Faced with a whistle he cannot hear, a card slipped into the bag tells the group leader to catch the child's eye before speaking
A card slipped into the swim bag, and the group leader knows to stand within the child's field of vision and wave before giving a signal, rather than shouting his name from the poolside or punishing him for not reacting.
This case concerns an 8 year old child who is deaf from birth, who has not developed spoken language and communicates through gestures, facial expressions and lip reading, attending a holiday activity centre where the staff often changes from one week to the next.
The whistle Léo can't hear
10:30am, Tuesday, municipal pool during the summer holidays. Léo, 8, is splashing around in the main pool with the rest of the group for the aquagym activity improvised by the holiday centre. When the lifeguard blows three whistle blasts to call everyone together, all the children freeze and head back to the ladder, except Léo, who keeps playing with a ball, his back to the poolside.
The trainee group leader, who is meeting the group for the first time that day, is about to call him to order by shouting his name from the poolside, convinced he is ignoring her on purpose. A more experienced colleague stops her and hands her the card Léo's mother slipped into the swim bag before they left: deaf from birth, you need to stand within his field of vision and wave to get his attention, never call him from a distance.
The group leader steps into the water, moves into Léo's field of vision and waves at him. He sees her, smiles, and swims to the ladder with the rest of the group. A few minutes later, the trainee realises she almost scolded a child for a reflex he simply couldn't have.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR code for this case
Léo often has a different group leader (trainees, substitutes, outside activities), so the information needs to travel with him rather than depend on a verbal handover that no one remembers to repeat every week.
- Laminated card in the swim or activity bag, next to the towel, visible as soon as the bag is opened, for whichever group leader is on duty that day.
- Label sewn inside the sports bag, printed from a standard A4 sheet of labels, which stays with the child even during an outing that wasn't planned in advance.
- Link shared with the centre director at the start of the season, so it can be passed on to each new group leader or trainee without relying on the permanent team's memory.
- Stamp on the health record submitted at registration, noticed by the staff as soon as the day's groups are formed.
The rule of thumb: the information needs to be visible before the day's first sound signal, not explained after a misunderstanding.
Ready to use text templates
The following sentences are a starting point for explaining to a group leader how to communicate with Léo. They can be copied onto the card or rephrased in your own words, depending on the age of the staff member.
For the "Introduction" section
"Léo is deaf from birth. He doesn't speak and communicates through gestures, a few signs and a lot of facial expressions. He understands very well what's going on around him, as long as you stand facing him so he can see the face and gestures of the person speaking to him."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: stand within his field of vision before speaking or giving an instruction, wave or gently touch his shoulder to get his attention, accompany your words with simple gestures, and check he has actually seen the signal before continuing the activity."
For the "To avoid" section
"To avoid: calling his name from a distance or behind his back, assuming he is ignoring an instruction on purpose, punishing him for not reacting to a sound signal, or speaking for him to a third party present."
Conditions related to this case
This case relates to deafness present from birth, which explains the absence of spoken language development and the use of gestures, facial expressions and lip reading. The linked page details how this works and the support that helps a staff member who discovers the situation partway through an activity.
Similar cases
Other situations where the child often has a different occasional staff member (group leader, substitute, trainee), and where a card slipped into the bag prevents a routine signal from being read as a refusal to obey.
The teacher understands, right when marking, why the handwriting is difficult, without the child having to ask out loud for leniency.
View the case Autistic child (ASD level 1), age 7 Reader: Substitute teacherThe substitute can access the sensory triggers and routines without any written handover, and without singling the child out in front of the…
View the case Child with ADHD, age 11 Reader: AESHThe support assistant has the right strategies from day one, with no trial and error and no extra meeting.
View the caseThis situation is something you should not have to replay with every new person.
Every new school year, every new substitute, every appointment: you have to start all over again. myHandiQR puts an end to that. You write it once. You will no longer start from scratch at every meeting.