A matter of Life & Deaf

Features: Life & Deaf

Katie Martin and Jane Thomas are busy speech and language therapists working with deaf children in Greenwich. With a full caseload of around 80 clients, most of whom they see every week – you’d think they wouldn’t have time for anything else.

In fact, they have created and run a unique speech and language therapy project - all in their own time - called Life & Deaf in which deaf children explore their identity through poetry in written English and British Sign Language (BSL).

Katie and Jane work for Greenwich Community Health Services (GCHS) and the project started as a collaboration between Greenwich Teaching Primary Care Trust (which managed GCHS before they moved to Oxleas), Greenwich Sensory Service and deaf children attending Designated Special Provisions (DSPs) within mainstream schools.

Life & Deaf began in 2006 as a project which aimed to develop deaf children’s self esteem and communication in signed, spoken and written languages. In speech and language therapy sessions, the children explored their feelings about their deaf identity. The result was a beautiful book of 16 poems and accompanying DVD of the children performing their poems in sign language.

This was then taken further by the development of the Life & Deaf website: http://lifeanddeaf.co.uk and a workbook – which can be found on the website - for other teachers and therapists containing techniques used in Life & Deaf such as creating mind maps from brainstorming sessions. Children were also encouraged to upload poems to the site.

Katie and Jane work in four Greenwich schools: Meridian Primary School; James Wolf Primary School; Thomas Tallis Secondary School and Shooters Hill Post 16 Campus.

An important part of their role is to develop what they call “emotional literacy”. According to Jane, “Most deaf children know how to express happy, sad, or angry, but this does not cover the shades of what they may be feeling. We try to broaden their emotional vocabulary so they can express specific emotions and clearly communicate to others what they are feeling.”

Katie agrees: “We have found that communication in the home can be difficult for children as parents may find it hard to learn sign language. This can lead to children feeling isolated and affect their social confidence. It may surprise people to hear that 40% of deaf children and adults suffer from depression and anxiety disorders (as opposed to one in four of the hearing population) as a result of low self esteem and poor communication skills. So our role also includes counselling and work on the social skills that they may not have had opportunities to acquire.”

In 2010, with funding from Greenwich Council’s Sensory Service and the collaboration of Helena Ballard, a teacher of the deaf, the pair launched Life & Deaf 2. Deaf young poets were invited to workshops where they could explore their identity as deaf people and learn from professionals how to perform their poems confidently using voice, art and sign language.

Children from schools in Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley were invited to the first workshop in May 2011; the second, to be held in July 2011, will bring together children from across the country.

The workshops begin with an exploration of how deaf children can look after their mental health and why it is useful to be able to express emotions. As most children are the only ones that are deaf in their families and schools, Life & Deaf also provides a wonderful opportunity to meet - and make friends with - other people who may have shared similar experiences.

Katie explains that the workshops are not about teaching children to speak or write ‘properly’: “Life & Deaf is less about improving speech and more about each individual reaching their communication potential. Whatever children say, we don’t challenge them but rather help them to explore their thoughts. All emotions are accepted and valued. There is also no attempt from adults to change or polish the poems which communicate powerful messages reflecting the poets’ true thoughts and feelings.”

One of the young people taking part in the workshops is Sarah Ivy Jane, a remarkable 17 year old whose younger self participated in the original Life & Deaf. Now at Shooters Hill Post 16 Campus, Sarah is studying for her A - Levels and has been working on building her confidence by preparing to give a presentation considering the moral compasses of the TV programmes East Enders and Glee. She has a communication support worker (CSW) who helps during lessons by signing or clarifying what the teacher is saying.

Sarah, whose speech is very clear, believes that communication is vital for deaf people’s wellbeing: “Talking to people helps maintain good mental health. But most deaf people are too nervous to talk to a hearing person in case they can’t understand them. I’m always writing something. Poems about what I’m thinking or what I want to do. Sometimes I feel I’ve just got to write.”

Performances from the workshops are being captured on film which will be available to view on the revamped website later this year.
Another exciting project that has developed from Life & Deaf is a six minute film involving 12 young deaf people to be shot in Greenwich in September 2011.

According to Jane: “The film will take hearing people on a journey through the experiences of some deaf young people and will be a visual representation of their poems. It will be launched in March 2012.”

If you would like to attend the launch event, that will showcase the work of Life & Deaf, alongside other films, art and poetry created by young deaf people within the UK, please email info@lifeanddeaf.co.uk.

For more information about Life & Deaf, visit the website or contact Jane and Katie at info@lifeanddeaf.co.uk or call Jane and Katie on 020 8858 3678.