NEWS AND INFORMATION

Scroll down for:


  • Forthcoming Events
  • SALT Survey
  • Jenny Barrett Deaf Child Achievement Awards
  • Personal CD/MP3 Leads
  • The Buzz - Youth Website
  • Deaf Friendly Cricket
  • Deaf Friendly Football
  • Family Sign Language Course
  • Flickr - More DDCS Event Photographs
  • Cinema Subtitles
  • Discount Cards



FORTHCOMING EVENTS

25TH JULY 2010 - PAULTONS PARK

4TH AUGUST 2010 - TEEN'S ICE SKATING AND PIZZA

15TH AUGUST 2010 - FARMER PALMERS

17TH SEPTEMBER 2010 - PAMPERED CHEF EVENING

2ND OCTOBER 2010 - AGM AND JBDCAA

27TH NOVEMBER 2010 - CHRISTMAS PARTY


SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY SURVEY

For some time parents have expressed concerns verbally about the amount of Speech and Language Therapy their children are receiving. Dorset DCS has also been concerned about this. In February this year Dorset DCS and the Hearing Support Service organised a Parent Information Evening and asked the parents that attended to complete a feedback form. After discussing the results of the feedback forms Dorset DCS decided to conduct a survey to gather information from parents about Speech and Language Therapy.

We are now in a position to share the results of this survey and they can be viewed on the link below. We feel strongly that these views should be taken into account as the support of Speech and Language Therapy plays a very important role in the development of hearing impaired children not just academically but also emotionally.

Dorset DCS is passing on this information to various professionals for consideration.

SALT QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS





THE JENNY BARRETT DEAF CHILD ACHIVEMENT AWARDS

The Jenny Barrett Deaf Child Achievement Award is split into two categories, Junior and Senior. Junior is for any child up to the age of 11 years old and Senior is for 12 to 18 year olds.

The awards set out to reward the achievements of deaf and hard of hearing children and young people from Dorset up to the age of 18 and can be for anything from an act of courage or helping others, overcoming a difficulty, or reading a piece of work in assembly at school. Just so long as it is a real achievement for that individual child.
In addition, an award from The Bournemouth Deaf Club will also be made to the child or young person judged to have made a special endeavour. The winners will be announced at the Society’s Annual General Meeting on 2nd October 2010. Many thanks to Robin Barrett and Keith Simmonds who along with our chairperson Martin Ring have the difficult job of choosing the winners.

If you wish to make a nomination please contact Martin Ring for a nomination form on 01305 260351 or email info@dorsetdcs.co.uk
and return your nomination form to
Martin Ring, 4 Gatcombe Close, Dorchester, Dorset. DT1 2AW
Closing date for nominations is
14th September 2010


PERSONAL CD/MP3 LEADS STILL ON OFFER

The DDCS will provide appropriate leads for any deaf or hearing-impaired child in Dorset.

The leads enable sound to go straight to the hearing aids via the special shoe attached to the hearing aids

If you would like your child to have one please ask your Teacher of the Deaf or contact any of the DDCS trustees.


THE BUZZ

The Buzz is NDCS’s exciting new website especially for deaf children and young people aged between 8 and 18 years old. There are two cool web sites where they can find events in their area, play games and get information on all sorts of subjects.

They just have to choose the right website for their age.
There are two sites – one for children (8 to 11 years old) and one for teenagers (12 to 18 years old). It gives deaf young people the opportunity to make new friends and to chat and discuss issues that matter to them. The site is closely monitored and NDCS have a clear safety policy to help deaf children and young people keep themselves safe when using the website. Get involved and be part of the buzz!

www.ndcsbuzz.org.uk



DEAF FRIENDLY CRICKET

The Dorset Cricket Board are offering FREE cricket coaching sessions for anyone who is hearing impaired and interested in playing cricket. They will cater for all abilities and all ages.
The sessions will be held on:

 Sunday 11th and 25th April, 16th and 30th May and 13th June at Clayesmore School in Blandford.

There will be lots of FUN cricketing activities for all to get involved!

For more information and to book at place please contact Paul Warren on 07966 267348 or Greg Parsons on 07912 201508.

DEAF FRIENDLY FOOTBALL

This free monthly event is hosted by the Dorset County FA and is proving very successful.

It's great fun and caters for 8-16 year olds. Friends, family and siblings welcome to come along.

The next session is Sunday 6th June - 10am-12pm. It's indoors so the weather won't be a problem! Just bring your children to the The Carter Community Sports Centre in Hamworthy BH15 4BQ (in football kit) just before 1pm. For more details email the coach Todd Govan - toddgovan@dorsetfa.comor ring his mobile 07943 810606.

Please come and try this if your children like football - it really is a great team and friend building event - and its totally free - they even provide refreshments!


FAMILY SIGN LANGUAGE COURSES

Are you a parent of a deaf child aged 0-5? Are you interested in learning sign language as a family?
If so the NDCS are running free Family Sign Language Courses for families in the South West during 2010.
Find out more and register your interest at www.ndcs.org.uk/isign


VIEW MORE PICTURES FROM DDCS EVENTS

We do not have room to show all the pictures we take at our events on our website. If any parents would like to see them you can access them on a Flickr website.


If you are interested please e-mail info@dorsetdcs.co.uk for your own personal access password.

CINEMA SUBTITLES

We realise that many of our members would like to enjoy family days out and we have several local cinemas that can offer a range of subtitled films.

Click on the following link to access the Your Local Cinema website.

www.yourlocalcinema.com

 First click on the "subtitled cinema" icon, then click the "The cinemas" icon and search by your town to find the nearest subtitled films to you. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you have the option to enter your email address and town to get regular emails with local screenings.

Please make sure you double check with your local cinema before travelling as schedules are subject to change.

Some cinemas have a good range of films and times, some have a more limited range. There is an option on the page to leave positive or negative feedback with your local cinema. Please use this option as we need to tell the cinemas what we want.

You can also get a CEA card that entitles a carer to go to the cinema free of charge when accompanying a disabled person. The card costs £5 to buy and you need to send photos but I use ours regularly and save money every trip. For more details go to our Discount Cards page and click on the link. One of our committee members also finds she can get the same benefit by showing her sons Disability Register Card issued by social services.

DISCOUNT CARDS

Did you know that your deaf child is entitled to  some useful discount cards that give the child, or the carer, or both discounts on -  cinema admissions - rail travel - bus travel.

CINEMA DISCOUNT CARD

The card entitles a carer to free entry when they accompany the deaf child. The carer can be family or friend and the card is issued to the deaf child so a different person could accompany your child on each occasion.

If you have more than one deaf child they can each get a card and each can have a free carer accompany them.

To apply for the card, which costs £5.50 per person and is valid for 12 months, go to the following website or click on this link - www.ceacard.co.uk. The website also has a useful Q & A page to answer your queries. 

To qualify for the card you will need to send a passport size photo of your deaf child and a photocopy of their entitlement letter for disability living or attendance allowance. Send this with your £5.50 cheque and the application form which you can print from their website and you should receive your card within 3 weeks.

The card is accepted by all the major cinema chains including these local cinemas -

Empire - Tower Park, Poole.

Odeon - Westover Road, Bournemouth and New Canal, Salisbury.

Cineworld - New Bond St, Weymouth and Old Station Way, Yeovil.

Please note it is not valid in some of the smaller independant local cinemas but the website has a very useful postcode search facility which tells you which of your local cinemas will accept the card (Bridport and Dorchester cinemas will accept it and so will Wells cinema)

The Dorset Deaf Childrens Society is happy to recommend this card to its members - several of our members have the cards and find them a good cost effective way to enjoy a family day out at the pictures.

The DDCS is currently involved in lobbying the major cinema chains in an attempt to get more subtitled films shown at times that suit our members - this is an ongoing process and we will keep you updated with our progress as we achieve any.

 Don't forget that loop systems are available at the major cinemas for deaf and hard of hearing people wearing hearing aids or cochlear implant processors. These are of great benefit to the deaf - ask at the cinema reception or ticket booth for a loop and ask them to make sure the loop is switched on and working. For more information on what a loop system is and how it works click on this link - www.rnid.org.uk  and enter LOOP SYSTEMS as a search in the top right hand corner search box.

RAIL TRAVEL DISCOUNT CARD

This card is available to all deaf children. It offers a discount off the adult rail fare for rail travel within the UK. Although it is probably cheaper to buy a child ticket anyway, the advantage comes in the fact that an accompanying carer travelling with the child gets a third of the price off as well. The card costs £14 and is valid for one year so you need to be making regular use of it or doing a longish journey to make this worthwhile. To read more or apply go to - www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk

DORSET BUS TRAVEL FOR FREE

Profoundly or severely deaf children can TRAVEL FOR FREE  on buses within Dorset(and on journeys that finish outside Dorset but start from within Dorset). 

East Dorset ,North Dorset,Purbeck and West Dorset Councils are all grouping together for this. You will need to apply for a travel card from either the West Dorset or East Dorset Council and send proof of disability and a passport style photo with their application form.

More details are available on the councils Dorset For You website and you can download the form and print it out in PDF format or get one from your council offices or click this link to go to their website  - www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=546