At Deafax
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At Deafax, there is always something happening. We are passionate about our work and want to share with you some of the things that have happened recently.
Please click on an item to find out more.
SignPost Birmingham begins
Continuing the theme of linking technology and deaf children, Deafax has recently been awarded a grant from the Hilton Foundation to fund our SignPost project. This project builds upon the recent successful work, which focused on key skills that are necessary for daily life. The project due to start next month will cover Birmingham and the west midlands unlocking some of the fundamental issues many deaf children struggle with, enabling them to fulfil the old saying - ‘The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.’
Literacy and IT
Over the last year Deafax Research and Development Unit have been involved in a project looking at Visual Literacy and the impact of IT on literacy. This project funded by the Leverhulme Trust has been working with teachers from across England and focusing on reading and writing in young deaf children.
The project started with two seminar sessions, the second of which included a visit by Joyce Dunbar - a distinguished children's author of over 70 books. She showed the seminar group an experimental multi-sensory alphabet which she feels could be of special help to deaf children, as well as great fun for the hearing. Joyce began to lose her hearing at the age at five and as a young woman was told that she was 'too deaf to teach the deaf.' Nonetheless she spent 20 years as a teacher, most of it in Further Education teaching literature to adults. She has long had an interest in the education of the deaf, especially the problem of access to language (her son Ben is also deaf).
The project continues for another year and more news and updates can be found on our website.
Deafness and Pregnancy Report
Deafax recently completed their One Plus project. The project researched the provision of services to deaf pregnant women and deaf parents, to find out if current services met their needs. We interviewed midwives and deaf parents, and asked for their personal experiences, to establish if services were adequate. Feedback showed that services did not match the cultural, linguistic or communication needs of deaf people.
Deafax are now beginning to train doctors, midwives and health care staff in deaf awareness, to enable the correct support of future deaf clients. Deafax are currently visiting hospitals and universities to deliver this training. Additionally midwives can attend a training day in Birmingham, in September.
For more information, contact Jessica - jessica@deafax.org
London 10K Run 2009
Deafax had 18 individual places for the 2009 British 10K London Run which is happening on Sunday July 12th at 9.35am - But now we only have 9 places left!
If you would like to experience the joy of running for a worthwhile cause, then we want to hear from you. The run is great fun and we will be there to support you!
To find out more information, download the poster from the link below or contact Debbie Flory on info@deafax.org
Deafax Innovation in ICT and Deafness conference
- Date: 17th – 18th October 2008
- Venue: Hilton Metropole, NEC, Birmingham, UK
Go to events to find out more
SignPost Birmingham ends
The Signpost project provided training workshops in a variety of areas, aiding in the transition between childhood and adulthood, for 75 young deaf people. The beneficiaries of the project gained job ready, social and life skills – in their language. Deafax developed key visual and ‘deaf friendly’ resources to support their learning, which supported participants to reach their full potential. Our bespoke resources have also provided a useful reference tool for the professionals that work with our beneficiaries on an everyday basis. Our training has enlightened, informed and empowered young deaf people, giving them the information and confidence in their own identity, to move forward successfully to the next stage of their lives. We have given a clear understanding of support and entitlements that are available for deaf people in further education and employment; enabling informed decisions and equal access to interviews and employment.
Deafax Cheese and Wine Evening
Come to our Cheese and Wine Fundraising Event!
On: Friday 5th June 2009
Time: 7.30pm – 12.00pm
Place: The George Hotel in Wallingford
A fun night with cheese and wine tasting, quiz and raffle with great prizes!
Tickets are £15 each or why not get a table of 10 together and have a unique night out with friends or colleagues.
To buy a ticket contact Debbie Flory on info@deafax.org
Antique Valuation Day
On Friday 21st November 10.00-1.00, Bonhams, Auctioneers and Valuers, are supporting Deafax in holding an antique valuation day! Bring your valuables to Henley-on-Thames Town Hall to find out more. £5.00 entry includes two items for valuation. Tea, coffee and home made cakes available!
Deafax and the 10K London Run
Deafax had 12 individual places for the 2008 British 10K London Run which happened on July 6th at 9.35am!
OUR HUGE THANKS AND ADMIRATION GO TO:
James Aplin, Darren Hartnell, Geoff Hocking, Jackie Kuspicz, Roger Lamb, Andy Lance, Matthew Myhill, John Owen, Jayne Page, Ruth Perfitt, David Phippard and Sian Richards.
All of whom ran in support of Deafax and together have raised over £5,000 so far!
A group of Deafax Staff and Trustees went up to support the runners, cheering them on. Although the weather was not the kindest everyone had a great morning and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We look forward to a repeat performance next year and a target of £10,000.
Thank you again to all our runners and all those involved in making the day so successful.
Rhythm of Silence
Two years ago, Deafax went musical and developed a piece of visual music software explaining the concept of pitch, both in the environment and in instruments. The software was accompanying by a workshop which we delivered to schools Birmingham and Liverpool. The workshops were supported by two musicians from the London Philharmonia Orchestra, who finished the day by playing for the whole school during the assembly. It was a great success and really highlighted the value and potential of music for deaf students.
Deafax now has a new project funded by LankellyChase which is looking at Rythmn within Music. Ruth Perfitt, an undergraduate at the University of Reading, joined us for 6-weeks of work experience and joined the development team in designing the next deaf-friendly interactive music module focusing on rhythm. The new music module should be ready for workshops in the autumn and we will look forward to seeing more young deaf people having the opportunity to experience rhythm.
Deafax Youth
The Deafax Youth team, is managed by our Training Manager Graham Hocking, and includes Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq, Ovais Khan and Sadaqat Ali. They have been delivering training sessions at school across the country and have been exceptionally well received.
Currently we have four youth projects funded by Camelot, the DfES and BBC Children in Need which enables us to deliver free training until March 2008 in the areas of PSHE including topics such as Sexual Health, Life Skills, Drink and Drug Awareness. All of the workshops delivered have had tremendous feedback from the young people attending. Teachers have regularly been contacting us asking for sessions, and information given out at various exhibitions and conferences has also assisted in getting the message out there.
One workshop on mobile phone technology was commented on by a mother -
"Thank you to the Deafax team for the opportunity of learning how to use mobile video phoning - I can see and communicate with my daughter when she is out - brilliant!"
The team have been out there teaching young people from all over England how to communicate via new mobile phone technology, this nurtures a sense of independence as well as equipping young people to communicate with the wider world. This was the work of the Learn 4 life Academy which was made possible because Deafax has an excellent relationship with the Vodafone Foundation and their support and sponsorship for this innovative Academy has been pivotal.
Learning BSL
Jessica Strickland, our Birmingham based Resource Developer tells us her experiences of learning sign language.
"I have recently completed BSL Level 2 course under the new system. I had started the course before under the old curriculum, before CACDP started to make changes in 2006. It was interesting to see the differences between the two styles.
The course content seemed to be the same but the main difference is the assessment process. Before students were assessed on all skills during one exam with an external assessor. Within the new system the qualification is divided into Units; students are assessed separately for each skill.
Level 2 is broken down in to 3 units:-
- Unit 201 - Receptive Skills
Watch a DVD then answer multiple choice questions on paper. This is sent to CACDP for marking. - Unit 202 - Production Skills
Give a presentation in BSL that is filmed and sent to CACDP for assessment. - Unit 203 - Conversation Skills
Have a conversation in BSL that is filmed and sent to CACDP for assessment.
I feel that the new way is easier because the conversation is with your tutor, who you are used to. If you had an outside assessor you might be more nervous or they might use of regional signs that you do not recognise. The new way is better for learners but the old way was more of a real life situation.
If you fail any of the units you can take them again. You receive a qualification for each unit that you pass and get the full BSL certificate when you have passed all 3 units. Before, if you failed one part of the exam, you had to take the whole exam again. Now you would only have to do that unit again. It makes learning easier as it breaks it down in to smaller parts.
CACDP have made the changes to meet new regulations. (Made by QCA). They also recognise that that people learn better if they can learn in smaller parts. They plan to change all their qualifications to units in 2007. The old awards will not be used any more.
The pass level for level 2 has been low over the last few years, (2004 - 41, 2005 - 44, 2006 - 53) it will be interesting to see how the changes affect this years results. I think that pass rates will increase by a large amount. "
Abbey invests in Deafax's 'Money Matters' Project
Money Matters - for young deaf people from the black and ethnic minorities in Bradford
As part of Deafax's strategic plan, we are committed to addressing the issues of numeracy, financial literacy and monetary developments. Deafax, through its own research findings knows that young deaf people leaving school have a reading age of 9 years and that recent research from Oxford Brookes University under Professor Nunes has shown that deaf school leavers are 4 years behind their hearing peers in numeracy. This is a very serious situation; and it has been for a long time.
One of Deafax's objectives is to reduce both the linguistic gap and numeric gap. We are challenged by this situation and want to develop financial related programmes which will make a difference to the quality of lives of the people we are trying to help and support. It needs to be pointed out that deaf people have the same range of intelligence as their hearing peers but are severely disadvantaged linguistically. We also know that young deaf ethnic minority people are even more disadvantaged as English is invariably a second language and the parents communicate in another language in the home environment.
The main aim of this project is to develop a highly visual interactive CD Rom which incorporates audio, graphics, text and British Sign Language and which addresses the issues, challenges and more understanding of banking, borrowing, mortgages, pensions, savings etc.
Ken Carter - Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
Congratulations go to Ken Carter, Deafax’s Research Director who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) for his contribution to preventative medicine and healthcare for over 45 years. The RSM is one of the largest providers of continuing medical education in the UK.
One of the aims of the RSM is to promote an exchange of information and ideas on the science, practice and organisation of medicine, both within the health professions and with responsible and informed public opinion.
Ken has always been to sponsor new ideas and has been instrumental is setting up the Deafax Research and Development unit which looks at cutting-edge technology and its future potential.
Deafax in the Midlands
Our Midlands team is headed up by Beryl Strickland and they are making great strides into training for Deaf/Hard of Hearing adults and young people in the Midlands.
Deaf people can often struggle to gain basic skills of literacy and numeracy. It surprises many hearing people to see just how hard it is for a profoundly deaf person to get a good education. Despite the endeavours of many committed professionals, the educational system often struggles to adapt to meet he needs of deaf pupils. Operating in the outside world without basic reading and writing skills is tough. Filling out a job application, attending an interview, finding and then keeping meaningful work are often impossible tasks.
The Midlands team was originally funded by the Big Lottery, and worked to deliver training in literacy and numeracy available to deaf adults in the local area. These free training workshops are taught by our deaf trainers and attendees learn alongside other deaf people experiencing similar difficulties and this generates a very supportive environment in which to learn. This work has now extended and they are working in other areas including supporting our work with Midwives.
Argentine Experience
Kirsty Crombie Smith, Deafax's Operations Director, describes her trip to Argentina.
May was an exciting time for me as I visited northern Argentina as part of Rotary's Group Study Exchange programme. Argentina is the second largest country in South America. 1 in 5 of the population is classed as deaf and the national sign language is LSA - Lengua de Señas Argentina-EspañoL.
I visited six deaf schools and one Teacher training college. The schools were mixed; 2 oral and 4 bilingual of which 5 were primary schools and 1 secondary. Primary schools start working from age 0 with the parents as well and go up to age 14. At all schools, I talked with the teachers and students in a mixture of Spanish, BSL and LSA.
The deaf schooling system in Argentina is impressive; it is government funded and works with the pupils when they are babies enabling the teachers to work with the family as well. The bigger issue is what happens once they leave school. There was only one secondary school which had no upper age limit and most of the students once they had left either went into very poorly paid manual labour, lived off their families or begged.
There are greater dialectal differences in LSA than BSL due to the size of the country and due to the lack of media standardisation. Access to information and support is limited, there is a benefit system but the process of getting the money is very costly and often unsuccessful.
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