Events

On 10th November 2007 more than 60 people with deafblindness, their families and professionals working in this field gathered in Longford to launch Deafblind Ireland.

DB Ireland members.

Muriel Mathers presenting at the open meeting.

Patricia Messenger presenting at the DB Ireland open meeting.

Networking.

View photos

Identifying and assessing the needs of Deafblind children with additional complex disabilities.

A training day for professionals involved with carrying out assessments of need in the context of new disabilities legislation.

Date: Saturday 22 November 2008

Venue: All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin

Time: 10.00am – 3.30pm, including lunch

As you will be aware the Disabilities Act 2005 states that children under the age of 5 with disabilities are entitled to have an assessment of their needs. In this context Deafblind Ireland is keen to offer training to professionals who will be called upon to carry out such assessments.

No survey of deafblind people has ever been carried out in the Republic of Ireland. Based on UK and European research the incidence of Deafblindness averages between 80-100 per 100,000 of the population. Applied to Ireland this would lead us to expect between 3200 – 4000 people with a significant dual sensory loss. A major strategic aim of Deafblind Ireland is to conduct research into the needs and numbers of deafblind people in the whole of Ireland, North and South. With this information we intend to gain recognition of deafblindness as a separate disability and improvements in the number and quality of services for deafblind people.

Deafblind Ireland is pleased to offer this one day training course for professionals. The emphasis will be practical, concentrating on developing core skills in the identification of dual sensory loss.

We are pleased to have as our main speaker Liz Hodges, Head of MSI programme at Birmingham University. Liz is an acknowledge thinker and practitioner in this field.

Lorna Milway, Children’s Services Co-ordinator will share her experiences of working with Deafblind children in Northern Ireland.

Eileen Boothroyd, Head of Education for Sense UK will present the UK policy perspective.

This is a FREE training course and promises to offer practical skills and insight.

I look forward to seeing you on the 22 November.

Best Wishes

Yours sincerely

Ges Roulstone

Chair

Deafblind Ireland

First announcements

Deafblind priest Father Cyril Axelrod tells his remarkable and inspiring story on Hands On, Sunday 23rd January, 12pm, RTÉ1

Father Cyril Axelrod is a Deafblind priest – the first in the world – and has dedicated his life to caring for others and doing God’s work. All this he does, not in spite of his disabilities, but because of them. His charity work has spanned five continents, he communicates in 15 different languages, and lives and travels independently. This week Hands On presents a feature programme on this inspiring man with an in-depth personal interview in which he discusses his life, his faith, and his mission.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1942 to Orthodox Jewish parents, Cyril’s deafness wasn’t identified until he was three years old – his blindness would come much later due to Usher syndrome, a condition he was not aware he had until his late 30s.

In his youth, due to limited facilities for Jewish Deaf children, his parents reluctantly sent him to St Vincent’s, a Catholic School, but in family life they remained strict Orthodox Jews. At age fifteen he began training to become a Rabbi, only to have his dream shattered when he was told by the Chief Rabbi that his being “disabled” would prevent this from becoming reality.

In 1965, at twenty-three, he flew 800 miles to meet Bishop Green, a man known for his ministry to Deaf people in South Africa, who was surprised by Cyril’s request to be ordained a Catholic priest considering his Jewish background. Father Cyril’s determination led to his baptism three months later and in 2010 he celebrated the 40th anniversary of his ordination as a Catholic priest.

Cyril went on to challenge the South African Government and defy Apartheid by setting up the first multiracial school for Deaf children in South Africa. He excelled academically, achieving a degree in philosophy and psychology, becoming a qualified massage therapist, and receiving an Honorary Doctorate from Gallaudet University in Washington DC in recognition of his thirty-eight years of service to Deaf people in South Africa and South East Asia.

His story is truly remarkable and will be told in his own words in Hands On, Sunday 23rd January at 12.00 on RTÉ1. (Please check weekly listings for any changes)

Fr Cyril’s book “And the Journey Begins” is available to order from all good Irish bookshops as well as from the publisher www.forestbookshop.com and www.Irishdeaf.com

Please see link for more details: http://www.sense.org.uk/what_is_deafblindness/types_deafblindness/charge_conference

A Date for your diary: Deafblind Ireland Annual Conference - Dublin, Venue: TBC