Deafworks Problem Page
Laraine is our resident agony aunt for all your work issues. She is continuing to receive queries on a weekly basis – we feature a selection of these on our Deafworks problem page. Have a look to see if anyone has had the same issue as you and read Laraine’s solution. The latest problem put to our agony aunt is: “I’m new to the UK and looking for work.” Previous problems have included: “I’m having problems with my manager” and “I’ve been made redundant“. If you have anything to add, we welcome your opinion.

The Limping Chicken
Charlie Swinbourne’s blog The Limping Chicken continues to go from strength to strength. As the founding sponsor we are delighted to see that it has received almost 60,000 hits in under six weeks. The blog is on its way to publishing its 90th article and has approved over 500 comments from users. Currently the most popular articles are: Seeing my son for the first time , Shocking video shows deaf man being ejected from Canadian courthouse, S*** people say to sign language interpreters. Last week the blog was quoted in the Guardian online. Well deserved congrats to Charlie!

See you next month!

Copyright © 2012 Deafworks All rights reserved.

Want to teach yourself sign language?
Our book and DVD, Teach Yourself British Sign Language, continues to do well, helping new learners develop their signing. The book has a page on Facebook; we welcome all comments, reviews, and “likes”. See this link here.

The Limping Chicken

Deafworks is sponsoring The Limping Chicken, a brand-new website offering news, features and opinion on deaf culture and issues. It’s edited by deaf journalist Charlie Swinbourne. Check it out here: http://limpingchicken.com

Booking calendar
Laraine continues to be available for one-to-one sessions for all your work-related issues. We now have a booking calendar facility on the Deafworks website. The one hour sessions can take place in Central London, or in Peckham Rye. Laraine looks forward to solving your problems with you.

Thanks!
Thanks for all your nice comments about the last e-news – keep them coming!
‘Nice one and well done!’ David Rose, MD, First Point CIC, Surrey
‘Thank you for this. I like Deafworks’ clean, straightforward style.’ Jane Cordell, Coach, Manchester
‘Welcome back as we miss your newsletter!!’ Paul McCusker, Deaf Connections, Glasgow

P.S. Remember to add the Deafworks website to your RSS feed, so you will receive the latest news as it happens.

Copyright © 2012 Deafworks All rights reserved.

Recent Posts

• William Mager: Seeing my son for the first time
• Donna Williams: British SPECIAL language?! How interpreting agencies get it wrong
• News: ‘Banks face threat of massive payouts to deaf customers’ says The Times
• News: Shocking video shows deaf man being ejected from Canadian courthouse
• The Secret Deafie: The day I found myself on the hearing man’s side

About The Limping Chicken

One presenter spoke for himself in a very confident way – I looked at the faces in the audience – there were some puzzled looks. Why? The presenter has a ‘deaf’ voice (eg: not easily understood) and spoke quickly (like hearing people do) but of course people then had real difficulty in following what he was saying. Should he have used a voice over instead? I could see he wanted to impress the hearing audience (his mum has obviously told him he ‘speaks beautifully’ – well she should be able to understand him after 30 odd years – but a first timer might not). How easily we are deceived about ourselves and our skills.

Another speaker spoke and signed for herself. This can be messy – as it is not really possible to do both at the same tempo (something teachers of the deaf never fully understand when they do the same in schools). This is the problem I have. My voice also starts to drop (as the presenter’s did too) so hearing people strain to listen. The voice drops because the signing starts to take over.

Leaving it all to the interpreter is not the answer – it works brilliantly for true BSL users as they are comfortable using their own mode of communication which allows their personality to shine through. For the rest of us, well after 35 years of presenting to the public I still don’t have a game plan. What would help is a supportive audience – someone once put their hand up and asked me to stop signing as they were watching the interpreter. Not helpful.

Maybe the answer is to be more tolerant of deaf diversity and allow each deaf professional to do it their way in a warm and supportive way. Also for us to encourage practical advice and follow through suggestions that feel right to us as deaf professionals.

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!

Office (voice calls) 020 7701 4788
Mobile (text only) 0795 808 7640
LC@deafworks.co.uk
www.deafworks.co.uk

Deafworks : Getting it right first time. Every time.

Deafworks
67 Lyndhurst Grove
Bellenden
London SE15 5AW

Contact us (see below) as we are going strong!

Office (voice calls) 020 7701 4788

Mobile (text only) 0795 808 7640

LC@deafworks.co.uk

www.deafworks.co.uk

Deafworks : Getting it right first time. Every time.

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’)