Phillip’s Story – a parent of a deaf child
As part of our 40th Birthday celebrations, we asked parents of deaf children, who undertook the Natural Aural Approach with their families with DELTA throughout their childhood, to give us an update about their experience.
Our young deaf children are our success stories of the Natural Aural Approach from DELTA, providing inspiration and support to families of newly diagnosed deaf children proving that deaf children can speak for themselves, naturally.
We have been delighted to hear from Phillip James who shares his story as a parent.
Phillip shares his story
We became aware of the natural aural approach after attending one of DELTA’s superbly organised Summer Schools.
Listening to the guest speakers, from all areas of hearing impairment research, really stuck us as the approach we wanted for our newly diagnosed profoundly deaf child, due to Meningitis.
The real selling point of the approach to keep the conversations flowing and providing as much opportunities to stretch the residual hearing as possible, was borne out by the young adults that presented to us, giving us hope that there was nothing that could hold our son back, if we didn’t let his deafness limit him.
William has just successfully completed 9 GCSEs and BTECs, the majority 4s, but managed to achieve a distinction in Catering, 5 in Double Sciences and 6 in Geography, studying at a High school with an HI unit.
Throughout his time there, he was ably assisted by an outstanding support team, communicating aurally, with a Roger system to enhance the experience and supported by a loving family and friends at home.
There is no reason that any child should be held back from an extremely successful school career, due to a hearing impairment. Talk to them, involve them in everything; don’t make assumptions as to their understanding of lessons: providing the widest, richest tapestry of aural experiences, woven together, really will allow hearing-impaired children to fly.
William was blessed with a trouble-free schooling, with only encouragement and support from his peers, allowing him to have grown into such a confident and inquisitive young man, who is now starting his Further Education studies in Science, with the hope of following a medical career.
Donate to DELTA
If you have liked reading Phillip’s story, please consider giving a donation to DELTA to continue their work in supporting families of deaf children across the UK to enable their children to speak for themselves, naturally.
Read more DELTA Stories
We provide stories from more young deaf adults from across the UK and also from parents and professionals sharing their experiences of going through the Natural Aural Approach.
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By becoming a member, you will be declaring your belief in what DELTA stands for and aligning yourself with the leading charity promoting the highest standards of oral education for deaf children in the UK.