Helping deafblind children learn, work and play

Transcription

1 Helping deafblind children learn, work and play

2 Many times I have found children who have been forgotten about. You will find them in the blackest room, and that s if they are lucky enough to be in the house. It is our job to bring them in. Akhil About Sense International Sense International is the only UK charity supporting deafblind children and adults in some of the poorest parts of the world Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Peru, Romania, Tanzania and Uganda. Deafblind children in these countries desperately need our help. Without it, many will lead short, lonely lives. These children can suffer appalling abuse and neglect. Families often don t know how to help their children, or even how to communicate with them. They can be malnourished and left locked up each day while their families go out to work. One can only imagine how traumatic and lonely this must feel for a deafblind child. But it does not have to be this way. We give children the chance to break through the terrible isolation of deafblindness and lead a valued and fulfilling life.

3 How we work Because of the way we work, we have a big impact. We provide expertise and training to local organisations and persuade governments to provide national support. We aim to put services in place so that we can walk away and leave solid expertise behind. We work with governments, education and health authorities to put the infrastructure in place. We work on the ground, training deafblind teachers, home-based workers and parents, so they can offer the right support to children. We lobby governments to recognise the unique challenges faced by deafblind people and to provide services to help them. We run awareness raising activities to change people s understanding of deafblindness. The children All the children we work with have a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Some will have enough sight and hearing that their lives can be transformed just by the provision of spectacles and hearing aids. Others will need more specialist support and may have additional physical or learning disabilities.

4 My husband fled when he realised that Jematia was deaf and blind, and claimed that I had brought curses to his family. My mother-in-law was also threatening to kill me because of giving birth to such a child in their family. Eunice Early years The first years of life are critical for children s language and learning development. If their families are unable to communicate with them their mental and physical growth will be affected. We believe all children should have the best possible start in life. Our early intervention programmes include screening newborn babies for deafblindness and providing vital early intervention support. Supporting parents We support parent networks because families of deafblind children often feel very isolated. Not only do they face the challenge of trying to communicate with their child, but they have to cope with prejudice from their neighbours and lack information about what support they may be able to receive. Mothers in particular are often blamed for having a deafblind child, and may be rejected by their families and shunned by their communities.

5 Education Deafblind children need to learn in a way that is tailored to their very special needs. We develop school and home-based education programmes often in partnership with governments. We train special needs teachers so that they understand how to teach children who are both deaf and blind. We run teachers networks so that they can share their experience and knowledge, and develop deafblind curricula so that children across the country can benefit. These people can change the lives of our children. I will cooperate so that my child will be able to attend school just like the others Sudi s mother

6 You have transformed our deafblind children into human beings. Joyce, mother to a deafblind child Vocational training Our vocational training teaches young people life skills such as how to care for themselves and carry out daily domestic tasks, as well as develop work skills. Some learn the skills they need to work alongside members of their family, such as poultry-keeping and agriculture. Others learn crafts that they can sell, such as knitting jumpers, carpentry or weaving. Community-based education We train local organisations to work with deafblind children in their own homes. Once trained, the staff teach deafblind children how to communicate and look after themselves, to do tasks around the home and even to work perhaps in the family s fields. They also help families learn how to communicate with their children and work with community leaders to increase understanding of deafblindness and to reduce prejudice.

7 Achievements Our aims are ambitious, but Sense International has the experience and the track record to succeed. Here are just a few of our successes. In 1997 there was only one school in India providing services to 23 deafblind children. Today we work in 21 states, and have so far reached 43,000 of the estimated 485,000 deafblind people. In Peru we work closely with the government, and deafblind children now have more rights under a new education act, for example the right to an interpreter-guide. Our aim is always to train local organisations so that they can take over. In Bangladesh our lead partner is developing a Bengali deafblind sign language. In Kenya we are supporting the Institute of Education to develop a deafblind primary education curriculum. When we started working in Romania in 2001 there wasn t even a word for deafblindness in the dictionary. Now, there are 43 government-funded, deafblind classes, a nationally recognised deafblind teaching diploma and a legal framework, which will allow the development of an early intervention curriculum.

8 Make a donation Sense International is funded entirely by charitable donations. How to make a donation: Via our website: By post: please make cheques payable to Sense International and mark the envelope for the attention of Special Relationships at the address below. We can take credit and debit card donations by phone: If you are considering making a significant donation and would like to support a particular project then please contact our Special Relationships Team: specialrelationships@ senseinternational.org.uk Tel: Sense International 101 Pentonville Road London N1 9LG Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) Web: Registered charity no