Local Marist student Erin McShane from Phillip Street, Dundalk was on hand to accept an award last week at the Child and Youth Participation Award for the book The Magic Within Our Ears! The Magic Within Our Ears is a remarkable book crafted by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Irish Children and was produced by Chime, a national charity for deaf and hard of hearing children.
The awards which were hosted by Tusla, took place at the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield last weekend. Not only did Erin write a story in the book about her journey to hearing but she also illustrated the front cover which received plenty of praise from the judging panel.
14-year old Erin was born profoundly deaf but wasn’t diagnosed until she was fifteen months old. Doctors tried to help Erin by giving her hearing aids but she struggled to hear any sounds even when wearing them. At the age of two she received her first cochlear implant
This proved to be a major breakthrough for Erin but there were still limits as to what she could and couldn’t hear and it was left to Erin’s mam Denise and other parents in a similar situation to lobby the government to call for more funding from them to enable deaf children have cochlear implants in both ears.
“That campaign was ultimately successful and Erin was eventually given a second cochlear implant which opened up a whole new world to her. As Denise explains, her daughter Erin has been thriving since receiving the second cochlear implant almost ten years ago.
“Erin is 14 now and doing well in the Marist school. She hears sounds through a microphone via the cochlear implant and she can manage very well in school thankfully,” stated Denise.
“It’s a scary time as a parent when your child is diagnosed as being profoundly deaf and I have to say that the people in Chime on Jocelyn Street have been unbelievably good to us. It’s just brilliant to be able to go in and talk to someone and find out how you can best help your daughter and ensure she doesn’t feel isolated or scared. Catherine Carragher from Chime was a great help to us and we can’t thank her enough for guiding us through the minefield of deafness down through the years,” explains Denise.
“Last year Chime published a brilliant book entitled ‘The Magic Within Our Ears’ which is a collection of stories from deaf or hard of hearing children. The book is a collection of heartwarming stories from deaf kids describing their journey through life to date. As well as contributing a story Erin was also asked to illustrate the book and the picture on the front cover was drawn by Erin. She loves art and is very good at it,” stated Denise.
The book was published last December and at the end of November, Erin along with two other children who contributed to the book travelled to the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin, for the Tusla Child and Youth Participation Awards. At the awards ‘The Magic Within Our Ears’ picked up an award. Erin and Rose Loonam from Chime accepted the award on behalf of themselves and all the children who contributed to the book. The book is available to buy on the Chime website and in the Chime premises on Jocelyn Street.
