A MUM has told how a council service threatened with cutbacks had proved a lifeline for her daughter’s future.

Kirklees Council wants to reduce the number of deaf support teachers by a third.

Christy Thornton, 35, of Birchencliffe, told how nine-year-old Holly had been helped to get on at school.

Holly, who attends Lindley C of E School, was diagnosed with a moderate hearing problem at birth and started wearing hearing aids just before she started school.

At first she struggled in the classroom and became isolated.

But then, with the help of a deaf support teacher, she started to join in and enjoy lessons.

“Holly doesn’t use sign language and from when she was very small we think she was lip reading,” said married mum-of-three Christy.

“She started wearing hearing aids properly just before she went to school.

“When Holly first went into school she generally went off into her own world and didn’t really contribute.

“At first Holly was often sitting at the back of the classroom as even though she had hearing aids she wasn’t able to understand what was going on.

“The teacher for the deaf gave us an incredible amount of support when Holly went to school and she had a lot of visits.

“Throughout Holly’s whole journey through infant school her teacher helped put so many things in place that made such a difference to Holly.

“It was simple things like advising the school to have carpets in classrooms where Holly was being taught so sound wasn’t amplified by bouncing around the room from the floor, walls and ceiling.

“She also educated the teachers at Holly’s school about deaf awareness, telling them about things like projecting their voice and educating them about using microphone systems.

“All these things made small but vital differences for Holly.

“Holly’s teacher also told the school about things like getting Holly to sit at the front for classes and in assembly.

“The support we have had from Holly’s teacher has been absolutely superb. Not having this would have had a massive effect on Holly’s confidence and her school work.”

Holly, who has a brother Arren, six, and a sister Olivia, three, neither of whom have hearing problems, was one of the first children in Kirklees to benefit from new-born hearing loss screening.

She has high frequency hearing loss which means she can’t hear very high pitched sounds or certain sounds such as consonants, and in crowded situations struggles to pick out the meaning of what is being said.

Holly had a support teacher from a young age and Christy believes that without the specialist help her education and confidence would have suffered.

“When Holly was first born and diagnosed as deaf it was quite a shock, but the support I got from her teacher was absolutely wonderful,” said Christy.

“She came to our house and explained what we could do for Holly and what could be put in place for her at school. I know if I was worried about something I could ring her up and she would be there.

“Holly has had a teacher since she was very small. Her teacher started off visiting Holly at home and was able to reassure us and help us prepare Holly for school.

Christy said that Holly would have slipped behind in her work had specialist teaching not been available and was also concerned about the future.

She said: “I am worried Holly might now get less support especially as she moves onto high school.

“If they take this support away I do feel Holly will see herself as being different to everyone else.

“I think Holly would have definitely fallen behind without her teacher, it’s just that extra support that she needed.

“I think there should be more support for young deaf people.

“I believe these services are so important because they allow a child that has hearing loss to go to a mainstream school if they want to, like any other child.

“These children should be able to be treated like any other child and if they need extra support that is what they should get.”

CAMPAIGNERS are aiming to mobilise public support in a bid to overturn cuts to a service which helps deaf children.

Kirklees Council wants to reduce the number of support teachers by a third from September.

The council insists the changes will not impact on the 230 children who rely on help, but the National Deaf Children’s Society believes the reduction will leave the service unable to cope.

The society has launched a petition and needs 3,000 signatures to force the council to debate the issue.

Mrs Alison Lawson, the society’s regional director for Yorkshire, said 1,000 people had already signed up.

“This is a vitally important service and we need local people from throughout Kirklees to get behind the petition,” she said.

“We need 3,000 signatures by August 28 to force a debate at full council in September.

“We will then have a parent address the council and hopefully persuade them to reverse this decision.”

The council currently has the equivalent of 10.6 support teachers, which includes full and part-time staff, but from next month wants to reduce that to 6.8 teachers.

The council insists it is not about cost-cutting but about improving the overall service for children with impairments and disabilities.

The society’s petition is available to sign on the e-petition section of the council’s website but a signing session will also be held at Dewsbury Market today.

Mrs Lawson said the society had been talking to the council for the past 12 months but the exact nature of the cuts had only just become apparent.

“There are a total of 400 deaf children in Kirklees with 230 on the caseload,” she said.

“We are particularly concerned about pre-school children who need intensive support.

“Pre-school children need intensive support if they are to develop speech, language, communication and listening skills.

“Ultimately, parents want the choice to send their children to mainstream schools and if they haven’t developed the skills they will have to go to a unit instead.”

Mrs Lawson said that could lead to isolation, abuse or mental health issues in the longer term.

The council says no jobs will be lost as a result of the shake-up within the Special Educational Needs service.

Council bosses say much of the services provided for deaf children are under-used while demand for other specialist support, including speech, language and communication is growing.

To sign the petition go to: http://epetition.kirklees.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/deafcuts