"COMMUNICATION +" PROJECT 2015
NOVEMBER
Inclusive Children's Theatre Workshops
The 'Common Ground' Project has as its guiding philosophy the evolving concept of disability underpinned by a rights-based model, championing the rights of children with disabilities to access community activities. As part of the project and the work towards organising an inclusive arts space at the Children's Festival of the Galle Literary Festival in January 2016, members of staff and students of the Department of Disability Studies and some working speech and language therapists organised inclusive theatre workshops for children with and without disabilities in Jaffna and Ratmalana.
The workshops were conducted in Sinhala, Tamil, English, Sri Lankan Sign Language together with pictorial and sensory support with the following participants:
• Jaffna: Students and their siblings accessing The Ark, Uduvil
• Ratmalana: Students of WP/PILI/Colombo Hindu College, School for the Deaf and School for the Blind
The workshop activities were identified with support from Mr. Priyankara Rathnayaka, Senior Lecturer of the Fine Arts Department (Drama & Theatre and Image Arts Unit) of the University of Kelaniya.
Seminar on Advanced Digital Technology
Vision Care Optical Services (Pvt) Ltd, together with the Department of Disability Studies offered a seminar on Advanced Digital Technology on the 18th of September, 2015. The seminar was conducted by Dr. Carol Barnett (AuD, CCC-A, F-AAA), Senior International Trainer (Export Sales) of Oticon, United States, and covered information on;
- Significant changes in hearing aid technology over the years
- Evidence-based research on patient satisfaction with digital hearing aids
- Recent advances in digital features of Oticon hearing aids
The seminar concluded with an interactive Q & A session.
Clicks
In this photo stall, there were 2 pictures; one of a butterfly and another of an elephant. At first, the participant was asked to choose one picture to be used as the backdrop to their photograph. Then the participant was given a card including their number. He/she was asked to choose one of the handmade frames prepared by us to hold their photograph in. Finally, we provided a beautiful colour photograph to each participant.
Workshop on therapeutic support for children with cochlear implants
MED-EL in consultation with the Department of Disability Studies offered a three-day workshop on the 10th, 11th and 12th September 2015 by Ms. Janani Jeyaraman, Clinical Manager of MED-EL India, supported by Ms.Chameera Kumarasinghe, Clinical Audiologist and Speech language Pathologist of MED-EL Sri Lanka. The workshop was titled 'Therapeutic support for children with cochlear implants' and included the following topics:
- Hierarchies
- Basic concepts
- Skill andidacy assessment and outcome monitoring
- Goal setting and Lesson planning
- Audiology concepts
- Individual conversation
- Parent guidanceC
- Diagnostic inquiry
- MED-EL rehabilitation resources
- Cochlear implants (CI) and music
- CI and complex needs
- Integration of CI users to mainstream school settings
The workshop included interactive lectures, video demonstrations, discussions and opportunities for Q & A.
Taste It
We organised for all the participants to get a small packet of lovely food and a drink free. We thought carefully about the type of food that may be more appropriate for children with cerebral palsy to eat and drink and for young children.
