You asked

My child is deaf. What are his/her preschool options?

In Ireland deaf children, like all Irish children, are entitled to the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) year. For deaf children, preschool supports early language development for future learning. However, your child will obviously have a lot more barriers to overcome than children without a hearing difficulty and so staff and parents must work together and find ways of ensuring the child can learn and develop.
 
Teamwork by parents and staff at crèches and/or preschools is the key to meeting a child’s specific needs and maximizing their learning potential. Depending on the child’s deafness, this learning may centre on early intervention and language development.
 
Early intervention has two main goals. The first is to teach the child to communicate, and to interact socially. The second is for the child to learn how to participate fully in family life. Preschool staff working with deaf children can support this communication development by giving the child one-on-time to consolidate recent learning.
 
Language development is a challenge for deaf children. Severely deaf children don’t automatically absorb language in their daily environment, so their early words need to be taught by visual means and gestures. Some children learn signs, with others relying on lip-reading. The child’s parents should advise staff how best to communicate with their child.
 
By working with the staff, your child will be able to learn and develop in a mainstream preschool environment 

More questions

Once you have established your toddler has a slight fever, there are a number of measures you can take to keep it under control
If your toddler has a slight fever, there are a number of measures you can take to keep it under control.
The average body temperature should be between 35°C and 37°C.
 
While a fever can be treated, it's important to keep in mind that fevers are usually the symptom of an illness and not the illness itself.
A body’s temperature is controlled by a part of the brain called the hypothalamus.
 
Getting norovirus cannot always be avoided, but good hygiene can help limit the spread of the virus...
All about how to deal with the winter vomiting bug...
All about how to treat the winter vomiting bug...
The first sign of norovirus is usually a abrupt feeling of nausea followed by sick feeling, followed by forceful vomiting and watery diarrhoea.
Norovirus is more commonly known as the winter vomiting bug.

Latest

Trending