The world of audiological technology is fast-changing and costly. To help deaf children and their families keep apace of the latest advances, we have funded vital new equipment at the following charities:
We are supporting Sound Waves Foundation, a small, recently registered charity committed to improving inclusivity and accessibly for deaf children and young people by promoting the use of live captioning in classrooms. Following our support of a successful research pilot during early summer 2022, we then funded the expansion of live captioning to four schools in East Sussex. The project is currently benefiting around 400 students (both hearing and deaf). Research into the outcomes of using speech-to-text Artificial Intelligence in classrooms will inform this project going forward.
‘By OHF taking a leap of faith in us, it has led to some amazing things and taken us further forwards than we would have imagined,’ said co-founders and Trustees Nicola and Silvie.
We have contributed toward the refurbished Information and Communications Technology suite at Hamilton Lodge School and College. Our gift funded a smart board and table, and acoustic flooring.
We supported the National Deaf Children Society’s Technology Test Drive, a free service that allows deaf children to borrow hearing technology to trial at home and school. Our grant was used to buy 12 radio aids. 90% of the parents whose children trialed the radio aids have said it has enabled them to make an informed decision about how best to proceed. We also contributed to their new Listening Bus, which will travel the country showcasing the latest in hearing technology.
We have bought radio aids for The Talking Trust at St Mary’s Special School in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. ‘One student had refused to wear his clunky old aid for the past 18 months,’ reported their audiologist. ‘But he is now a convert to the new system. It has made a dramatic improvement to his quality of life, as well as his ability to learn.’
We have funded the equipment for The Elizabeth Foundation‘s national outreach programme. Designed for the families of deaf children who are not close to the Foundation’s Hampshire headquarters, the cameras, recorders, audio and editing equipment have been used to record and analyse the language development of deaf babies and toddlers.