Deafcomm – Aiming to create a fairer society for all deaf and deafbind people and breaking the communication barrier.
Who are we?
We are a married partnership delivering high quality training in all things relating to deafness, deafblindness and communications skills. Both Suzie and David are deaf, Suzie totally, and David a hearing aid user. Suzie and David bring a wealth of real-life stories, with humour, to their training having experienced living in a hearing world as deaf people all their lives.
What training is on offer?
Suzie and David offer Communication skills training on how to communicate with a wide range of deaf people, from HOH through to deafened people. They also teach in,… acquired deafblindness, and guiding of older people, and this is now an accredited qualification covering 2 days with a certificate at the end.
They can also advise on technical equipment that support deaf people, like telephony and hearing aids / cochlear implants.
A qualified teacher, and former qualification designer, Suzie also was one of the first to deliver training in Disability Equality and Human Rights, specialising in deafness and deafblindness.
They can also tailor-make the courses to fit the needs of the participants.
The difference between their training and usual “deaf awareness” training is that we put the participants in a position of being deaf themselves, we have activities that demonstrate exactly why lipreading is so difficult, as well as showing people what it sounds like to be a hearing aid user. It’s an eye-opener!
A deaf aware business attending one of Suzie and David’s courses will equip you with the skills to attract customers who themselves are deaf and because they will find you easy to communicate with, be it verbally, face to face (via communication tactics skills) or using technology that has been put in place to aid accessibility.
Who do you teach?
Suzie and David have taught deaf people, hearing people and many professionals, ranging from GP’s to Dentists and Solicitors. Recently they have been focusing on care home staff and managers, people who work with and assess needs of older people who have acquired deafblindness. We have had some fantastic feedback, snippets of which you can see on our website.
What changes have you seen?
As a result of our training, we have seen people becoming more confident in communicating with deaf people and understanding the barriers they face in society, and who know how to break these barriers down. We have also seen improved access to services, provision of other means to communicate, in a world which is still highly dependent on voice telephony to do business or to attract customers which is mainly inaccessible to deaf and deafblind people. Many have recommended us and have become friends.
Want to find out more?
You can contact Suzie and David on suzie.jones@deafcomm.co.uk. Where we will be more than happy to discuss your requirements, whether it be a talk at your conference, short 60 minute introduction, half or full day or a 2 day accredited course.
