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Teen group provides fun for deaf community
FALKIRK'S Youth Deaf Club is surprisingly loud. Step inside Forth Valley Sensory Centre and you're greeted by laughter, shouting, music and kids running in every direction.
Perhaps it isn't what you'd expect from a group of deaf children – but, if you think about it, why should they be any different?
Many of the 10-strong group have some degree of hearing which means only a handful communicate using sign language.
Using hearing-aids, cochlear implants and lip reading, the group of young people sound like any other – really loud!
Started in March this year, the RNID Scotland Youth Programme – or Deaf Club as it's better known – is open to all deaf and hard of hearing youngsters aged 14-19 in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire.
Run by youth worker Michelle Donoghue, the club was established after RNID Scotland went into schools to raise deafness awareness and found the area lacked youth services.
Michelle (25) said the club gave deaf and hearing- impaired children a chance to meet while also equipping them with social skills they may miss out on in mainstream schools.
She said: "We're trying to equip them for the future and they get to know people they normally wouldn't meet."
While the club is predominately about chilling out, playing games, dancing and listening to music, members have also been visited by Caledonian Youth, Central Scotland Police and local firefighters.
They've also had the chance to visit the fire station and ask questions. Many attended a Blue Light Disco and hosted a visit from Dawson Youth Club which Michelle said helped to break down prejudices about deaf people.
She said: "It showed other children that, just because these kids are deaf, it doesn't mean that they don't like music or making new friends."
Members have taken part in football training with the help of Stirling Council's active youth co-ordinator and Michelle said she hoped to take the club on the road to encourage new members from other Forth Valley areas.
The group, along with other Falkirk pupils, will attend 'Rock The Talk' at Grangemouth Town Hall on November 16 with this year's campaign focusing on young people turning down the volume so they don't lose the music when they're older.
Michelle, who studied British Sign Language at college, said she suffered hearing problems when she was younger and can appreciate the frustration youth group members often feel.
While many members did attend Windsor Park School for hearing impaired pupils, almost all now go to Falkirk High School which is equipped with teachers of the deaf who offer classes to youngsters needing extra learning support.
Pupils use bits of sign language and lip reading to get by at school and all wear hearing aids.
Craig Andrew (12) said he sometimes found it hard to hear his teachers – especially in big classes – but overall his deafness didn't stop him from joining in or making friends.
Thirteen-year-old Cameron Dick, who attends Braes High School, wears a cochlear implant and has found himself answering plenty of questions from his peers on how it works.
Put simply, the implant bypasses the parts of Cameron's ear which don't work.
A receiver is attached to his inner ear (the cochlea) to which the hearing aid transmits electric signals and these are sent to the hearing nerve which the brain recognises them as sound.
Cameron said he was learning sign language at deaf club, even though he could hear, to help him in the future.
Another BSL advocate is 16-year-old Jillian Gray who was born deaf.
The teenager, who wears two hearing aids, has signed for most of her life and said the only problem she had at school was when people spoke too softly.
She said: "Some people are quite quiet so I ask them to speak louder and then it's not really a problem anymore."
If you're interested in finding out more about the deaf club, call Michelle on (01324) 590 888 or head to the sensory centre in Redbrae Road, Camelon.
According to RNID, there are around 212,000 people aged 16-60 years old in Scotland who have some form of deafness. Of them just 9000 are profoundly deaf although in the over 60s category there are 48,000
It's estimated that UK-wide 6.6 per cent – or nine million people – have some hearing loss
Every year about 840 children – or one in every 1000 – are born with significant deafness, that is moderate to profound deafness
Around two million UK residents have hearing aids – but only 1.4 million use them regularly – while at least another three million people don't have hearing aids, but need them
RNID estimates 50,000 people use BSL as their first or preferred language while everyone uses lipreading during some stage of their life – ever been out at a noisy pub and couldn't hear what someone was saying?
For For more information on deafness click on RNID.org.uk or check out the Forth Valley Sensory Centre by going to Falkirk Online and following the links
Teen group provides fun for deaf community
FALKIRK'S Youth Deaf Club is surprisingly loud. Step inside Forth Valley Sensory Centre and you're greeted by laughter, shouting, music and kids running in every direction.
Perhaps it isn't what you'd expect from a group of deaf children – but, if you think about it, why should they be any different?
Many of the 10-strong group have some degree of hearing which means only a handful communicate using sign language.
Using hearing-aids, cochlear implants and lip reading, the group of young people sound like any other – really loud!
Started in March this year, the RNID Scotland Youth Programme – or Deaf Club as it's better known – is open to all deaf and hard of hearing youngsters aged 14-19 in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire.
Run by youth worker Michelle Donoghue, the club was established after RNID Scotland went into schools to raise deafness awareness and found the area lacked youth services.
Michelle (25) said the club gave deaf and hearing- impaired children a chance to meet while also equipping them with social skills they may miss out on in mainstream schools.
She said: "We're trying to equip them for the future and they get to know people they normally wouldn't meet."
While the club is predominately about chilling out, playing games, dancing and listening to music, members have also been visited by Caledonian Youth, Central Scotland Police and local firefighters.
They've also had the chance to visit the fire station and ask questions. Many attended a Blue Light Disco and hosted a visit from Dawson Youth Club which Michelle said helped to break down prejudices about deaf people.
She said: "It showed other children that, just because these kids are deaf, it doesn't mean that they don't like music or making new friends."
Members have taken part in football training with the help of Stirling Council's active youth co-ordinator and Michelle said she hoped to take the club on the road to encourage new members from other Forth Valley areas.
The group, along with other Falkirk pupils, will attend 'Rock The Talk' at Grangemouth Town Hall on November 16 with this year's campaign focusing on young people turning down the volume so they don't lose the music when they're older.
Michelle, who studied British Sign Language at college, said she suffered hearing problems when she was younger and can appreciate the frustration youth group members often feel.
While many members did attend Windsor Park School for hearing impaired pupils, almost all now go to Falkirk High School which is equipped with teachers of the deaf who offer classes to youngsters needing extra learning support.
Pupils use bits of sign language and lip reading to get by at school and all wear hearing aids.
Craig Andrew (12) said he sometimes found it hard to hear his teachers – especially in big classes – but overall his deafness didn't stop him from joining in or making friends.
Thirteen-year-old Cameron Dick, who attends Braes High School, wears a cochlear implant and has found himself answering plenty of questions from his peers on how it works.
Put simply, the implant bypasses the parts of Cameron's ear which don't work.
A receiver is attached to his inner ear (the cochlea) to which the hearing aid transmits electric signals and these are sent to the hearing nerve which the brain recognises them as sound.
Cameron said he was learning sign language at deaf club, even though he could hear, to help him in the future.
Another BSL advocate is 16-year-old Jillian Gray who was born deaf.
The teenager, who wears two hearing aids, has signed for most of her life and said the only problem she had at school was when people spoke too softly.
She said: "Some people are quite quiet so I ask them to speak louder and then it's not really a problem anymore."
If you're interested in finding out more about the deaf club, call Michelle on (01324) 590 888 or head to the sensory centre in Redbrae Road, Camelon.
According to RNID, there are around 212,000 people aged 16-60 years old in Scotland who have some form of deafness. Of them just 9000 are profoundly deaf although in the over 60s category there are 48,000
It's estimated that UK-wide 6.6 per cent – or nine million people – have some hearing loss
Every year about 840 children – or one in every 1000 – are born with significant deafness, that is moderate to profound deafness
Around two million UK residents have hearing aids – but only 1.4 million use them regularly – while at least another three million people don't have hearing aids, but need them
RNID estimates 50,000 people use BSL as their first or preferred language while everyone uses lipreading during some stage of their life – ever been out at a noisy pub and couldn't hear what someone was saying?
For For more information on deafness click on RNID.org.uk or check out the Forth Valley Sensory Centre by going to Falkirk Online and following the links