Deaf radio presenting ? a doddle !

For someone who is 90% deaf a career in radio would not be an obvious choice. But Jamie Griffiths has achieved his life-long ambition thanks to Coleg Harlech Workers Educational Association. Failed by the conventional education system, Jamie, 39, of Queensferry, grasped the second chance opportunity with both hands. He successfully completed the music technology course at the Coleg Harlech residential college in the historic castle town.

It gave him the skills and confidence which have secured him his own radio show on community radio, Calon FM in Wrexham. Originally from Gwernaffield, Mold, Jamie admits he was a failure at Mold Alun High where he did not even hang around to check his exam results. He said: “I think I got something in history and music which were the only two subjects I cared about. “I didn’t learn much to be honest, I was a bit of a rebel. After I left school I did a bit of everything, making concrete blocks, singing in pubs and clubs and DJ’ing since I was 15.

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Deaf Man Jailed for rape.

Justin Rixon, from Cardiff who has been profoundly deaf and mute from birth, had denied raping a friend with whom he had fallen out and insisted he would have stopped if she had said she didn’t want to have sex. But, communicating in court by sign language through interpreters, he admitted he could ‘feel the vibrations’ of his victim’s angry shouts during the attack.

During his trial, the court heard how he could feel his friend shake with anger as he had sex with her. Rixon, 41, was already a convicted sex offender when he carried out the assault, but had previously been shown leniency because of his disability. In 2003 Rixon – a volunteer with a children’s charity – had been caught with a hoard of child pornography on four computers in his Cardiff home following an FBI sweep against internet sex criminals. He had also attempted suicide in Gabalfa (Cardiff), when he heard his rape had been reported. He was jailed for 5 years.

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NOT Happy ever after..

Here is an copy of an letter sent to the South Wales Argus recently regarding the closure of the Newport Deaf club. Where an deaf member clearly feels less than happy with the way the local authority went about it !

At time of posting the old deaf club has NOT been knocked down, nor sold off, there was also mutterings among members, that the deaf committee had capitulated to SS pressures too quickly, accepted an temporary situation that clearly was never on, and allowed SS to divide up the deaf community, an situation that would now be impossible, is to re-unite the club as an cultural centre again. The committee themselves more felt that here wasn't enough fire left in the club membership to make a fight of it. Local Cleric Rev Margret Grice has made appeal to her Bishop for support, as it looks like the temporary accommodation is far from secure.

10 years or so ago Rev K Paine mobilized 300 deaf to oppose the closure and won an reprieve, this time the deaf committee simply rolled over to threats. In retrospect should have simply refused to move out of the old club and forced the issue. Deaf unity isn't what it used to be... All they needed to do, was play the 'culture' card... and make it virtually impossible for the LA to override that by utilization of the law. At worst they could have forced the LA to relocate them in entirety and preserved the social aspects.

Welsh provision for deaf-blind improving.

Wales’ provision for the deafblind has been applauded by a leading charity and one of its impressive clients. At a reception which celebrated 10 years of making a difference to deafblind people across the country, the charity Sense Cymru also called on the Welsh Assembly to continue to protect services for deafblind people.

Eighty-four-year old Joyce Costie has been deafblind from a young age, but this has certainly not held her back during her life. Even so she admits that life without Sense Cymru would be quite difficult. The former nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital was born prematurely with sight loss and only saw her mother, sister and five brothers for the first time at nine months old after getting her first pair of glasses. When she was five Joyce’s family was struck by a measles outbreak which left her profoundly deaf. Joyce moved to Cardiff after getting married in 1967 and she receives a visit from a Sense Cymru communicator once a week.

Joyce said: “Sense is very good. Jill, my communicator, takes me out places. “It can be very frustrating, when I was a child people would think I was violent because I was struggling to get the words out. I didn’t know anybody. My mother, father and sister had to help me. “I look forward to seeing her but I would like Jill to come around more often, but that’s just not possible at the moment.”

SOURCE

SENSE CYMRU: Tŷ Penderyn, 26 High St, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8DP
Sense Cymru, Tŷ Penderyn, 26 Stryd Fawr, Merthyr Tudful, CF47 8DP
Ffôn/tel: 0845 127 0090
Ttestun/text: 0845 127 0092
Fffacs/fax: 0845 127 0091
E-Mail via sense link in post.

Rhys comes out fighting !

RHYS Harris loves sport in general and football in particular, as our picture of the ten-year-old at a school soccer festival shows – and it is a scene parents Kevin and Dawn feared they would never see. The Newbridge youngster played for his school, Nant Celyn Primary in Cwmbran, at its recent festival – yet four years ago the prospect of Rhys taking part in such a fun event seemed a distant dream.

A global search had begun for a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant that represented his only chance of surviving Nemo, an extremely rare genetic disorder that leaves patients with virtually no immune system. Even when a donor was found and Rhys underwent pioneering treatment involving a gruelling course of chemotherapy prior to his transplant, Mr and Mrs Harris were told he had only a 30 per cent chance of survival.

But after several months’ treatment under specialists in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Rhys became only the second child in the world to recover from Nemo. He returned to Gwent and resumed his schooling as his family, including eight-yearold brother Morgan, tried to get back to normality. “He had meningitis at nine months old and we think that’s when he lost his hearing.

He’s desperate to have them because he’s got to have the opportunity to be able to talk.

“One ear pretty much doesn’t work and he’s severely deaf in the other. He’ll have the implants next month.”