# Deaf children



## eloiseb (May 25, 2010)

Sorry, didn't really introduce myself in first postings, but I joined few days ago, we moved here last September, so hello to everyone.

One question I have is whether anyone knows of something similar to the National Deaf Children Society that exists in England. We get a lot of help and support from them in the UK for our 3 year old, and still fly back with him sometimes now to attend, but does anyone know of anything similar here in Spain? We live in Moraira, so ideally anything fairly local. The school in Benitachell have been very helpful, and he has statement of special needs equivalent, and gets speech therapy etc, but if there is an equivalent organisation it would be great to know about, thanks.

Eloise


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

eloiseb said:


> Sorry, didn't really introduce myself in first postings, but I joined few days ago, we moved here last September, so hello to everyone.
> 
> One question I have is whether anyone knows of something similar to the National Deaf Children Society that exists in England. We get a lot of help and support from them in the UK for our 3 year old, and still fly back with him sometimes now to attend, but does anyone know of anything similar here in Spain? We live in Moraira, so ideally anything fairly local. The school in Benitachell have been very helpful, and he has statement of special needs equivalent, and gets speech therapy etc, but if there is an equivalent organisation it would be great to know about, thanks.
> 
> Eloise


try this
http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,244455,93_20545807&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

or ask at school


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

I'd be quite interested to know about the facilities for deaf people here in Spain. I have studied sign language for 1 year back in Belgium and in the end gained a certificate/degree as typist-notetaker for the deaf and the blind (= you type everything during a specific meeting or event, the deaf or blind person reads all from the computer screen or translated into braille ... however, we had basic sign language trainings as well in order to make communication more easily)

I do hope the facilities are better here in Spain than it was in my native country. I found it a very rewarding experience to do this course/education though, as the deaf and blind people I joined during work placement (joining them and translating as a test replacing written exams) were very nice and very thankful to all students who were out there to reach out to them and help them.


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## eloiseb (May 25, 2010)

Thanks xabiachica, that's really helpful - there seems to be quite a bit listed for Valencia / Alicante at least, which we can reach. School only really told me about the specialist deaf children school in Valencia, but I was more after the organisations like seem to be listed in your link. He is doing fine at mainstream school, with help, and Valencia is too far away for school (and he's only 3 now!). He is communicating well and doing very well with hearing aids and help, so all we need is one of those organisations, that's brilliant, thanks.

Gerrit, we certainly were really impressed with how quickly we were helped here - he got his statement of special needs equivalent within about 4 weeks (I know of many parents of deaf children in UK who waited over 2 years), and the school are very keen to help. He uses speech not sign language, so don't know if they would have helped with that, but he does get lots of speech therapy, which started after 2 weeks (we were on waiting list 6 months in UK).


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

Sounds good.  In Belgium it's mainly a financial issue. The government makes not much money available for the deaf and the blind, only a tight budget + a very low hours of free translators. That's just not enough for (example) a student at university who needs a translator for his classes. The government only gives a shamefully low number of hours where they pay the translator, and not all deaf or blind people are lucky enough to have financial means to pay additional translating hours themselves. Maybe that was why they were so greatful to us (the students for translating) as we helped them out for free and they noticed there were people still caring.

Then the Belgian government made it even worse when the typist/notetaker degree was recognised as official certificate only after a long procedure, even when there was a clear need for more translators and enough people with the certificate waiting to get started. Also, those who translate (be it either by sign language or by typing) are usually paid quite low amounts so only a handful manage to do it fulltime, most do it a few hours now and then after their regular job which means that for the deaf and blind people it can be tricky to find a translator who is available regularly. The government should just make more funding available as this would be tax money well spent on people who really need the help.



By the way, what does a statement of special needs equivalent include in Spain and what does it lead to?
I have an autism spectrum disorder (and OCD and chronic depressions - but those are not classified as handicaps) so in theory I have a disability as well legally (even when I dislike to consider autism a disability - legally it is considered as such). Does such a statement of special needs have any benefits and what is the procedure to get it?


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## eloiseb (May 25, 2010)

Gerritt
Yes, it always comes down to funding, but I suppose it's hard to balance everything needed. When I referred to the equivalent of statement of special needs, it's an educational thing for schoolchildren, not linked to benefits. Just (although by "just" I should say we are very grateful!) means that he can get extra help required in school environment, in my son's case speech therapy and adjustments needed for seating, hearing aid transmitters etc. In England he would also separately qualify for DLA (disability living allowance) benefit but I haven't looked into equivalent here so maybe someone else would know about that.


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## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

Ah, it's not for adults or so? I know in some countries there are certain benefits when you are handicapped and autism is considered a handicap in some jurisdictions. Psychotherapy costs 55 euro a session so knowing that sessions are on a weekly basis ...

Yes, it all comes down to funding. A lot of people always complain about politics and socialism is having a negative undertone right now. I admire those who go into politics, they know they can never please everybody and will get a lot of dirt over them, but they nonetheless at least try to make a difference. And let's not forget it's partially thanks to socialists we now have a relatively good healthcare for everybody in most European countries... (without claiming the system is perfect obviously)


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