Advisors on Deaf Children - Debbie Crate

Her background

Debbie Crate is a full time Advisor on Deaf Children with the Ministry of Education in Tauranga.

Starting out as a primary teacher, she went on to study teaching of the deaf, which led to a job in a deaf unit (within a mainstream school) in South Auckland.

A stint as an itinerant teacher of the deaf followed. By 1998, Debbie had become an Advisor on Deaf Children with the Ministry of Education and had embarked on master’s level studies with Auckland University.

“When I look back, I think I’d always been searching for something a little bit different and, in this work and in this role, I found it. Deaf education was the perfect fit for me,” she says.

Her story

Debbie’s pretty excited about the country’s new hearing screening initiative, saying it’s already improving the quality of her service.

The initiative identifies newborns’ hearing needs early. And that means all the support and training Debbie provides to parents gets under way sooner.

"Early diagnosis gives parents time to grieve. But it also gives them time to sort out a kindergarten, a school, a child’s hearing aids and so on. Until recently, we’d tackle all this in a year and it was just too much."

Some children are profoundly deaf and need support from birth right up into secondary school. Others have moderate hearing needs, which mean Debbie spends less time with them (and their families) as everyone gains the knowledge and skills they need.

A child is referred to Debbie by audiologists working in the health sector. Typically advisors on deaf children work closely with a child’s audiologist throughout a child’s time at school.

"Audiologists have a lot of technical knowledge, which they share with parents. Usually, I’m part of that conversation and help out explaining things to parents – it’s one of my key roles."

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The rewards and challenges

Debbie moved out of primary teaching after seeing the opportunities deaf education offered her.

The career move appealed because it was both different and similar to classroom teaching, says Debbie.

"Of course, like primary teaching, it demands a lot of passion and I still get to work closely with children."

"But there’s a different sort of variety and flexibility in the way Deaf Advisors work. There’s a lot of autonomy – we organise our own time to suit ourselves."

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Her future aspirations

Debbie’s latest interest is developing the sector’s evidence base through encouraging specialists to do doctoral studies.

"When I think about my future aspirations it would be to see the deaf education sector grow and flourish through research – and it’s something I’d love to be part of."

Want to speak to someone like Debbie about a career as an Advisor on Deaf Children? Give us a call on 0800 622 222 or send us an email special.education@minedu.govt.nz [no spam]