In the last year the Open Training College has taken over the management and development of Lámh for a 2 year period on behalf of the Lámh Board.  Lámh was developed in the early 1980’s in response to the need for a standardised manual sign system for children and adults with intellectual disability and communication needs in Ireland.

Lámh has quickly become a very successful and important addition to the sector with over 1,780 participants attending Lámh training in 2008, on over 120 courses in 19 counties.  The training model developed by Lámh allows Lámh to train staff working in healthcare/education to become Lámh Tutors, who are in a position to deliver training to other staff members and families.  Currently, if a service or group does not have access to a Lámh Tutor, they can avail of a tutor to deliver a course to staff or families by contacting Mary Cullen at the Lámh Development Office, located in Carlow IT.

The original Lámh course for staff members, the Five-Day Basic Lámh course, has now been replaced by Modules 1 & 2, in order to offer a broader choice to staff members and since then over 2,500 SNAs, teachers, preschool staff, speech and language therapists, social care workers, etc. have attended training run in services around the country.

Other recent Lámh developments include the redevelopment of the website (www.lamh.org) and the soon to be launched ‘Lámh a Song’ nursery rhyme DVD for young children.  Lámh has linked with Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) on this project and the DVD will be available from Lámh and DSI when it is launched over the summer.

We will keep you posted on exciting new developments, as Lámh and the OTC are exploring accreditation of Lámh courses as a priority moving forward into the second half of 2009.

Pictured above: Aine Melinn (Assistant College Director), Triona Kearns (Chairperson, Lámh) and Mary Cullen (Development Officer, Lámh) reviewing the latest edition of the Lámh newsletter.