Do you have deaf employees?
Companies: why not take the time to ask your deaf employees how things are going, or what suggestions they have for improving ways of working together.

Are you a deaf manager?
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you know what your individual deaf members of staff want. Ask them directly what can be done to make things better.

Do you have deaf clients?
Brainstorm the best way of finding out what your deaf clients would value most. Would this be a carefully drafted email, a survey (which we can carry out for you if we – or one of our freelancers – are nearby), or a focus group (again we can give advice if you need it), or find a local deaf person who can carry this out for you (ask us if we know someone)?

Plans for 2012
This year here at Deafworks we are keeping things simple. Nicholas Callow will be concentrating mainly on legal work, while Laraine Callow is concentrating on troubleshooting. Laraine has years of experience which enable her to solve most (if not, all) of your problems including: helping you find a suitable trustee for your charity; talking to you about your career opportunities; or helping you work out where you or your project should go next. And of course, we continue to manage our loyal team of freelance trainers and advisors who would love to work with you, wherever you are in the UK.

P. S. Remember to cut and paste our new contact details into your address book.

Copyright (c) 2012 Deafworks All rights reserved.

Deafworks
67 Lyndhurst Grove
Peckham Rye
London
SE15 5AW

Office (voice calls)
020 7701 4788

Mobile (text only)
0795 808 7640

general@deafworks.co.uk

www.deafworks.co.uk

We’d love to hear from you!

Want to discuss your future?
Looking for a job or promotion?
Wondering where you are going?
Need to bounce around some ideas?
Anxious to practice a public presentation?
Thinking about retirement?

Just locate the calendar (left hand column or go to the 121 page) and click on a date. Easy peasy!

(fees are detailed on the One-to-One page under ‘Services’)

Judging Panel
We asked a range of Deaf professionals to act as our judging panel. They are:

• Susan Daniels, Chief Executive, The National Deaf Children’s Society 
• Ann Goldfinch, Freelance Consultant, Assessor and Verifier
• Norma McGilp, Writer and Filmmaker 
• Sally Reynolds, Freelance Consultant
• David Rose, Consultant: Deaf and Disability Matters

Results
Some interesting runners up…

“Be visual. Use your eyes to see what Deaf people mean.”
Brigitte Francois, Director of Interpreting Services at Significan’t

“Awareness is the easy bit. It’s doing something about it that counts.”
Robin Wickes, Volunteer for Action on Hearing Loss and Hearing Link

“Please do not shout. I do not understand what you are saying, please write it down.”
Linda Mary Breeze, Homemaker

“Realise that deaf awareness is continuous, not a one-off. Deaf Awareness training does not achieve everything in just a day, it’s much more than that.”
Tyron Woolfe, Deputy Director, Children and Young People, The National Deaf Children’s Society

“Remember each Deaf person, whether BSL user, Hard of Hearing, Deafened, or DeafBlind is an individual. No one is the same, so treat each person as unique and ensure their own communication method is met if possible, whether using a BSL interpreter, exchanging notes, electronic note taking, guide communicator, or another means of communication that suits the individual.”
Paul McCusker, Development Worker, Deaf Connections

Winner
The judges’ favourite tip is:
“Never assume!”
Dr Joe Murray, Learning Officer, National Trust for Scotland

Congratulations Dr Joe Murray, you are our winner and will be receiving a copy of the “Teach Yourself British Sign Language” book/dvd set from Hodder Education.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yourself-British-Language-Complete-Courses/dp/0340991321/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1303912226&sr=8-1

Friends, colleagues, family members
Is there anyone you can think of who would benefit from these tips, or would want to send them on to their friends, colleagues and family members? If so, do forward this email to their inbox. Help spread the word!

See you next month! 

Copyright (c) 2011 Deafworks All rights reserved.

For more information on this self-teaching pack, please look at the “Resources” menu on the left hand side of screen, then the “Publications” page, then choose “Teach Yourself BSL” from the list. There are Amazon reviews and a YouTube clip available.

Complete this sentence in 150 words or less: “My best tip for Deaf Awareness is…” 

Email your answer to us at general@deafworks.co.uk. 

Our favourite tip will win a “Teach Yourself BSL” book/DVD set, and will be featured in next month’s e-news. 

So get writing! 

You can enter more than once, but all entries must reach us by 6pm on Tuesday 31st May 2011. 

Read more about this great book/DVD on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yourself-British-Language-Complete-Courses/dp/0340991321/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303829109&sr=1-1

Amazon readers have scored it five gold stars: read their reviews here. Join the Amazon community and cast your vote too!

Do you want to be able to understand and use British Sign Language confidently? All you need is this best-selling course from Teach Yourself (Hodder Education) – the No. 1 brand in language learning. 

Learn everyday, useful BSL through real-life situations that make the grammar and vocabulary easy and memorable. Hundreds of line illustrations throughout the book and constant references to video clips on the DVD make learning fast and fun. 

ISBN: 978 0340 991 329 

See author Paul Redfern signing about how he wrote the book and DVD here.

Read captions to the above YouTube clip. 

Read a review of ‘Teach Yourself BSL’ in Hearing Times, March 2011.

Hello everyone,
Welcome to this year’s Deaf Awareness week organised by the Council on Deafness (www.deafcouncil.org.uk) annually in May.

What does Deaf Awareness mean for us?
We’ve asked deaf people and they say:
- “I want Deaf Awareness week to mean something all the year round.”
- “I want my family to include me in their conversations.”
- “My work colleagues are great – they had a Deaf Awareness session and it made all the difference.”

Top Tips at work
It’s really all very simple!
1) Face the person you are talking to.
2) Repeat things they have missed.
3) Email them notes of meetings.
4) Think carefully about conference calls.

Top Tips for deaf children
They benefit from Deaf Awareness too
1) Don’t get hung up on communication.
2) Let them enjoy their childhood.
3) Include them in games and fun.
4) Explain what’s going on.

Top Tips for home
For an inclusive home life
1) Have a rule that subtitles are always on.
2) Always say who is on the phone.
3) Include everyone at the table in the conversation.
4) Never say: “I’ll tell you later”.

More Top Tips
We asked our friends on Facebook for their favourite Deaf Awareness tips. Here are the best responses we’ve had so far:
- “Never say, “It doesn’t matter”. And the three R’s: Repeat, Rephrase, and wRite it down.”
- “Include deaf and hard of hearing people in your group conversations.”
- “Think before you shout or push the person in front of you as they may be deaf. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been pushed or shoved because I didn’t hear someone say “excuse me”.”

And one vision for the future:
“I suggest a new subject in the national school curriculum called “Society”. Pupils would learn useful things like first aid, disability awareness, government, self defence, as well as finance (e.g. banking, insurance, how to buy and sell a house or car).”

** COMPETITION **
Complete this sentence in 150 words or less: “My best tip for Deaf Awareness is…” Email your answer to us at general@deafworks.co.uk. Our favourite tip will win a “Teach Yourself BSL” book/DVD set, and will be featured in next month’s e-news. So get writing! You can enter more than once, but all entries must reach us by 6pm on Tuesday 31st May 2011.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yourself-British-Language-Complete-Courses/dp/0340991321/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303829109&sr=1-1

See you next month!

P.S. Do pass this e-news on to a relevant person if you think they would benefit.

P.P.S. Let us know of any email address changes.

Vibrant Impact

Interview Panels
Are you interviewing for a new member of staff? Would you benefit from someone with excellent interviewing and chairing skills? You can always call on Laraine Callow to join your interview panel when you need some extra expert help! Just email lc@deafworks.co.uk for dates and fees, or some brief e-advice.

Deaf Professionals’ Problem Page
Some of you may remember Laraine’s popular agony aunt page in the See Hear magazine some years ago. As we have had many requests for this over the years, we are working on bringing this back to life, but this time as an interactive page on the Deafworks website. So start saving up those burning questions. And if you can’t wait, send them direct to lc@deafworks.co.uk and Laraine will answer them in time for the launch!

RSS feed
We urge you to click onto our RSS feed… Simply visit the Deafworks website at www.deafworks.co.uk and look at the right hand column of the screen. You will see the RSS feed logo. Click onto this and you will be notified of any website updates. We add a new piece of news every week to keep everyone in touch with what we are doing.

Teach Yourself BSL
We’re currently working on the first reprint of Teach Yourself BSL. The pack continues to receive excellent Amazon reviews (thank you to everyone who has written!), and has also been reviewed in Hearing Times: http://www.deafworks.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/tybslhearingtimesmarch2011.jpg

BSLBT at Buckingham Palace
The Hub followed Laraine Callow and Alan Murray to Buckingham Palace for their MBE investiture earlier this year. Catch it here http://www.deafworks.co.uk/2011/04/the-hub-mbe-special-at-buckingham-palace-aired-today/ and watch Laraine having fun!

E-newsletter with images
If the images in this e-newsletter don’t appear for you, please visit here (you are here!) for the newsletter complete with images.