French-Belgium : another deaf school about to adopt SW and other news..

[Thierry Haesenne]

Hello everyone, 
If you haven't seen me lately on the list it is because I have been so busy
I haven't even been able to follow up with everything on the list... Sorry guys! I am not letting you
down.... 
Val, and all the others, you will be happy to learn that another Deaf School in
French-speaking Belgium has asked me to train their teachers (three deaf) about SW... They will start using
it as soon as they have finished their basic training with me. The hearing teachers will be trained later...

It's the Centre d'Enseignement Spécial Provincial de Mons (CESPM) in Ghlin (near Mons in the Hainaut
Province, about 70km south-west of Brussels). 
A few weeks ago, I gave a short training session with
my colleague Damien on SW and the glossing system during a special training day for the teachers of the
Deaf. Someone from Ghlin passed on the message and about two days later, I was contacted and asked whether I
could train two deaf people. The training session started on Friday and there will be several further
training sessions until mid-May. But I encouraged the deaf teachers to start using SW with the kids
(especially the handshapes and locations on the face). The movements will be taught later. 
I was also
asked to organise a seminar on SW in one Deaf Club in Brussels on 21 April. The aim is to introduce deaf
people and LSFB teachers to SW, and also encourage hearing people to use it to learn LSFB in a more
efficient way. Also a group of LSFB teachers asked me to train them in SW, but we haven't arranged a date
yet. I guess it will be in September since I don't have much availabilities till then. 
My
colleague Damien is still training teachers of the Deaf in Brussels but they are still a bit afraid of using
SW and the glossing system every day (they have used it on and off in class so far). In the bilingual school
of Namur, some teachers were introduced to SW but have not requested any further developments. I guess it is
just a matter of time... Until now, only the IRHOV (Deaf school in Liege) has started using it in class, and
it will soon be followed by the CESPM of Ghlin.
Val, I am teaching LSFB to Cecile Beaufort, so I
see her twice every week! She often asks me questions about SW during pauses. I still need to go to her
class to assess the progress and give her some guidance. Do not worry, I am keeping a close eye on the
development of SW in French-speaking Belgium!   
I guess that in the near future, most Deaf Schools in
French-speaking Belgium will be using SW (except the ones with a strong oralist tradition).  
I hope
that's enough good news for now!!! smile :-) 
Take care, all of you! 
Thierry
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