Principal: Deaf children ‘have a different way of communicating’

Lynn Andrick knelt down at eye level with the group of excited preschoolers Thursday morning, mirroring their smiles as they clutched their baskets, ready to hunt for eggs.

“We want to have nice hands. No pushing. And no running because you might fall down. We want everyone to have fun and be safe!” Andrick said cheerfully to the attentive students.

It was the same instructions any adult may give a group of children; the only difference on Thursday was that, in addition to speaking these instructions to the preschoolers, Andrick simultaneously gave the instructions in American Sign Language.

Link: http://www.knoxnews.com/entertainment/life/principal-deaf-children-have-a-different-way-of-communicating-27839f9e-fa8b-1030-e053-0100007f0215--374044851.html

Tinkerbelle doll with cochlear implants shows the importance of representing children with disabilities

Images of a kitchen table production line of Tinkerbelle Fairy dolls wearing hot pink cochlear implants have gone viral on Facebook, delighting parents of children with hearing impairments all over the world.

The dolls have been created by #ToyLikeMe as rewards for people who backed the group’s recent crowd fund to build a website celebrating disability representation in toys.

Link: http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/23/toylikemes-tinkerbelle-doll-with-cochlear-implants-shows-the-importance-of-representing-children-with-disabilities-5769161/

RIT/NTID researchers receive $450K grant for longitudinal study of vision in deaf children

Does being born deaf lead to better visual skills, or does a lack of hearing make it difficult for deaf children to pay attention to the world around them? According to researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, who recently earned a $450,000 National Science Foundation grant, the answer often depends on the background of the deaf child being studied.

Read more:

Link: http://www.ntid.rit.edu/news/ritntid-researchers-receive-450k-grant-longitudinal-study-vision-deaf-children

Teaching Music to Students with Hearing Loss

In the early years of my adult piano lessons, whenever I played forte chords in my piano teacher’s soundproofed practice room, my hearing aids squealed with feedback. I cringed. I was afraid that if my teacher discovered I had a hearing loss, he would decide I was hopeless as a pianist. So I tried to hide my condition, from my teacher and, at some level, even from myself.

Read more:

Link: http://www.nafme.org/teaching-music-to-students-with-hearing-loss/

NC State University helps teach science to deaf students

Students at the North Carolina School for the Deaf slipped on gloves, buttoned up lab coats and slid on safety glasses on Thursday when biotechnology students came to visit.

NCSD students were visited for a second time by the biotechnology program at North Carolina State University. When visiting, the NCSD students conducted different science experiments that deal with real world problems with the help from the university.

 

Link: http://www.morganton.com/news/education/nc-state-university-helps-teach-science-to-deaf-students/article_6f09cd7c-eacf-11e5-b6af-a712229409ed.html