An Insight into the Deaf Perspective
18th September 2018
Recently SEA Management organised a training course for some of the hearing staff at SEA. Understanding the Deaf Perspective was an in depth ‘Deaf Awareness’ course.
The training course was led by one of the Directors of SEA Suzanne Robinson and Claire Johnson CEO of Genie Networks.
Although, many of the SEA staff have been working with individuals who are deaf for many years, this course was beneficial to everyone. SEA Management really wanted all staff to understand from a deaf perspective what life can be like for deaf people.
Exclusion
Firstly, we took part in activities about how it can feel to be deaf. In order, to get the group to understand (even a fraction) some of the challenges deaf people have to go through.
Below are some of the comments that were made about how people felt during the exercises.
“Self conscious”
“Like everyone was talking about me”
“Isolated”
“Uncomfortable”
Furthermore, we completed other tasks such as understanding the impact of body language and considering issues within the deaf community such as whether or not deaf people should have cochlear implants.
Finally, the following list is what the group achieved from attending ‘Insight into the Deaf Perspective’:
- Developing a broad understanding of deafness
- We understood the emotional impact due to isolation associated with deafness
- Learning about the implications of deaf experiences from childhood to adulthood
As a result of this course, the SEA staff can implement more positive working practices with both deaf colleagues and deaf clients at SEA.
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