A project to help teachers support children with sight and hearing loss has won an education award.
Charity Deafblind UK was recognised by the ScottishPower Foundation at a ceremony in Glasgow this month. The scheme started earlier this year. It aims to give teachers confidence in working with children with combined sight and hearing loss and reassure students that their needs will be met.
Steve Conway, chief executive of Deafblind UK said: “We truly believe that every single child should have an equal chance to learn and have a meaningful education, despite their sight and hearing loss. Winning this award means that we can support even more students and their parents to get the education they deserve.”
Melanie Hill, executive officer at the ScottishPower Foundation, which part-funded the scheme, said: “Deafblind UK’s work to tackle the stigma associated with being deafblind and to ensure the people it supports have equal access to things many of us take for granted is truly inspiring. Their education project has the potential to be life enhancing for deafblind children.”
It is estimated that there are nearly 400,000 people living in the UK with combined sight and hearing loss.
The project is led by Carolyn Greig, a former science teacher. She said: “Children with deafblindness can be isolated from their peers and excluded from some activities because of their specific needs regarding communication.
“Our education project aims to remove some of these barriers for young people and raise awareness amongst their peers to improve the experiences that these students have throughout school.”
Carolyn is working with schools to create resources for teachers. “All our young people have the right to high quality education which is tailored to their specific needs,” she said.
“There are some simple things which all educational establishments can do to make learning easier for some children, and we are keen to incorporate the views and insight of a variety of teachers when developing our advice.”
To get involved in the project, contact Deafblind UK on 0800 132 320 or email info@deafblind.org.uk