To celebrate National Volunteer Day in association with Volunteer Centres Ireland, the first readings of the IDK childrens’ book, “A Birthday for Ben“, took place at two libraries in Dublin on Friday, September 25th. In the morning the story’s creators gathered with volunteers and friends at Pearse Street Library to celebrate the release of the book, which tells the story of a little deaf boy called Ben who is celebrating his birthday. This was the perfect opportunity for writer Kate Gaynor, illustrator Karen Quirke and IDK’s Caroline Carswell to discuss the book after its launch.

An afternoon gathering also took place at County Library, Tallaght, a child-friendly environment with natural light, coloured chairs and tables. Arriving here, sign interpreter Deirdre Byrne-Dunne and reader Elizabeth Mathews were practising their reading of the book before the kids arrived. It wasn’t long before one little boy came along and showed interest in the book. Holding the book and posing for photos, Ciaran learned the message behind the story and can now tell his friends about the book. As Caroline Carswell, founder of Irish Deaf Kids, points out: ‘A Birthday for Ben’ is a very welcome resource for parents and teachers as it introduces the whole concept of hearing and deafness to young children. By making the book available to primary schools throughout Ireland, IDK and Special Stories hope to highlight the everyday issues that deaf children may encounter on a daily basis in mainstream schools”. “A Birthday for Ben” is priced at €8.99 and can be bought from the IDK website ahead of its availability at bookstores nationwide.

(compiled by Miriam Walsh)

September 23, 2009

Accessibility is a primary focus in modern education. Recent years have brought the introduction of new tools like CaptionTube (a captioning tool for YouTube videos), interactivewhiteboards and now podcast transcripts.

Teachers and lecturers can face challenges in preparing for a class where a student has hearing issues. If a teacher is showing a video in class they must check for subtitles, or the student will miss out on the learning process.

With podcasts increasingly used in teaching, there is a new challenge. What should teachers do if assignments are based on listening to a podcast? Do you set a different task for one student, or do you try and include them? Irish companyTranscribePod helps give everyone equal treatment and means teachers don’t have to drop podcasts because of accessibility issues.

Earlier this month, TranscribePod announced that they had completed the transcription of Enterprise Ireland’s eBusiness podcast archive which is now available on the dedicated eBusiness website.

The TranscribePod process enables increased social inclusion in everyday life, the workplace and the education system by promising to make online podcast content “accessible, searchable, indexable [and] quotable”.

Offering podcasts in a text format makes the content accessible to people with hearing issues, and to those with English as a second language. Until now, no Irish company has accommodated these two groups of people.

In a comment, Eoin O’Siochrus of Enterprise Ireland said “Having the podcasts available in audio and now text format extends the reach of this key subject matter to an audience that has been overlooked in the past.”

(compiled by Miriam Walsh)

September 11, 2009

Two members of South-eastern Louisiana University’s education faculty are the first to explore a new system, which integrates RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology into classroom learning.

Assistant professors Becky Sue Parton and Robert Hancock received a USD 360,000 grant from the US Department of Education to develop their ”physical world hyper-linking” teaching system.

The process, known as the Lambert system, sets up a computer to recognize an object with an RFID tag and responds with an interactive description of the item as well as several photos and an interpreter signing the word.

This system can benefit children learning sign language, and parents at home who may otherwise have no direct access to learning the language.

Following a successful, first prototype the Lambert system was adapted to include Spanish printed text and audio which makes the system available to children and adults who use English as a second language.

Deaf children using the system also have the opportunity to learn a foreign language and the system can be used worldwide. Tests at Centro Christiano de Education in the Dominican Republic were well-received.

A mobile Lambert Unit is available, which allows children to use a PDA instead of bringing each item to a base computer. This means real life items such as tables, fridges, doors and cookers can be tagged instead of using smaller replicas and makes the experience  more true to life.

Susannah Ford, a teacher at the Louisiana School for the Deaf, has been using this program for 6 months and already sees the benefits. She says:

“First and foremost, it is very user friendly, both for teachers and students of all functional abilities. It’s a hands-on approach, which is truly the best way for deaf students to learn and acquire language.”

(compiled by Miriam Walsh)

Further reading:

• (RFID) Physical and Digital Media Support Cross-Cultural Exposure
• Web Technologies Make Storytelling Inclusive
• Manipulative Visual Language Tested in Scotland
• Literacy Benefits of ‘Sign To Read’ Programmes

September 8, 2009

DeafHear.ie is hosting a seminar on October 3, 2009 at the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise, Co Laois, for the parents of deaf/hard of hearing children.

Morning presentations will cover:

* The Visiting Teacher service

* Mainstream schooling

* Mainstream school with a hearing unit

* Resource Teacher from a mainstream school

* Limerick School for the Deaf

* St. Mary’s School for Deaf Girls and St. Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys

In the afternoon session there will be a panel discussion with contributions from parents whose children have had experience in different education settings. This session will provide parents with an opportunity to explore particular questions they may have in relation to the best educational opportunities for their child.

The cost the seminar is €20 per adult (inclusive of refreshments and lunch). If you would like to participate in the ‘Parents Seminar’, please contact:

Róisín Higgins
DeafHear.ie
35 North Frederick St
Dublin 1.
Tel: 01 8175700 / 0868798382
Fax: 018723816, Textpad: 01 8783629
roisin.higgins<at>deafhear.ie

Closing date for applications is Friday 25th September 2009.

June 27 2009

Experiences are educational for deaf children, but verbal exchanges need to be relayed or accessible, especially at public events like SPWC. We are grateful to Miriam Walsh for attending this year’s AIB SPWC event and writing a report for IDK.

On Saturday June 20th, crowds gathered at Dublin’s Merrion Square for the finals of the AIB Street Performance World Championship (SPWC).  This was just a family day in the sunshine for many, but for others, the event was significant as the fun was made accessible to sign language users.

Pitch one at this year’s event had sign language interpretation for each of the Saturday and Sunday performances. Arriving in this area it was a challenge to find a seating place, which proved the popularity of the event.

More people were here, than at any of the other performances. Contortionist Bendy Em was stunning the crowd with her ability to fit inside a tiny plastic box. The average spectator might have dismissed the woman waving her arms frantically at the back, but her presence meant the sign language users present were able to understand what was going on.

Betty Brawn the second performer at this event did her best to involve the audience and added her own cues to her act. Using basic sign language, she introduced herself to the crowd and used visual cues in her performance to get the audience’s attention. These signs were basic and said things such as  “the human carousel”, “ooooh”, “wow” and “clap”.

Basic or not, these clever visual cues enhanced the spectator’s experience. Speaking before the act Betty said it had been her dream to perform in that area and she was excited to do so. Seven year old Ben from Louth travelled with his family to the event and thought Betty was ‘amazing’. Ben, who understands basic sign language, was able to enjoy the event just like any other child because of the interpreter.

Alan Regan also enjoyed the event and said, “It took me a while to figure out that that person was an interpreter. It was great that every one was included in this event and able to equally enjoy the show”.

While this interpretation was a clear advantage for attendees at the event it must be noted that not all deaf or hard of hearing people are fluent sign language users. Added to this is the fact that sign interpretation relies heavily on the interpreter signing every single word.

At this event it was clear that the different interpreters had different styles. One relayed everything, including all the jokes and passing comments, while the other’s tendency to omit sections of dialogue meant the viewers might not have got the full enjoyment of the event.

Initial talks during the planning of this event suggested that captioning might be an option but this was dropped in the days preceding the event. Captioning is best known in TV programmes, videos or cinema, and is now extending to live shows and performances like those atSPWC.

Live captioning at events like stand-up comedy or theatre, uses real-time stenography to convert the show’s audio output into text which is displayed on a large screen for the audience to read.

Providing captioning and sign language interpretation at the same event gives organisers a best-practice edge. Live captioning gives accessibility to all deaf and hard of hearing people, and to visitors who use English as a second language. With sign & captioning, all attendees can understand what the performers are saying in real-time and fully enjoy an event.

Captioning is to be considered for SPWC 2010, according to the organisers. Judging by the turnout at this year’s event, 2010 will be even bigger.