AWARENESS
SENSORY WORKSHOPS
CONSULTANCY
MY BACKGROUND
CONTACT
Elodie Thiercelin
Deaf and deafblind specialist and consultant
As a certified teacher of deaf children and deafblindness specialist, I have been working for several years in the field of sensory disabilities.
My awareness-raising sessions and workshops are aimed at individuals, public bodies (local authorities, associations, schools, etc.) and private companies.
Awareness
Individuals, specific needs, solutions
DEAFNESS AWARENESS TRAINING
What is deafness?
Deafness or loss of hearing acuity is the diminished ability to perceive sound.
There are 4 levels of deafness.
It can be mild, moderate, severe or profound.
DEAFBLINDNESS AWARENESS TRAINING
What is deafblindness?
Deafblindness results from the combination, to varying degrees, of impaired auditory and visual functions, which do not compensate for each other, creating a situation of disability that is not simply the sum of these disorders. It can occur and worsen at any age.
1. EXPERIMENT
Get hands-on experience of hearing and visual impairments by wearing noise-canceling headphones and/or visual impairment simulation glasses, or thanks to an augmented reality visual impairment simulator.
2. UNDERSTAND
Understand the needs of deaf and deafblind people and become aware of the situations of disability they may encounter in their daily personal and professional environments.
3. ADAPT
Adapt to the different deaf or deafblind people you meet by interacting with them in an appropriate way, welcoming them and making their environment as accessible as possible.
Sensory Workshops
Impairments, compensation, adaptation
It was after obtaining the university diploma « Referent in deafblindness » that I created the Sensory Workshop in 2013 with the aim of informing and raising awareness of deafblindness among young deaf people.
The aim of these workshops is to approach deafblindness in a playful and accessible way with deaf teenagers, making it easier for them to understand and accept the needs and difficulties of their deafblind peers, particularly those with Usher syndrome.
I also offer a variation of the workshop to raise awareness of the sensory difficulties of the elderly.
Indeed, more than 400,000 people aged 75 and over are affected by deafblindness. The Sensory Workshop is also aimed at professionals working with elderly people in nursing homes.
Activity examples
Accessibility consultancy
Obstacles, means of compensation, accessibility
The term « accessibility » has never been mentioned as much as it is today, but how far have we really come?
What is a magnetic loop?
Do all public establishments have one?
Does it make spaces accessible to all deaf people?
Who uses Braille? What is a podotactile strip?
Is it only useful for blind people?
With 15 years’ experience as a certified teacher of the deaf and deafblind specialist, I analyze environments according to the needs and profiles of the deaf or deafblind people to improve their accessibility in all types of public or private structures:
Companies
Local authorities
Schools
Nursing Homes
My background
A solution for everyone
I approach each situation/environment with the conviction that there is a personalized solution for every individual, whether student, adult or senior citizen.
Throughout my career as a certified teacher for the deaf and deafblindness specialist, I have often been confronted with preconceived ideas:
« Teaching deaf kids, it must be super quiet in your classroom! » ;
« I don’t know how you do it… it must be really hard to work with deafblind kids. » ;
« If I had to choose between being completely deaf or blind… ».
These comments reinforced my belief in the need to raise awareness of deafness and deafblindness among a very wide and varied public.
2008
Certified teacher of the deaf
Université de Chambéry
2013
Deafblind specialist and creation of the Sensory Workshop
Université de Rennes
2020
Complex pathway coordinator
Certification AFNOR
2023
Co-organizer of World Deafblindness Day
June 2023 – Paris
Presentation of the Sensory Workshop and Usher syndrome at the Deafblind International World Conference
July 2023 – Ottawa
Testimonials
Companies and local authorities :
deafness and deafblindness awareness
★★★★★
« We would like to thank you for your presentation yesterday, which was rich, accessible and perfectly suited to our needs. »
« Captivating and punctuated with humor. A great success! »
« It was a very rich afternoon of awareness-raising about hearing disability. It really raised awareness of hearing disability and the difficulties encountered by deaf employees within our company. It’s both seeing the difficulties encountered and then all the solutions we can provide to keep disabled people in employment. »
« I’d like to emphasize the quality of the presentation. The training went very well, it was more than just a training session, it was a very interesting and enriching exchange for all of us. »
Deaf children :
during sensory workshops
★★★★★
« The workshop calms me «
« I didn’t expect to, but I recognized the objects by touch »
« Look there’s Braille on this taxicab card! »
Deaf children: 8 years after the sensory
workshop
★★★★★
« I remember the sensory workshop very well, it was great. I met some deafblind people recently, thanks to the workshop I was able to communicate in tactile LSF with them. There’s a big problem of accessibility for deafblind people. »
Deaf youth: first encounter with deafblind adults
★★★★★
« I’m brave; I went up to an elderly person to communicate with her using tactile sign language «
« We asked each other questions about our lives. It was really interesting! »
Contact
Would you like to organize an awareness-raising event on deafness or deafblindness within your company or establishment?
Would you like to be trained in Sensory Workshops?
Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information or to request a quote.
My awareness-raising sessions and workshops can take place anywhere in France, and abroad on request.
Elodie THIERCELIN
Deaf and deafblind specialist and consultant
+ 33 (0) 6 65 63 78 93
thiercelinelodie@gmail.com
EI Elodie Thiercelin
8 rue du Vieux Versailles
78000 Versailles – France
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