‘I just don’t understand why parents need to have to pay to communicate with their children’
A Cornwall mum is campaigning to make sign language college courses free for parents with deaf children. Katie Littlejohns, from Illogan, found out her son, Alvie, was moderately deaf when he was just seven weeks old.
She explained that although finding out was "hard to take on board" at first, the support the family has since received from teachers of the deaf at Cornwall Council and the audiology department at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro has been "incredible."
"We found out he was deaf whilst we were in lockdown and it was really difficult because as an NHS worker, I wasn't with my family at the time and I found out when I was on my own", she said. "Covid also meant that I couldn't take my husband with me to Alvie's MRI scans or other appointments but the hospital and council's teachers of the deaf department were so incredible and compassionate throughout."
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Alvie is now 18 months old and has had hearing aids fitted. But Katie and her husband decided to learn British Sign Language (BSL) so that they are able to communicate with him when he is unable to wear them or in situations where they do not work effectively.
"He quite often just pulls out his hearing aids, so, while he does have moderate hearing, he misses a lot of what people are saying to him", Katie explained. I've seen it when he plays with his cousins sometimes and they're speaking to him but he can't hear what they're saying because he's taken them out."
"There are also times that he'll be isolated if he can't use his hearing aids or he's in an environment where they won't work as effectively. For example, he can't wear them when he's swimming and if we're in a restaurant and there are lots of people talking at once, they don't work as well and he can't hear what everyone is saying. It makes me really sad to think that he could feel isolated in these situations so we want to learn sign language to be able to communicate with him."
The family has been taking a free BSL course through the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) and while Katie says it is a "fantastic" course where children are also able to take part, she finds that they are not entirely suitable for her.
She explained: "I'm not trying to knock the charity at all because I think it is a fantastic and wonderful thing that they are able to run these courses to help families learn sign language. But we personally find it quite challenging to focus on the lessons because we have the kids with us and it can be quite distracting when they're playing or we have to take them out to the toilet."
However, when Katie and her husband decided to start looking into level one BSL college courses, they were "shocked" to find out how much money it costs to do them. Whilst there are certain exemptions and funding is available through some charities, Katie says she "cannot understand" why parents of deaf children would need to pay to be able to communicate with their children.
"I personally tend to learn better in a proper classroom environment, where I can focus and take notes", she said. "That way of learning for me is incomparable to anything else. But I just don't understand how parents have to fight and jump through hoops to be able to get free and easy access to these courses. Some people use sign language as their first form of communication but their parents each have to pay £400 to learn it and that's just for one level.
"When we first found out Alvie was moderately deaf, it didn't even occur to me to Google what funding was available for these level one college courses. Thankfully, my job meant I've now been able to get funding from the NHS to take on the course but I'll have to go home to teach my husband or he'll have to pay hundreds of pounds to learn himself.
"It's sad to think that most parents will be having to worry about money. I mean you've just found out your child is deaf, you're having to take them to weekly appointments and then you find out you have to pay to communicate with them. It's hard to take it all on board."
Katie has now started a petition urging the Secretary of State for Education to make sign language college courses free for parents and guardians of deaf children. She added that she thinks it is important for everyone to be able to use BSL and that it should also "absolutely" be taught in schools.
"I think BSL should absolutely be taught in schools, especially now that it is a recognised language", she said. "We want to be able teach it to Alvie and our other son, so that they can effectively communicate with each other. Alvie is also going to meet lots of other deaf children growing up, so we think he should be able to communicate with his friends who share something in common with him."
You can view Katie's petition here.
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