Hearing Assistance Dogs : a remarkable aid for the deaf and hard of hearing
The Association les Chiens du Silence aims to assist individuals with deafness all over France in regaining their autonomy by offering them specialized assistance dogs, trained for 22 months to fulfill the special needs of those with this disability.
WHAT DOES THE PROJECT SOLVE?
The Association les Chiens du Silence will provide 13 deaf or hard of hearing people, from the teenagers to the adults, with quality-trained hearing assistance dogs to help them in their daily lives.
Created in 2010 by Cathy and Frédéric BIRE, the Association les Chiens du Silence specializes in training dogs to become hearing assistance dogs and giving them for free to hard of hearing and deaf people.
The organization works with professional breeders, foster families, vets and its own specialized trainers to provide high-quality and well-treated dogs to those in need. Their philosophy is that a happy, loved and well-trained dog is the best help for someone with a disability.
Since 2017, the Association les Chiens du Silence is officially recognized as a hearing assistance training center by the French Government, through the prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées. To this day, the organization has helped more than 120 people by giving them free hearing assistance dogs.
Deaf or hard of hearing people have many challenges in life because of their hearing loss. Their safety is often at risk, and they are emotionally more fragile due to the permanent stress of having lost one of their senses.
Although technical solutions do exist, they have their limitations and only solve a fraction of the disabled person’s problems.
The training program of our hearing assistance dogs aims to provide well-raised and well-trained dogs to improve the life of people with deafness. The dogs provide help by performing specific tasks, ensure the safety of their handler but also support them emotionally.
With the help of these dogs, people with deafness are more self-confident and gain back their independence.
Although the organization already provided many dogs to help those in need, there is still a lot more demand in France and the ambition is to meet this demand and help as many people as possible.
To do this, the Association les Chiens du Silence is perpetually developing its teams, skills, premises and processes, and is in search of new financial support, to offer more and more dogs each year to deaf and hard of hearing people.
Another goal for the organization is to generate awareness to both the difficulties met by people with deafness and the help provided by hearing assistance dogs.
By doing so, the Association les Chiens du Silence hopes to reduce the impact of deafness for the people living with it.
“During a trip to Canada, my husband and I learned about the existence of hearing assistance dogs. While this type of dogs has been used in the UK and Canada for over 50 years to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, there wasn’t anything like this in France.
Upon our return, the Association Les Chiens du Silence was born from our desire to meet this specific need: improve the quality of life of deaf and hard of hearing people.
Since its creation, we have been committed to creating an environment where the well-being of the dogs and beneficiaries as well as the quality of our work are the priority.
Our dogs are handled with love and expertise, adapting the training of each dog to its needs, its personality but also to the requirements of its future handler, in order to best meet the specific needs, he or she might have. Our dogs’ training is based on the bond between dog and human, and all the love that can exist between them: it is the most beautiful way to create an exceptional connection and a long-lasting relationship!”
Cathy BIRE, founder of the NGO and dog trainer
“Axel had a bilateral profound deafness and was diagnosed late at the age of four. This delay had a serious impact on his language, but also on his development, his school learning, social life and his nights. His sleep is disturbed by night terrors and in these cases, he cannot stand to be alone in bed.
Although he is in a specialized institute, Axel had few friends.
Since he met Rio, his hearing assistance dog, everything is better.
Axel still wakes up often at night, but he is calm. He might get up but goes back to bed, near Rio.
At school too, there is a lot of improvement: Axel has more confidence in himself, he is interested in studying, he listens, works… he also made friends thanks to Rio, and learned how to be mindful of others.
Seeing my son happy and fulfilled is wonderful. Rio is really his life companion, his game partner, his confidant. He talks to him, hugs him. Axel understood that thanks to his dog, he could live his life”
Thierry, the father of Axel, a 15-year-old who is helped by Rio, his hearing assistance dog.
OTHER PROJECTS
5 results
5 results