New look terptree and website re-launch!!

terptree - the place for deaf services.  Embracing a new look and feel for 2013!

Today is a very exciting day for the terptree team - we are launching our new logo and website to the world www.terptree.co.uk.

The new terptree website has four main sections:

- Communications Professionals
- Service Providers
- Deaf people
- BSL Students

This allows the user an easy navigation through to relevant information and content for them, showcasing the fantastic services that we at terptree provide. To read more about what people say about terptree - click here.

           

terptree Guarantee

terptree are confident that our customers are completely satisfied with our service and the quality of professionals we provide.
We're so confident that if you believe we have not met our 5-point money back guarantee, you don't have to pay a penny.  For more information - please do contact our team at interpreting@terptree.co.uk  

Make a referral to terptree

terptree strives to meet and surpass expectations through our efficient, personable and passionate approach to every project. As a result, a high percentage of our work comes from repeat customers and referrals.  With this in mind, terptree have created a referral scheme which offers a reward when you introduce us to friends and colleagues.  If you would like to recommend someone to use our services, let us know at rewards@terptree.co.uk.

Victoria Williams, Director said "This is a very exciting time for terptree; we have an excellent team, highly-skilled Communication Professionals working for us and lots of amazing things to come....."

www.terptree.co.uk

We would love for you to connect with us on social media so you can keep on track with all the exciting terptree news.  How to connect with us:

       

The terptree team exciting about event for Communication Professionals on Thursday 16 May in Eton, Berkshire

Here at terptree HQ we are excitedly putting the finishing touches to our event for Communication professionals on Thursday 16 May from 8pm in Eton, Berkshire.

We decided to hold an event to meet with our lovely Communication Professionals and show what terptree has to offer.  

During the event, there will be a truly inspiring talk by the Deaf explorer, Oliver Westbury. We will watch as he tells of the many challenges he has taken part in including marathons, triathlons, great south run, and also an expedition to the North Pole with another planned to the South Pole in the near future. 

Oliver describes what motivates him when times are tough and where he finds his inspiration. How he has dealt with set backs, challenges and communication in such hostile environments. How to focus on achieving a significant goal and what are the elements of working as an effective team.


Communication Professionals registered with NRCPD are able to claim 2 CPD points for attending this event!

We look forward to telling you all about it!

terptree thrilled to have been chosen as an #SBS winner by Theo Paphitis

terptree are delighted to have been chosen by Theo Paphitis in a competition run every Sunday called #SBS - Small Business Sunday, when he picks his favourite 6 to re-tweet to all of his followers.

Theo is best known for appearing on Dragons Den on BBC Two. He is Chairman of Ryman Stationary plus Boux Avenue lingerie and Robert Dyas, as well as joint owner of Red Letter Days.

What an exicting time for terptree - seeing as it is also Deaf Awareness Week and with our new look terptree and website about to be launched, it gives us great exposure at such a pivotal time in the business!

Here is what terptree Director, Victoria Williams had to say "On finding out that we had been chosen for #SBS by Theo Paphitis, we were thrilled that the work we do within the Deaf and interpreting communities had been recognised and also looking forward to enjoying the fabulous opportunities that this recognition will bring!  Thank you Theo and SBS!"

A bit about Victoria:

I started learning British Sign Language when I was 14 and my cousin was diagnosed as profoundly Deaf.  The moment I started signing and became involved in the Deaf community - I knew that I wanted to work with languages and with people.  Initially I had considered spoken language interpreting, but upon completing my first year of University in German and Applied Linguistics, I realised that my place in the world was within the Deaf community.

I left University and pursued my dream landing a job at the British Deaf Association as a Receptionist.  What a wonderful opportunity.  It enabled me to learn more about the Deaf community, the services that were on offer and what the gaps were.  

From there I went on to work as a Information and Support Worker in a small London based charity alongside training as a British Sign Language/English Interpreter and completed and graduated from my Post Grad in BSL/English Interpreting from University of Central Lancashire in 2005.

After registering as a Registered Sign Language Interpreter (RSLI) and working for a year, I had a strong feeling that there was more that I could offer to the community and decided to set-up a business providing interpreting services and additional services in order to support the Deaf community - from this feeling, terptree was born.

Established in September 2006, terptree is now a household name when it comes to BSL/English Interpreting and are growing organically based on acquiring new business and recommendations from happy customers.  

2013 is an exciting year for terptree, with new technology, branding and website on the way as well as many more exciting things to come....

More about me......I have a fantastic husband and two wonderful children and enjoy travelling and learning about different cultures and finding out about people.  I have many Deaf friends, and play an active role in promoting Deaf awareness within my local community.

Part of being chosen as an #SBS winner, is being asked your top business tips:

Victoria's top business tips:

Make sure that you still focus on things that you dislike - for me it is finance, so I remain acutely aware of that at all times and put more emphasis on that part of the business.

Start some excellent systems and when they change make the amendments - this will not only ensure consistent high levels of customer service, but also make it easier to induct new members of staff into your team.

Ensure that you involve all of your team in the business so that they are clear on the future and what that means for them and the team - when you have that buy in, it is much easier to move forward united.

Do sales and marketing regularly - don't let it fall by the wayside when you are busy, as this will need to fuel the times that you are quiet.

8 ways to practice my fingerspelling in BSL

FACT: Some of the older generation of Deaf people use more fingerspelling than signs!

Just to clarify, in BSL there is a sign for almost every word, and it is more efficient that fingerspelling every word. 

Right....on to terptree's top tips!

1. Meet with other BSL students and test one another 

2. Teach your family how to fingerspell and get them to test you!

3. Go around your home or workplace and fingerspell the names of objects that you see

4. Go to a Deaf club or Deaf events to practice your BSL, this offers the opportunity to also practice your fingerspelling!

5. Youtube is a wonderful resource for free access to practice materials.  Type in  BSL Fingerspelling and you will be amazed at what you find

6. Register for the BSL Homework site with Signature where you have free access to the 101 module of Level 1

7. Contact terptree  and we can book you onto one of our BSL Refresher courses for Level 1 or Level 2 or even a 1:1 session with one of our fantastic tutors and can get your fingerspelling skills improved in just a few hours!

8.  A tip added by Interpreter Helen Hamston, RSLI "I always found the best way to practice was finger spelling a whole story from the newspaper on the train on the way to and from work and also lying in the bath and finger spelling everything on the back of the shampoo bottles (especially all the ingredients)"  Thanks Helen :-)


We hope that this blog post has been helpful and any questions you have contact us at training@terptree.co.uk

Cued Speech: What, why, who, when?

By Nicholas Orpin NicholasOrpin@cuedspeech.co.uk

When asked to describe Cued Speech, it’s always quite hard to know where to begin. So I’d like to ask you a question first. How would you describe Braille? Many people would say that “it is written English accessible for the blind/visually impaired” and most people would agree. It is exactly the same as the written word, it’s not a translation into another language, rather it’s a conversion so that you read though touch rather than sight.

Well, that’s what Cued Speech does to the spoken word. It converts the smallest part of the word, the sound (the ‘phoneme’) and replaces it with a handshape or position together with the lip-patterns of normal speech. Why? Because for deaf people the sound can’t be heard, but the hand and the lips can be seen.

If you couldn’t hear the sound coming out of the TV, you would put the subtitles on. It would be a visual way of getting what is being said, so adding a cue to what you are saying is a bit like adding a subtitle to your favourite programme. Words that are spoken can now be seen.

At least 90% of deaf children are born into hearing families who have to make an adjustment they probably weren’t expecting to make. Whether they decide to fit hearing aids or an implant or learn BSL, all of these things take time. While the family are waiting to see how much the aids/implants are helping, their child can be missing out as amplification doesn’t work all the time. Cued Speech means that if English is your 1st language, you can make it totally accessible all the time, whether amplification is working or not. You can cue English to your child after 20 hours of tuition and build up speed and fluency over several months.

BSL signing parents don’t have a decision to make at all on how to communicate with their child whether that child is hearing or not, but it can take years for hearing parents to learn enough sign language to raise their own child and for that child to be fully included at home.

At school deaf children who struggle with literacy can get Cued Speech to help too. The 8 cues/handshapes of the system visually show the consonants, while 4 positions show the vowels of English and through them deaf children can learn to read with phonics. Because Cued Speech is visual it is the deaf-friendly way to access spoken and written English. It can easily deliver the English part in a true bilingual education.

You can see a BBC See Hear programme on Cued Speech (starring terptree tutor Lyndsey!) here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC6fbfD_vck

Find out more from http://www.cuedspeech.co.uk or teach yourself the basics at http://www.learntocue.co.uk

Want to work with Deaf people? New year - new career....

There are many different careers that you can choose if you want to work with Deaf people and use sign language. Gaining a BSL/ Interpreting/Communication qualification can open up a whole world of opportunities. These skills are in great demand and there are many flexible career opportunities available. Visit Signature for training information.

There are nine million deaf people in the UK, 70,000 of whom use BSL for participation in everyday life. There are plenty of career opportunities available on a permanent or freelance basis and a qualified communication professional can earn in excess of £35,000 a year.

It is worth remembering that statistically one in seven people have some form hearing loss so completing a Deaf awareness or sign language course will always be useful. This is especially true for those that do jobs in customer service or have a lot of contact with the general public.

What careers are available with Deaf people and how can I find out more?

British Sign Language (BSL)/English Interpreters, Deafblind communicator guides, Speech to text reporters, Note takers The NRCPD (National Registers for Communication Professionals with Deaf and Deafblind People) covers information on these careers.

British Sign Language (BSL)/English Interpreters The Association of Sign Language Interpreters has more information on BSL/English Interpreting

Lip speakers The Association of Lipspeakers has some additional information on lipspeaking.

Audiologists Please visit ( http://www.baaudiology.org/Careers/What-is-Audiology.aspx) for further information on Audiology.

Speech and Language Therapists In order to find out more about training to be a speech and language therapist you can contact the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists or the NHS website (http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=288)

Teacher of the Deaf In order to become a teacher of the Deaf, you need to first train as a teacher then do further training. It is useful to gain experience of working with Deaf children previous or alongside your training, see The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf.

Social Workers If you are interested in becoming a social worker with Deaf people you first have to train as a social worker in the same way as you do if you want to be a teacher. You have to do a degree first and more information can be found from the Department of Health

Various work within a Deaf organisation such as Action on Hearing Loss, British Deaf Association (BDA) or the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).

General jobs within Deaf companies or organisations are quite often advertised on Deaf UK jobs, which is a mailing list you can subscribe to online. If this is the route that interests you it may be worth contacting the human resources departments within various organisations to see what the opportunities are

Have a happy new year!

terptree would like to wish everyone a very happy new year and enjoy the celebrations to welcome 2013!