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The Silent child

239 replies

Puffycat · 30/03/2018 21:15

I’ve just watched this award winning short film and am in bits!
My DH said ‘oh you’ll enjoy it, it’s uplifting ‘
Uplifting my arse!
I’m so cross at the stupid parents. Surely the first thing you do when you have a deaf child is learn sign language!
The bit at the end when Libby signs ‘I love you’ to her therapist finished me off!
I just hope it raised awareness

OP posts:
Camiila · 31/03/2018 07:40

the Mum said something about there being some hearing in one ear. To qualify for cochlear implants nice guidelines are very strict and there has to be a certain level of loss in both ears. It doesn't matter how shit that remaining hearing is, whether that child can access speech sounds or not, they don't qualify. It sucks.

This is hugely oversimplified.

Cochlea implants are a risk, they frequently don't work, and when they do work, the child may still not learn to recognise sounds.

Cochlea implants DESTROY ALL RESIDUAL HEARING FOREVER so even a child for whom they work well is dependent forever on batteries to hear anything.

If you ave any hearing at all, it is not in your best interests to destroy it for a system which may not work, may not help you if it does work, and will only help you and work when you have access to power.

It doesn't "suck" that children with any hearing are not given implants, it is a decision made in the best interests of the child

Tidy2018 · 31/03/2018 07:42

Recently I saw a series of interviews on the Community Channel with Paddy Ladd on his work on Deafhood. Well worth googling.

Tidy2018 · 31/03/2018 07:45

Thanks, Butchy.

Camiila · 31/03/2018 07:50

This is probably an unanswerable question, but why on earth is BSL not taught as a language option in schools?

It often is, but people don't see to realise that it is a full language requiring thousands of hours to become fluent, and 5 years study at secondary school up to GCSE does not leave you equipped to hold a conversation, any more than 5 years study of french does.

Camiila · 31/03/2018 07:55

I haven't seen the film, but I have taught many deaf children, and I don't recognise the comments in this thread.

Deaf children have support and sign language translaters in schools when they need it. Some mange with hearing aids, some don't. All get support and monitoring.

Signing is common in main stream school, I learnt some subject specific vocab when I realised the signers in my sixth form classes didn't understand the science well enough to sign it.

Many deaf students have two or three LSAs in one lesson, two to take turns translating in sign, one to write notes,

They are very well supported indeed.

Deaf students are no where near as isolated as children who can't speak English, as can interact with the teacher and other students in writing, and most can write very fast! so even on occasions when there has bee no translator, (strikes, etc) they can still take full part in the lesson, at secondary level, we just make sure all information is written.

Queenofthestress · 31/03/2018 08:02

@PuffyCat it was money, time and effort but as most parents do, you find out a way. I ended up taking a loan out for my courses in makaton because they were 300 a pop

notthatonethanks · 31/03/2018 08:04

I wasn't keen. It made me really angry how the parents were portrayed, they seemed so uncaring and selfish.

This film would have been a good opportunity to highlight the lack of support available but instead the message seemed to be that it was all the parents' fault that their daughter wasn't getting the help she needed.

I suppose in a short film it's difficult to portray as much light and shade but overall I thought it was pretty clumsy. And Rachel Shelton's character was practically saint like with her endless patience, dedication and her model good looks, it was just annoying and so unrealistic.

PurpleDaisies · 31/03/2018 08:05

camila that’s not my experience in primary. When they’re with us in the deaf base, they’re obviously well supported but at times when they’re independent in mainstream some of the teachers are dreadful. The view that a CI or hearing aid means you can hear it so prevalent that they forget to make adjustments for the deaf pupils and they just get lost.

There’s a good documentary on BSL zone called “found” where deaf adults talk about their experiences in mainstream school.

purpleme12 · 31/03/2018 08:08

I do agree that Rachel Shelton's character was quite saint like. I guess you've got to take it as it is

PurpleDaisies · 31/03/2018 08:09

Deaf students are no where near as isolated as children who can't speak English, as can interact with the teacher and other students in writing, and most can write very fast! so even on occasions when there has bee no translator, (strikes, etc) they can still take full part in the lesson, at secondary level, we just make sure all information is written.

Levels of literacy in many deaf pupils are bery low, especially in primary where they haven’t caught up with their peers. Writing things down isn’t the usually a simple solution to a lack of translator.

Tidy2018 · 31/03/2018 08:10

What do people think of deaf awareness courses? This thread is about children, whose needs are different from those of adults who have become deafened, or people with monaural hearing who are different yet again? Elderly people who are losing their hearing often don't like hearing aids and become depressed through isolation. Is there a place for the wider community to gain a greater understanding of different forms of deafness?

Tidy2018 · 31/03/2018 08:10

Sorry if I'm sidetracking from the OP

Camiila · 31/03/2018 08:12

Levels of literacy in many deaf pupils are bery low, especially in primary where they haven’t caught up with their peers. Writing things down isn’t the usually a simple solution to a lack of translator.

its obviously different for different individuals, but writing can work well. I've set up whattapp groups for the duration of the lesson and confined all class discussion to that, etc, sometimes.

ButchyRestingFace · 31/03/2018 08:14

I haven't seen the film, but I have taught many deaf children, and I don't recognise the comments in this thread.

Unless you’re not in the UK, I don’t recognise your comments at all. The support that deaf children (be they oral or BSL users) is well below par.

This is not my view but supported by NDCS, UKCoD/SCoD and countless deaf charities and research on the subject. The poverty of educational access for deaf children in the UK was a major theme in the passing of the BSL Scotland Act 2015.

The majority of ToDs and TAs do not sign to anywhere near an acceptable standard (minimum requirement for a ToD is level 2!) and some deaf children are still sitting in mainstream schools only able to access a ToD once or twice a week.

Even for those deaf children who don’t sign, lipspeakers and electronic notetakers or STTR are not commonplace in schools.

Deaf children are still underachieving and leaving school with far poorer results than their hearing peers because of their inability to access the curriculum properly (ie, ToDs and TAs unable to sign to a required standard).

PurpleDaisies · 31/03/2018 08:15

minimum requirement for a ToD is level 2

No, it’s only working towards level 1

Yogafailure · 31/03/2018 08:16

One of my dc has partial hearing so I was crying from the off really. I'm going to get my dc to watch it too and see what they think about it.

Notonaschoolnight · 31/03/2018 08:20

No one has mentioned it so perhaps I got the wrong end of the stick but to me the film was showing the little girl as being the result of an affair, a ‘mistake’ and therefore there was no way the mother was in a position to prioritise her and potentially upset the apple cart for the legitimate family members.

Though as someone whose worked in schools for years if I had a quid for every time I’d heard of a parent who’s own opinion and decision was obviously going to have a detrimental effect on their child’s development I’d at least have enough to pay the cost on hairdresser visit later

ButchyRestingFace · 31/03/2018 08:21

No, it’s only working towards level 1

I thought it had gone up but just checked BAToD website and you’re right.

Lol, it sucks even harder than I thought. 😂

I know of 4 qualified (or working towards qualification) with level 6. They’re highly unusual.

There were 2 girls in my level one class in 2005 who were training to be ToDs and adamant they were never going to advance beyond that level because “it wasn’t needed”. Hmm

ButchyRestingFace · 31/03/2018 08:23

I know of 4 qualified ToDs that should read.

thecatsarecrazy · 31/03/2018 08:25

I was talking to my sons teacher of the deaf about cochlear implants. Mostly the family that were on this morning whos son had been turned down. She said its a very expensive procedure and they sometimes vet the parents and they can get turned down if they don't think they will cope.

ButchyRestingFace · 31/03/2018 08:27

And Rachel Shelton's character was practically saint like with her endless patience, dedication and her model good looks, it was just annoying and so unrealistic.

Her shit BSL was totes realistic.

**

Camiila · 31/03/2018 08:28

well, as I have said, it is normal for me to have two or three adults in a class supporting one deaf child. In one school they not only had a translator with them, but a subject specialist teacher too!

I am in London, it may be different for other parts of the country, but here there are many deaf support units in main stream schools, ( they are independent from the school) and a lot of support, translators, teachers and scribes

thecatsarecrazy · 31/03/2018 08:33

My sons 2 out of 3 are moderately deaf. Hearing aid users. My eldest 11 youngest 1. My eldest has a radio mike for school and his teachers hardly ever use it. He isn't doing brilliantly either they keep telling us he doesn't concentrate or focus. We say are you using the mike? That gets poo pooed. My son had a test last week by his teacher of the deaf to see how he coped without it and he preformed really poorly. Hes the only hard of hearing child there and it makes me so mad how little support he gets at school. Moving isn't an option either.

ButchyRestingFace · 31/03/2018 08:37

well, as I have said, it is normal for me to have two or three adults in a class supporting one deaf child. In one school they not only had a translator with them, but a subject specialist teacher too!

But what’s the level? Do the “translators” all have level 6 BSL? Are they qualified/registered interpreters? Do they have language modification or CSW qualifications? Does the ToD or classroom teacher have level 6 BSL?

Do the “scribes” have recognised notetaking qualifications? Are they registered with NRCPD?

It doesn’t matter how many support personnel are in the classroom if they don’t have a high level of signing, etc.

PurpleDaisies · 31/03/2018 08:43

It’s ridiculous isn’t it cats. We’ve got some children with radio aids and all the classrooms have sound field systems but if I had a pound for every time I’ve seen them not being used, walked in to ask the teacher where it is and it’s missing or not charged. You wouldn’t expect a severely short sighted pupil to try and read the board without their glasses. It must come down to a fundamental misunderstanding about how well CIs and hearing aids work.