Students hear from inspirational deaf author
YOUR STORY: There was great excitement in the Fairholme Kindy when author James Kerwin visited the school to deliver a live reading of his book, My Friend is Deaf.
"We have been working with James as part of the Auslan project for a while now," Fairholme kindy teacher Sonya Nicol said.
"We have shown the DVD and read the book in class but the students have never met James in person."
Kerwin teaches Auslan as a LOTE subject at Kedron State High School and currently resides on the Gold Coast.
He frequently makes trips to Toowoomba where his parents live and, as a result, has become a regular visitor to Fairholme College.
Recognising a need for early childhood resources to explain about deafness, James embarked on the project to write the book.
My Friend is Deaf is a picture book featuring Jenny, a hearing girl, who has a friend named James.
Based on the inspiration of his childhood friend Jenny, the story tells the reader how she communicates with James and assists him in class.
The book also contains some how to do sign language tips and it has an accompanying DVD with an Auslan translation of the story, signed by the author.
"There are many educational settings where there are at least one or more deaf students in the same class as hearing students," James said.
"I saw the need to help others educate hearing students on how to communicate with their deaf classmates."
Both the book and DVD are suitable for early childhood readers and viewers incorporating easy to read brightly illustrated pages.
"The accompanying DVD is an Auslan translation of the story for deaf children viewers to have access to the story in sign language," James said.
"The DVD is only in Auslan and has no sound, voice overs or subtitles. The idea is to follow as it is set out page by page with matching visuals in the background."
Among other significant educational initiatives, Fairholme Kindy continues to run the Auslan program and, in 2015, was recognised for Outstanding Initiative/Project to improve outcomes for Children and Families by the Lady Gowrie Foundation.
The publication My Friend is Deaf was made possible by a Life Enrichment Grant from Deaf Services Queensland.
More information about the author can be found at www.deaffriendly.com.au.
