22-28 June is Deafblind Awareness Week, promoting awareness about everyday life for those who are deafblind, challenging misconceptions, and celebrating the achievements of people with multi-sensory impairment.
At Seashell, we support many children and young adults with multi-sensory needs from across the country, often from a very young age. Our team of Qualified MSI Teachers, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Audiologists work together to deliver a holistic approach to supporting this unique population of learners.
We also deliver training and support to children and young adults with MSI, and the professionals who support them, including our Mandatory Qualification for Multi-Sensory Impairment Postgraduate Diploma. You can find out more about our range of unique MSI Support Services here.
We’ve had such a busy week celebrating Deafblind Awareness! Here’s some of the thing’s we got up to…
In our Multipurpose Room we held a Deafblind Sports Session where participants could try their hand at some classic sports games, but this time with a sensory impairment. Working in pairs, we had games where one partner supported the other to correctly place the ball in the basket, play dominoes, build a house of cards or pass the ball back and forth.
William Yung, Physical Activity Development Officer said: “This session highlighted the importance of a person-centred approach, ensuring that we support each student in a way that meets their individual needs.”
“This practical activity encouraged empathy and helped staff better understand the challenges that some of our students may face.”
Read more about deafblind people accessing sport here.
In Royal College Manchester, all week students were learning about deafblindess and each class completed an art project based on the different senses to decorate the outside fence.
On Friday, everyone enjoyed a lunchtime sensory walk, where they noticed changes in smells, felt the texture of different objects, look for different colours and shapes across campus, listened to sounds and chose whether they liked loud or quiet sounds. Finally, they could all see the completed fence with each wonderful art project!
Learn more about deafblindness
What is a Deafblind Intervenor?
