01/05/2023
💛As it is the start of Deaf Awareness Week, we wanted to share Orlando's story💛
💛The I'm Hear team were contacted by Orlandos mum, as she wanted some support to learn some Signs relevant to the family to further enhance their communication. Mum was aware that Orlando’s hearing could fluctuate at any point and they had experienced some deterioration in the past. Communication was harder in louder environments such as Soft Play for Orlando, so they were keen to learn tactics, so that no matter what the environment or circumstances they could communicate.
💛Our project worker Charlotte was assigned to the family and during the sessions they covered a range of Signs such as family members, around the house and time – e.g. now, later, 5 minutes etc. They also covered topics Orlando was interested in such as: people who help us and Halloween. Each session was an opportunity to go through the Signs together and discuss ways in which they could be incorporated into their communication.
💛Needless to say, Orlando really enjoyed learning his Signs and quickly incorporated them into his everyday life. For example Mum shared Orlando’s favourite sign was 'stop' and he often incorporated this into his play and everyday activities.’ During our sessions Charlotte also discussed other opportunities to support Orlando to learn Sign – he enjoyed music videos on youtube so she shared the resource 'Deaf Animation World' who have developed a wide range of engaging songs which utilise BSL on youtube which Orlando enjoyed. Charlotte also shared the resource 'At the Bottom of my Garden. A rhyme and sign book' which is a short story that incorporates some signs linked to the text. At the end of each session, Charlotte left the Signs we had learnt as a reference point!
💛Mum was over the moon with the 'personalised support' she received during her 10-week sessions. She said: "The I'm Hear! sessions have been invaluable. They have enabled us to learn and use some Sign to support our communication and they have helped both my and Orlando's confidence when communicating. There is nothing else like I'm Hear! available for me to access and I am really grateful for all the personalised support.'
💛Orlando added: 'It has been fun to learn some Signs and they help me when it is noisy.'
💛If you'd like more information about I'm Hear, email [email protected]
