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++ News Information from Action Deafness Books ++
Action Deafness Books to Publish Nick Sturley’s New Novel!
Steve Crump (left) pictured with author Nick Sturley
Leicester based publisher Action Deafness Books is to acquire the publishing rights of Nick Sturley’s new novel, Innocents of Oppression. Sturley, the acclaimed writer of the award winning novel Milan, said his new work is a ‘Coming of age story that relates the close friendship between two adolescent Deaf boys in an oral boarding school’.
Powerful, poignant and eminently controversial, Innocents of Oppression will take the reader through the 1970’s deaf education experience. And as Nick explains; “Integrates various real-life accounts and experiences of those who were in Deaf education as well as other thought-provoking issues and nostalgic aspects”.
Steve Crump of Action Deafness Books described Nick as "A writer of incredible talent and insight. His work with the ‘Tales from Signtown’ series is second to none". He said: ‘Innocents of Oppression’ is a story that will transport you to a different place and time. It will provoke and inspire. He added: "It’s an amazing window into the lives of the countless number of profoundly deaf children who were schooled in the oral tradition”.
Innocents of Oppression will be published by Action Deafness Books in the autumn of 2011.
Action Deafness Books – By Deaf people for Deaf and hearing alike…..
The Peepul Centre, Orchardson Avenue, Leicester, LE4 6DP
Tel: 0844 593 8440 email adbooks@actiondeafness.org.uk
Visit: www.actiondeafnessbooks.org.uk
To learn more about Nick and his work visit www.sturley.co.uk
Monkeying Around Launches New Sign Language Book!
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World famous Twycross zoo was host to a special kind of monkey today – Olli the Sign Language Monkey launched his new book, ‘Learn to Sign About Nature with Olli’!
Timed to coincide with Deaf Awareness Week, Olli, and creator Garry Slack joined deaf and hearing children from Church Hill School, Thurmaston, for a fun filled session of monkey madness, song and sign! Zoo visitors watched enthralled as Olli entertained the crowd by the Zoo’s Monkey House.
‘Learn to Sign About Nature With Olli’ is the exciting new release from Garry Slack and Sausage Dog Publishing. It features topics such as the natural world, the weather, seasons and safari safety! Colourful and engaging, the book will interest deaf and hearing children alike with its clearly tabled sign language vocabulary, as author Garry explains; “Learning sign language is stimulating and fun. Parents and children can have real fun connecting with each other as they practice the British Sign Language signs for bugs, spiders and, of course, monkeys!”
Steve Crump of Action Deafness Books was delighted to see the new release; “This is the third in the ‘Learn to Sign With Olli’ series – we think it’s excellent and we’re delighted to be working to be working in partnership with Olli and Gary, to be promoting this all new work. The children from Church Hill school had a cracking time today – thank you to Olli to giving a whole new meaning to ‘five little monkeys jumping on the bed”.
Notes for Editors:
Action Deafness Books is the UK’s leading retailer of books on deafness and deaf related issues. To buy your copy of ‘Learn to Sign About Nature With Olli’ visit www.actiondeafnessbooks.org.uk
To interview Garry Slack, to request photographs from the Twycross launch or request review copies of the book email: laurenfrancis@actiondeafness.org.uk
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COMING SOON!!
Julie Postance's excellent work 'Breaking the Sound Barriers: 9 deaf success Stories'
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'A must-read for families of deaf and hard of hearing children. Many books on deafness these days try to push an oral or signing agenda, but I like that this one represents a range of perspectives from oral, signing and bilingual backgrounds. A truly honest account of what is like to go through life with a hearing loss with a fundamental message that anything can be achieved with a bit of persistence'
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Nick Daws
Freelance Writer and Consultant
www.mywritingblog.com
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Julie Postance is the author of Breaking the Sound Barriers: 9 deaf success stories (2009). A journalist and ghostwriter of non-fiction books, she has spent four years working for the not for profit organisation Deaf Children Australia where she discovered the great need for a hands on guide that would help hearing parents raise their deaf and hard of hearing children. She is based in Melbourne, Australia.
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Read our exclusive interview with Julie Postance - it'll be loaded up shortly!
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Just Released!! Deafness and Hearing Loss - The Essential Guide
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This book aims to help people of all ages come to terms with their hearing loss or deafness and overcome the new challenges that daily life might bring. With chapters devoted to hearing loss in childhood and education, parents can learn techniques to develop their child's communication skills and maintain confidence before they begin school.
There are various ways of tackling deafness and hearing loss from hearing aids to cochlear implants, lipreading and sign language. If you're starting to lose your hearing, the options can seem bewildering. This book takes you step-by-step through them all.
So whether it's you, your child, parent, partner or employee who is struggling to hear, you will find all the information you need to overcome the challenges that deafness and hearing loss can bring.
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The Author
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Juliet England trained as a journalist after completing a modern languages degree. She has also worked as a charity press officer and a corporate copywriter. She now works as a freelance copywriter and journalist, and has also completed an MA in Creative and Criticial Writing at Winchester University. She lives in Reading and has a severe hearing loss herself.
Let's Sign BSL Early Years - Another Winner from the Let's Sign stable!!!
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We think the The Let's Sign curriculum tutor and student book is excellent - developed and piloted over a 2 and a half year period by Debra May and Alison Wells, the curriculum is a much needed resource.
The course includes a Tutor book with detailed course outlines, plans and materials - plus a CD with additional materials - and a student book for participating students.
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The course can be delivered as 10 weeks of 1 hour per session or 5 weeks of 2 hours per session.
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The carefully planned curriculum covers:
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• code of conduct for students and tutor
• basic BSL linguistics
• development of story telling skills
• structured framework to follow week by week
• cue cards and dialogue sheets
• sign vocabulary sheets in topics
• signs and phrases for early years settings including Greetings, People, Family, Colours, Questions, Animals, Time, Numbers, Toys, Weather, Clothes, School signs and Christmas.
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The Tutor book contains all the necessary documents for each clearly planned lesson and both books contain the accompanying resources and reminder sheets with hundreds of illustrated signs. The Tutor CD contains additional unique teaching materials in animated PowerPoint Shows, pdfs, a sample animated song with music, plus editable Communicate in Print files so that tutors with the graphics pack software can add their own regional sign variations.
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The Authors!!
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Debra May
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Debra has worked in different educational settings. She has worked as a Deaf Inclusion Worker in Devon for 3 and a half years. Debra is profoundly Deaf and her first language is BSL. She comes from a Deaf family which goes back many generations. Debra is currently studying for her level 4 BSL. Debra is involved in the assessment of BSL receptive and expressive skills for all the children who use BSL as well as supporting a range of Deaf children across Devon. She is actively involved in teaching BSL and deaf awareness to staff. Debra has taught level 1 BSL.
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Alison Wells
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Alison has worked as a teacher of the deaf in many different settings; Derby School for the Deaf, a ‘unit’ in Derbyshire and as a researcher into Bilingual education for Deaf children at the Open University. Alison is hearing and currently works for Devon Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team with responsibility for developing BSL in the county. She has a first class honours degree from Manchester University and a Masters degree from Leeds. Alison has level 3 BSL and is a qualified BSL assessor for the city Lit Productive Test. She is a founding member of the Devon Charter for BSL.
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It's all in the Lips!
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Lipreading is a vital skill of many people who are deaf or hard of hearing. It helps with communication and allows those that have hearing loss to work and socialise in the way, shape and form that they require.
With lipreading classes closing across the country due to a lack of tutors and funding, Action Deafness Books is delighted to be subsidising quality courses. "There's a lack of lipreading tutors in the UK and so classes are scarce" said Steve Crump of Acton Deafness Books. "However, in some places, where courses are being provided, the costs are high. What we are finding is that older people, who are experiencing acquired hearing loss, are unable to afford them. We have heard of some courses costing over £200. This really is quite unacceptable".
Everyone lipreads to an extent, but when you have a hearing loss the balance of what you hear and what you see is changed. Indeed, as hearing deteriorates, reliance upon lipreading increases. This is where a course with a qualified tutor helps, because good lipreading is a skill. "Many words look the the same" says Steve. "For example those starting with 'b' and 'p' . 'Sh' and 'ch' are other examples. Some sounds, such as 'k' are made in the back of the throat and have no visible shape on the lips. You need to learn how to differentiate these words and it takes both time and practice".
With a trained tutor who is an experienced audiologist, Action Deafness Books are able to provide courses in Leicester and Loughborough. The Leicester course takes place on a Tuesday evening at the Action Deafness Centre, 135 Welford Road. 7.00pm - 9.00pm, whereas the Loughborough course takes place at the Baxter Gate Baptist Church on a Thursday; 10.30am - 12.30pm. If you'd like further information or you'd like to attend a course, then contact Action Deafness Books on 0116 257 4800 or email laurenfrancis@actiondeafness.org.uk
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'Picture This...' a hit with Knowledge Programme Tutors!!
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This newly revised resource from 'What's the sign for...' is proving an excellent resource for Knowledge Programme tutors at Action Deafness Books. As Evan Roberts explains; "Picture This...' is great - more than 40 clearly laid out cartoon stories which can be used for teaching British Sign Language. I use them to encourage students to develop their vocabulary and fluency. They make a real difference!"
Evan, originally from Bangor, teaches BSL Level 1 to students in Leicester and Northampton. "I'm delighted to be part of the Action Deafness Books Knowledge Programme. We're currently running a whole host of courses and I really enjoy taking the students from their first shaky steps in BSL to a full Level 1 qualification!"
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"Olli Celebrates World Book Day with Steve and Lauren of Action Deafness Books and a young friend!!"
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Action Deafness Books supports World Book Day in Sign with the Gruffalo and Olli!
"I'm delighted the Gruffalo is being interpreted into BSL" said author Julia Donaldson when she learnt 'The Gruffalo' featured as part of the World Book Day programme at Action Deafness Books. This event saw deaf and hearing children enjoy a number of readings interpreted into BSL. Leicester Sound DJ's Damian StJohn and Naomi Kent were on hand to thrill the gathered assembly with their readings from all time favourites such as 'The Gruffalo' and Jacqueline Wilson's 'Hetty Feather'.
Then it was the turn of 'Learn to Sign with Olli' star, Olli the Monkey, to lead a fun session of signed songs and rhymes - 10 little monkeys being the favourite! It was an excellent event as Lauren Francis explains; "We were delighted to welcome Olli creator Garry Slack and of course Olli to Action Deafness Books. We had a great time and our gathered guests were pleased to part of this national event! We're big fans of World Book Day as it looks to encourage children to read and enjoy books - all the more relevant to deaf children as they look to develop their literacy and language skills".
"We're very pleased to be working in partnership with Garry Slack" Said Steve Crump, founder of Action Deafness Books, "We're developing a number of project ideas with Sausage Dog publishing and we should hopefully be in a position to make some announcements shortly".
Olli Creator Calls into Action Deafness Books!
Action Deafness Books were delighted to host Signing with Olli creator, Garry Slack who called into Leicester this week! Garry took the time to update us on his work and to talk about current and future plans. Suffice to say 'Learning to Sign with Olli' and 'Learn to Sign and Cook with Olli' have been great hits! To be closely followed by Garry's latest work 'We Went to the Animal Park Today'. A quirky and funny story that uses BSL to tell the story of a visit to the zoo by a little girl and her daddy. We think it's great!
But what is more, Garry has published a fantastic musical nativity play for children - using both English and Sign Language. A complete resource that helps you plan, rehearse and deliver a nativity play like none other. This really is something all schools should be looking to use! We had much fun talking to Garry and we're looking forward to working with him further. We'll bring you the news as and when it happens!
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Action Deafness Book's Competition Winners Meet Jacqueline Wilson
Competition Winners and Action Deafness's Craig Crowley pictured with Jacqueline Wilson
Copyright - Sam Perkins
Working in partnership with the University of Leicester, Action Deafness Books was delighted to host children's author Jacqueline Wilson. As Action Deafness's Chief Executive Craig Crowley explains; "It was a real pleasure to have Jacqueline visit Leicester as part of the Leicester Literary Festival. The afternoon was an exciting opportunity for deaf and hearing children, alike, to meet the creator of Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather!"
A highlight for four young competition winners was the opportunity to meet Jacqueline and to have their prize books autographed. 'The response to our competition was enormous! We were very pleased to see more than 400 deaf and hearing people attend the interpreted event, where Jacqueline talked at length about her work and inspirations" said Steve Crump of Action Deafness Books. "It looks like our partnership with the Literary festival is now firmly established and we look forward to next year's programme of engaging speakers!
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