Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
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Phelan calls for deaf school for the south east region - Kilkenny Advertiser - March 19, 2010.
The children of Kilkenny and the south-east region need a second level school for deaf so that they can continue to live at home during their second level education.
Kilkenny Fine Gael senator John Paul Phelan claims that young people from second level age are being forced to live away from home in order to access education, as there are no second level deaf educational facilitates in the region.
He says that there is also a chronic shortage of trained sign language personnel and that this is leaving hundreds of deaf men and women whose first language is sign language without the necessary support they need to access employment, training and education and is forcing many gifted people to rely long-term on state benefit.
“In this so-called age of equality it is a disgrace that many of our training and support agencies don’t have interpreters or sign language personnel needed to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their level of hearing, can play an active role in society.
“If agencies such as FAS are to be truly inclusive, the hearing impaired need sign language support. And profoundly deaf children from the south-east shouldn’t be forced to live away from home to access second level education. We need a school here in the south-east and we need the supports right throughout our community to ensure the brightest and our best achieve their full potential.
“We are failing children with hearing deficits by failing to subtitle enough children’ programmes on television. We need universal newborn hearing screening of all children across all counties so that problems are detected early and interventions and supports put in place.
“Supports for deaf children in our pre-school system are non-existent. Hands On is a critical sign language programme. But the scheduled run of the programme has been cut back from 20 episodes to just seven. We have failed our most needy in every way.
“Groups across the south-east have done Trojan work to champion the cause of the hearing impaired. I speak specifically of the efforts of the Tipperary/Kilkenny/Carlow Deaf Club and the Deaf South East Women’s Group.
“Our state has failed them miserably. Where is our long-promised Disability Act? The Government needs to listen to the deaf community. It needs to ensure that everyone who wants to access our health, education and training services, engage in active employment, or up-skill can do so in the full knowledge that the support they need is there.”
The children of Kilkenny and the south-east region need a second level school for deaf so that they can continue to live at home during their second level education.
Kilkenny Fine Gael senator John Paul Phelan claims that young people from second level age are being forced to live away from home in order to access education, as there are no second level deaf educational facilitates in the region.
He says that there is also a chronic shortage of trained sign language personnel and that this is leaving hundreds of deaf men and women whose first language is sign language without the necessary support they need to access employment, training and education and is forcing many gifted people to rely long-term on state benefit.
“In this so-called age of equality it is a disgrace that many of our training and support agencies don’t have interpreters or sign language personnel needed to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their level of hearing, can play an active role in society.
“If agencies such as FAS are to be truly inclusive, the hearing impaired need sign language support. And profoundly deaf children from the south-east shouldn’t be forced to live away from home to access second level education. We need a school here in the south-east and we need the supports right throughout our community to ensure the brightest and our best achieve their full potential.
“We are failing children with hearing deficits by failing to subtitle enough children’ programmes on television. We need universal newborn hearing screening of all children across all counties so that problems are detected early and interventions and supports put in place.
“Supports for deaf children in our pre-school system are non-existent. Hands On is a critical sign language programme. But the scheduled run of the programme has been cut back from 20 episodes to just seven. We have failed our most needy in every way.
“Groups across the south-east have done Trojan work to champion the cause of the hearing impaired. I speak specifically of the efforts of the Tipperary/Kilkenny/Carlow Deaf Club and the Deaf South East Women’s Group.
“Our state has failed them miserably. Where is our long-promised Disability Act? The Government needs to listen to the deaf community. It needs to ensure that everyone who wants to access our health, education and training services, engage in active employment, or up-skill can do so in the full knowledge that the support they need is there.”