Well I'm Judy Garwood and I'm an early years advisory teacher for the deaf.
And I'm Alison Wagner. I'm the teacher of the deaf working in Tower Handlers.
Will they usually meet us at diagnosis at the audiology clinic and that could be as young as three or four weeks old
or if diagnosis is later it could be six months but anywhere between that really.
So as an example I met with a family last week who had a one month old baby
and I met them at the audiology clinic and from now on I'll see that family at home
and I may also see them at our weekly drop in session that we run for early years children and their families.
We'd initially do a weekly visit and with every family you would work slightly differently obviously
and we would develop over time a family plan where we together with families look at how
children are progressing with their listening language skills and other developmental skills as well
and sort of focus on what next steps are and how parents can maybe best support those next steps.
Yeah and I think also that we need to make sure we're encouraging parents that what they say
and what they feel about their child is the most important thing and they are the experts on their child.
We're not the experts, we're just there to support them and I think valuing what parents have to say
what they're saying about the listening and the progress of their children and that we pass that on to audiology
to speech and language therapy to teachers to same codes that they have to be at the centre
and we make sure we really value that and that they understand that they are at the centre
and they are the most important people for their child and also that we're not going to drop them
once we think their child is doing okay that this service will support that child right throughout their education
right up to college level and then beyond that so it's not just about that small amount of support
when they're very tiny and little and learning that language that the support will carry on
and should be tailored to their needs throughout.
I mean that's quite a difficult question because there's an awful lot to know
and learn about language development and listening development and deafness and audiograms
but I think particularly in those early weeks even though it's quite a traumatic time for some families
because they're coming to terms with the fact that their child's got a hearing loss
and having hearing aids usually, I think something that I always have in mind
is that I really want parents to understand what those hearing tests have meant
so what the audiology is, what the hearing loss, it's likely looks like the child has
and how therefore the hearing aids, what the aims of the hearing aids are
so they really understand the audiology aspect which can be a bit scary and scientific sounding
so I think to focus on that because the parents have been through a lot of testing
by the time we see them, they've been sat in rooms in the dark for quite a long time
having things put on their child's head and in their child's ears
and I think it can all seem a real scary mellai of information
and I think our role in those early weeks is to really clarify what that means
so that they've got a real understanding of the audiology.
Well, seeing children progress well with their speech and language development
because I'm purely early years now, I don't do any work beyond three or four years old
so my work is very much more with families, for me it's really seeing families learn
and engage with support services and develop skills really
to support their children and I think that's probably for me the most motivating aspect.
I think also that it's such a change in picture now with new hearing aids and new technology
and there's always new things to learn so I think for me that's motivating
that this job doesn't stay the same year in, year out.
Every family is different, every child is different
and there are changes all the time that we need to update ourselves
and so there's new things and new paths to follow
so I find that motivating.
Well, we are joint ramblers.
We are.
We ramble on and on monthly.
Up some hills.
With another teacher at the turf we work with.
Yes, so we are a small rambling group with maps and compasses.
Well, you have the maps.
I have the maps.
I just follow.
But I'm also a very keen tapped dancer.
Yes, very keen tapped dancer and that keeps me sane.
Weirdly.
And you play tennis?
I play tennis quite badly.
It's a very active people.
There you go.
