‘improve’ hurt to force it to check. activities which take the user step by step through a • Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date and process with examples. There is also an increasing working. number of Assessing Pupils' Progress tasks being • Tidy your desktop. All those short cuts that you don’t developed. These tasks are more interactive and go use are slowing up your machine. beyond the dragging and dropping of words.The text • Be brave, delete all the files on your pen drive to in these activities can also be read out to the user, make space for moving files around. They are only which can be helpful to some pupils. copies of course, but if they aren’t, copy them to your computer first. To increase engagement further, pupils have • Recycle your old ink-jet cartridges in aid of charity access to SAM World where they can set an avatar, this year. Many charities make use of these select buddies to compete with and gain points by schemes and provide envelopes. If you haven’t got completing exercises which allow their avatar to your own favourite charity, support Hearing Dogs for travel to different cities. Deaf People. • If you’ve got this far, treat yourself to a new game Research completed by the Fischer Family Trust for those times when inspiration and inclination are has shown that students who complete more than lacking. Big Fish games have an excellent selection ten hours of SAM Learning do better at GCSE – www.bigfishgames.com/ compared to students who have not had access to the system. Click on the proven success tab on the One of my New Year’s resolutions is to make more homepage to read more and to access a range of use of online learning activities for starter and free trial activities – www.samlearning.com/ homework activities for my classes. Most schools have access to a range of systems through their local If you would prefer to set your own activities so education authority grid for learning or through a that they can be more tailored to the needs of your school subscription. Some online learning sites are pupils then I Am Learning is another excellent free, but you may need to register if you want to set system. This aims to be highly motivating by up pupil, school or home access. presenting quizzes in a range of game formats. As a teacher you can create your own quiz or free text One very popular site is SAM Learning, which exercise. Once you have typed your quiz and saved offers activities for Key Stage 1 up to A-level. All the it you can set it for a group of pupils. When the activities are authored by teachers and examiners pupils log in they have a choice of games to play as and are well matched to the National Curriculum and they do your quiz. They may choose a racing game, GCSE and A-level requirements. The user interacts a splat-the-rat-type game, or something less arcade with the tasks mainly using drag and drop, for style such as ‘millionaire’. There are leader boards example dragging a word into a sentence or dragging and avatars as well and the more the pupils play the a tick or a cross to an answer. The majority of the games and revise, the more credits they earn, which tasks take the form of a revision test where the in turn unlocks more games and features. Teachers user has to identify the correct word to complete receive feedback on progress and there is a wide

Regulars

range of optional reports. You can also set up complete three of the tests, one at the level you surveys for your pupils and parents which can be predict, one above and one below. Once they have useful for Ofsted. I Am Learning offers a free trial completed the tests an overall National Curriculum which gives you plenty of time to decide whether level is calculated for each pupil, including an a, b or this would be of value to you and your pupils – c sub-level. I have used these for the past two years www.iamlearning.co.uk/ and, while it is sometimes necessary to read the questions to the pupils, the results match well with Languagenut has been designed to support primary teacher assessment and observation. They are a school teachers in the delivery of Key Stage 2 really useful baseline assessment tool as they also modern foreign languages. Covering the full four show up areas of difficulty. There are similar years, and linked to the KS2 Framework for baseline assessments for maths as well. Most of Languages’ objectives, Languagenut unlocks the the materials on Yacapaca are aimed at secondary business of learning languages in a way that is pupils, but there is no reason why, if you are rigorous, progressive and fun. There are games, creating your own resources, the site could not be quizzes and teaching tips for Spanish, French, used with any age group. A video on the homepage German, Chinese, Italian, Japanese and English. shows how the system works – http://yacapaca.com/ Although this is aimed at Key Stage 2, the activities are well suited to the needs of secondary-aged The BBC provides a range of free online learning hearing-impaired pupils who are learning a modern materials, ranging from games for pre-schoolers foreign language. The games include matching through to GCSE and A-level revision. words and pictures, a version of hangman, pelmanism and so on, and the words are spoken BBC Bitesize covers Key Stage 1 upwards and clearly in the listening games. The English section contains interactive games, activities and tests for all is new and looks very suitable for teaching English levels. The KS1 site has maths and spelling games vocabulary in a fun, yet structured, way. A two-week to help five to seven year olds with primary literacy free trial is available and subscriptions are and numeracy. The sites for KS2 and 3 also have reasonably priced – www.languagenut.com/ science activities. At GCSE level most subjects are covered, including Welsh and Irish. There are also SAM Learning, I Am Learning and Languagenut are sections of the site covering subjects taught in paid-for services, so if you do not have access to Welsh, Scottish Standard Grade and Scottish any of these and funds are limited, Yacapaca could Highers. The pages can be a bit wordy, but there be a more viable option for use with your pupils. are interactive links to definitions and a range of Yacapaca is produced by The Chalkface Project and test-yourself quizzes for the older pupils. There are claims to be the leading free online assessment several games which can be accessed using mobile platform, serving almost one-and-a-half million phones, so if you cannot prevent your pupils having members (as of Jan 2010). Yacapaca helps teachers their phones in school, perhaps you should be to assess students through multiple choice encouraging them to use them for learning – questions, short-text tests, e-portfolios and other www.bbc.co.uk/schools/bitesize/ popular methods. It includes auto-marking and analysis tools and has a complete suite of authoring BBC Class Clips contains classroom video resources tools. Teachers can use the activities available on on a variety of subjects at primary and secondary the site, or can sign up to become an author and level. There are hundreds of clips which can be create their own assignments. The philosophy of the viewed in your browser or downloaded in a variety of site is that assignments are shared with other users formats. I searched using the keyword ‘subtitles’ and it and there is a huge number of tasks available to only returned 72 matches, so it is hoped that this will choose from. A note of caution, however – it is increase as this resource is developed. However, important that you check all the way through an as it is possible to download the clips and they are assignment before you set it for your pupils, as relatively short, it would be feasible to add your own some can contain spelling or other errors or be too subtitles fairly easily using a subtitling program or specific to the school which wrote the task. video editor – www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/

In order to use Yacapaca you have to register and Links to other areas of the BBC’s online learning set up identities for your pupils, but once this has offering that might be worth a look can be found at been completed setting tasks is very easy and www.bbc.co.uk/learning/subjects/childrens_learning. results appear in the teacher’s mark book. One set shtml and www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ of tasks which is particularly useful for ICT is the baseline assessments for Year 7 pupils. These cover If you would like to contribute anything to these levels 2 to 7 and are available with standard timing pages, please contact Sharon Pointeer at or extended timing for SEN pupils. The pupils [email protected].

Regulars This and that… Email news to [email protected] New website for Deaf Children NDCS and Learning academies The Department of Education at the University of Oxford has Despite ongoing lobbying efforts and launched a new website, which is supported by a new server. an amendment to the Academies Its Deaf Children Learning project website, which has resources Act earlier in the year, there remain and games for deaf children, is also supported by the new concerns that academies are having server. There is therefore a new website address. To access the a detrimental impact on deaf children. website go to www.education.ox.ac.uk/ndcs/ Users might experience some problems, especially with usernames and NDCS continues to lobby the passwords; contact [email protected] if this is Government to take action and provide the case. reassurances in this area. However, it is being held back by a lack of case studies and actual examples that it The Hello campaign can cite as evidence that some deaf In October last year, The Communication Trust children in academies are not getting – a coalition of 39 voluntary organisations, the help they need. including I CAN – drew together 150 of the biggest voices in children’s communication at Can you help NDCS lobby for change the House of Commons. Sarah Teather MP, by providing case studies and Children and Families Minister, was present for examples? These could include: the unveiling of Hello, The Communication • deaf children in academies not getting Trust’s campaign to help achieve the the help they need, or the funding for recommendations of the 2008 Bercow review of services for this children and young people with speech, language and • confusion within the local authority communication needs. over who pays for specialist support services for deaf children After the event, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, • funding for specialist support services said in Parliament, ‘I want to work on the marvellous steps that for deaf children being reduced were recommended under the previous Government in the because of schools in the area Bercow report. I pay tribute to everyone associated with it... converting to academies. we want to carry forward their work.’ See page 23 of this Magazine for more details. NDCS welcomes any other examples or experiences of deaf children in academies, including any best practice Safety awareness online examples. It will use these case studies The Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre has produced and examples to lobby the Government new resources designed to help protect and educate young to enforce the amendment to the people with additional needs and disabilities in the online Academies Act and to take further action environment. It includes a video Sam’s Real Friends, which is to make sure deaf children in academies an awareness-raising film for deaf young people. The key are getting the help they need. messages are to be kind to each other online, to be aware that others can lie about who they are online, to protect Please contact NDCS by email at personal information online and to know whom to tell if you [email protected] or by telephone are worried. at 020 7014 1182.

The resource comes with accompanying guidance notes and Where necessary, NDCS is happy to suggested activities. There is a subtitled and a non-subtitled treat any evidence as confidential and version of the film and all actors use BSL. The film and to make anonymous any information it other resources can be downloaded from may provide to the Department for www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/resources/ Education.

Regulars

Electrical Safety Council launches new websites ESC are an excellent example of such practice. Deaf young people can find out how to keep themselves safe, pick up fun facts and get information about careers in electricity. It is rare for any organisation which isn’t deaf-centred to provide full BSL translation on its website, and we encourage other organisations to follow the ESC’s example.’ As part of its commitment to accessibility and education, the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) is now The ESC is a charity dedicated to reducing deaths providing sign language on both its educational and injuries from electrical accidents in the UK. For websites for children in order to support those more information about the charity and the resources working for improved education for the deaf that it provides for children and teachers visit community. www.esc.org.uk or email [email protected]. The newly translated BSL sites can be found It states that some deaf children have difficulty at www.switchedonkids.org.uk/bsl and learning to use spoken and written English because www.twothirtyvolts.org.uk/bsl/ they are both so closely linked with speech and sound. To make information as accessible as possible web-based resources need to provide both A guide to education subtitles and BSL translation – features that very few websites currently provide. The ESC has produced reforms visually engaging websites which are sensitive to the State education is changing. Although it is still obstacles deaf children face on the internet. relatively early days for the Coalition Government, details of policy are emerging steadily. The www.twothirtyvolts.org.uk which is aimed at education workforce is braced for change. 11–17 year olds, and www.switchedonkids.org.uk Whether the principles of Every Child Matters will developed for 7–12 year olds, are popular survive the upheaval is unclear. But one way or educational websites that have a range of another, the new era will require professionals to information about the benefits and dangers of adapt quickly. electricity. As well as providing videos and games for children, the websites also include a variety of Children & Young People Now has produced a resources for teachers, including lesson plans and 20-page guide which is intended to be of use for revision notes. Both sites now host full British Sign anyone who works with children, young people Language (BSL) throughout to ensure that deaf and families. It has been written by CYP Now children who use BSL can easily access the learning senior reporter Lauren Higgs. resources they provide. Available online only, the guide helps you to Tyron Woolfe from the National Deaf Children’s navigate through the minefield of government Society (NDCS) says, ‘The two websites are fantastic policy on academies, free schools, the teaching resources for young deaf people. The NDCS workforce, curriculum and qualifications, the role welcomes organisations and companies actively of Ofsted and other matters of interest, and working towards making information accessible to discusses some issues that might arise as a result deaf people, and these websites developed by the of the reforms. It can be downloaded from the CYP website at www.cypnow.co.uk/

Online education with The Red Cross The Red Cross has a new online education toolkit which tackles migration issues and aims to give young people a voice in the migration debate. The new downloadable toolkit is for teachers and anyone working with young people aged 12 and up, and includes lesson plans, games, videos and interactive activities, all aimed at promoting discussion and understanding of issues around migration and development. Visit www.redcross.org.uk/positiveimages/

Regulars

Abbreviations and acronyms used in this Magazine

A-levels Advanced Levels KS Key Stage ACSW Association of Communication Support Workers LPC La Langue Française Parlé Complétée ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder LSA Learning Support Assistant AEB Associated Examining Board Mac (Apple) Macintosh Computer AQA Assessment and Qualification Alliance MFL Modern Foreign Language BAHA Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid mic Microphone BAPA British Association of Paediatricians in Audiology MP Member of Parliament BATOD British Association of Teachers of the Deaf MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging BB93 Building Bulletin 93 MSc Master of Science BCIG British Cochlear Implant Group MSI Multi-Sensory Impairment BSA British Society of Audiology NAPPI Non-Abusive Psychological and Physical Intervention BSL British Sign Language NatSIP National Sensory Impairment Partnership BT British Telecom NBRUH National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing BTE Behind the Ear NDCS National Deaf Children’s Society BTEC Business and Technology Education Council NEC National Executive Council C4EO Centre for Excellence and Outcomes NHS National Health Service CA Classroom Assistant NI Northern Ireland CAMHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services NIACE National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education CD Compact Disk NMHDU National Mental Health Development Unit CD-ROM Compact Disk Read Only Memory NSPCC National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children CHARGE Syndrome including Coloboma and/or cranial nerves, Heart NVQ National Vocational Qualifications defects, Atresia choanae, Retarded growth and development, Ofqual Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator Genital anomalies and Ear anomalies Ofsted Inspectorate CI Cochlear Implant OLM Oral Language Modifier CiCFAST Cochlear Implant Competencies – Family and Staff Training P7 Primary 7 (year group in Northern Ireland) CLANSA Certificate for Literacy and Numeracy Support PATOSS Professional Association of Teachers of Students with cm Centimetre Specific Learning Difficulties CPD Continuing Professional Development pdf Portable Digital Format CRIDE Consortium for Research in Deaf Education Peri Peripatetic CSW Communication Support Worker PIP Parent Information Pack dB Decibel PSHEE Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education DCAL Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre QS Quality Standards DVD Digital Versatile Disk RCSLT Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists EA Educational Assistant RNID Royal National Institute for Deaf People ECM Every Child Matters RSDCM Royal School for Deaf Children Margate ELSA Emotional Literacy Support Assistant RSS Really Simple Syndication ESC Electrical Safety Council SEAL Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning ESRC Economic and Social Research Council SEN Special Educational Needs ETI Education and Training Inspectorate SENCO Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator FAQ Frequently Asked Question SENDO Special Educational Needs and Disability (NI) Order FEAPDA Fédération Européenne d’Associations de Professeurs de Sense National charity for people with deafblindness Déficients Auditifs (European Federation of Associations Skill National Bureau for Students with Disabilities of Teachers of the Deaf) SLI Sign Language Interpreter FLSE Federation of Leaders in Special Education SLT Speech and Language Therapist FM Frequency Modulation (radio) SNR Signal-to-Noise Ratio GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education SpLD Specific Learning Difficulties GP General Practitioner SSE Sign Supported English HI Hearing-Impaired/Impairment TA Teaching Assistant Hz Hertz ToD Teacher of the Deaf HRT Hearing Resource Teacher UCL University College London I CAN Children’s communication charity UK United Kingdom ICT Information and Communication Technology VIG Video Interaction Guidance ICTOD Implant Centre Teacher of the Deaf WECIP West of England Cochlear Implant Programme IEP Individual Education Plan IR Infra-Red If you have found an acronym in the Magazine that isn’t explained ISBN International Standard Book Number in this list, then use www.acronymfinder.com to help you to work JCQ Joint Council for Qualifications it out. kHz Kilohertz

Association business

Regulars

Meetings and training Calendar

This page is an extract from the Calendar to be found on the BATOD website. Please note that it is not exhaustive. Items noted on this Calendar may have been advertised within the Magazine or the information reported by telephone. BATOD is not necessarily the organising body. Please contact the organising body (column 2) for details of conferences, not the Editor of this Magazine.

Date Organisation Meeting topic Venue January 17 Mary Hare Training Services Using ICT to Support Deaf Children’s Literacy Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 19 City Lit Working Towards Level 6 in BSL course 1–10 Keeley Street, London (54-hour course to 23 March ) WC2B 4BA 25 Mary Hare Training Services Enhancing Access to the Humanities for Deaf Children Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 28 British Association of Paediatricians London Conference School of Oriental and African in Audiology (BAPA) Studies in Russell Square, London 28 Mary Hare Training Services Developing Thinking Skills (Early Years) Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 28 BATOD Steering Group Association business Birmingham 29 BATOD NEC Association business Birmingham 31 Mary Hare Training Services Working with Cochlear Implanted Children Who Make Mary Hare School, Slow Progress Newbury RG14 3BQ

February 4 Auditory Verbal UK Supporting hearing-impaired children in mainstream AVUK, Bignell Park Barns, education Chesterton, Oxon OX26 1TD 7 Mary Hare Training Services Training The Trainers: Using the Monitoring Protocol for Mary Hare School, Deaf Babies and Children Newbury RG14 3BQ 9 –12 Direct Learn Services Supporting Deaf People online conference 2011 Online conference 10 Mary Hare Training Services Open Day for Professionals (Mary Hare Primary) Mary Hare Primary School, Newbury RG19 8XA 15 Mary Hare Training Services Techniques for Measuring Vulnerability to Background Mary Hare School, Noise Newbury RG14 3BQ 16–17 Mary Hare Training Services BSA Certificate in Otoscopy & Impression Mary Hare School, Taking for Parents (over five years) Newbury RG14 3BQ 26 Donaldson's School Information Day for Professionals, Parents and Carers Donaldson’s School, Linlithgow EH49 6HZ 26 BATOD Scotland Conference and AGM Ramada Conference Centre, Perth

March 1 Mary Hare Training Services Cochlear Implants and Radio Aids Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 2 Mary Hare Training Services Teaching MFL to Deaf Children Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 3 Mary Hare Training Services Earmould and Impression Taking Refresher Course Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 4 Mary Hare Training Services Demonstrating Value Added – Early Years Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 11–13 Sense New developments in the field of CHARGE syndrome Wokefield Park, nr Reading, Berkshire 21–22 Mary Hare Training Services ACE: Assessment of Comprehension and Expression Mary Hare School, Newbury RG14 3BQ 23 Mary Hare Training Services Breaking Bad News: Impact of Diagnosis of Childhood Mary Hare School, Deafness on Parents/Carers Newbury RG14 3BQ 24 Mary Hare Training Services Open Day for Professionals (Mary Hare Secondary) Mary Hare School,

The Calendar on the BATOD website is edited as soon as we know about meetings. Additional information about courses and registration forms may also be linked to the calendar entries.

Association business Officers of Nations and Regions BATOD contacts and Magazine Distribution

Northern Ireland Chairperson: Janice McKillop, 6 Kingsfort Lodge, Old Kilmore Road. Moira, Craigavon BT67 0QG Secretary: Heather Lammey, 45 The Oaks, Newtownards, County Down BT23 8GZ Treasurer: Antonette Burns, 39 Wynchurch Avenue, Rosetta, Belfast BT6 0JP Scotland Chairperson: Jean McAllister, 26 Willowdale Crescent, Glasgow G69 7NL Secretary: Eleanor Hutchinson, Flat 1, Royal Exchange House, Newmarket Street, Falkirk FK1 1JY Treasurer: Anne Pack, 63 High Beveridgewell, Dunfermline, Fife KY12 9ER Wales Chairperson: Revolving post Secretary: Election imminent Treasurer: Rhian Gibbins, Rhianfa, 24c Forest Hill, Aberdulais, Neath SA10 8HD East Chairperson: Kathryn Cutmore, 29 Chapel Road, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex CM9 9TL Secretary: Sara Brierton, 16 College Road, Impington, Cambridge CB24 9TD Treasurer: Karen Taylor, CSSS, Woodside Road, Norwich NR7 9QL Midland Chairperson: Cate Latchford, Buxton House,The Row, All Stretton, Shropshire SY6 6JS Secretary: Angie Wootten, 21 Lugtrout Lane, Solihull, West Midlands B91 2SB Treasurer: Robert Miller, 13 Derby Close, Broughton Astley, Leicestershire LE9 6BE North Chairperson: Elaine Rayner, 25 Frosterley Drive, Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street, County Durham DH3 4SJ Secretary: Trish Cope, 23 North Drive, High Legh, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6LX Treasurer: Mary Fortune, 30 Alexandra Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4 2UT South Chairperson: Seonaid Ryan, Overton Grange School, Stanley Road, Sutton SM2 6QT Secretary: Joyce Sewell-Rutter, The Ewing Foundation, 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1LG Treasurer: Post vacant South West Chairperson: Wanda Garner, 10 Ashleigh Road, Exmouth EX8 2JY Joint Secretary: Hazel Sutherland, 8 Osney Crescent, Paignton, Devon TQ4 5EY; Denise Tudor, Cliff Court, Cliff Road,Torquay TQ2 6RE Treasurer: Beverley George, 8 Forder Heights, Plymouth PL6 5PZ

Articles, information and contributions for the Full guidelines for submissions and abstracts of Association Magazine should be sent to: papers published in the Journal ‘Deafness and Education International’ are to be found at BATOD Executive Officer www.maney.co.uk/instructions_for_authors/dei Mr Paul Simpson tel/fax 0845 6435181 Enquiries related to the Journal to: email [email protected] Dr Linda Watson email [email protected] ...as should Association information and general queries. Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.editorialmanager.com/dei Advertisements for the Association Magazine should be sent to: Mr Arnold Underwood DISCLAIMER BATOD Publishing and The Editors and the Association do not necessarily endorse Advertising items or the contents of advertisements 41 The Orchard published in the Magazine and cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies. Leven, Beverley Please note that items from this Magazine may not be East Yorkshire reproduced without the consent of BATOD and the source HU17 5QA must be acknowledged. tel/fax 01964 544243 Photocopying items may breach copyright. email [email protected]

BATOD Magazine distribution from: The Seashell Trust, Stanley Road, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 6RQ Association Magazine ISSN 1366-0799 Published by The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf, 41 The Orchard, Leven, Beverley HU17 5QA Printed by The Nuffield Press Ltd, 21 Nuffield Way, Ashville Trading Estate, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 1RL Magazine Project Manager: Kath Mackrill batod_obc.qxp 10/12/10 17:28 Page 40