While New Zealand Sign Language Week has wrapped up for the year, South Canterbury-based dad Alex Avery hopes the learning will continue.
Mr Avery said his son Tom had his first hearing aids fitted when he was 4 months old, and cochlear implants were needed when Tom was 4.
Mr Avery said it was important people remembered hearing aids or cochlear implants did not result in what people might consider to be ‘‘normal’’ hearing.
He said despite the aid there was still a lot of reliance on lip reading and non-verbal cues.
‘‘Noisy environments — lots of background chatter for example — can make it really tough to understand what’s going on.
‘‘Some great techniques that people can use to help with communication of all deaf people, not just kids, is to make sure the person knows you want to speak to them.
‘‘This could involve tapping them on the shoulder, for example.’’
Once they had their attention they could make sure they were facing the person so they could clearly see their mouth.
He also recommended good lighting.
‘‘Also, it’s valuable to know that the effort to listen/lip read and interpret for a long time, especially in more busy and noisy environments, can be very tiring.’’
‘‘Given New Zealand Sign Language is New Zealand’s official third language it is great if people just know a few words, and it’s fun to learn too.
‘‘For deaf kids, I think it would also help to give them confidence if people knew how to better communicate with them.
‘‘Some sign would also let them know they are seen and accepted.
‘‘It is amazing to see all our young kids grow and thrive with the support of their family, friends and the wider community.’’
Mr Avery felt a great resource was the nzsl online dictionary (nzsl.nz) which has diagrams, videos and an app.
‘‘Or keep an eye out for community lessons.’’
