Nursery World - Isolation in deaf children: Silent world

Early years settings can lead the way to inclusive education for deaf children. Radhika Holmstrom finds out how

Early years settings can lead the way to inclusive education for deaf children. Radhika Holmstrom finds out how

Jane Russell is concerned that her deaf toddler is becoming isolated at nursery. 'Sam's been going one day a week since he was one, partly because I was keen to develop his social skills,' she says. 'But I've now cut that down to half a day a week because he's getting distressed.' Twenty-one-month-old Sam communicates mainly through British Sign Language. 'He's been signing since he was nine months old, and nobody at the nursery can sign. I can explain the basic signs, like "drink" or "book", but he's got over 100 signs and his vocabulary's expanding every day. That's one of the main reasons he tends to play on his own at the nursery. He loves books, and he sits in the corner with a book, signing away to himself.

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