About my work
My work underwent a major shift when I found myself in contact with the hearing impaired and all that is related to that. I became thirsty for more information about what being hearing impaired entailed, the various forms of therapy available and the opportunities that existed to teach hearing impaired children to communicate through speech.
Through participation in international congresses and seminars, I was able to gather information on methods that could be use to help hearing impaired children to learn to speak and that would help them communicate with those whose hearing was normal. There were methods in use elsewhere which, at that time, were unknown in Finland. Although some of the methods were still considered controversial, I strongly felt that the parents of hearing impaired children should be informed of what was available or being worked on elsewhere so that they could decide what form of communication worked best for their own child.
In 1993 I travelled to Britain to learn about the Cued Speech-method. Cued Speech (known in Finland as vinkkipuhe) was created by the American Professor R. Orin Cornett, in 1966 as a method of assisting hearing impaired children to improve their reading and writing skills. With the use of small hand movements that are used to supplement the spoken word making speech more visual. However, the English phonetic system is different to that of Finnish and of the Swedish spoken in Finland. Once I returned to Finland after my training, I contacted Professor Cornett and, with his help, adapted the Cued Speech method to the phonetic requirements of Finnish and Finnish-Swedish.
In association with the Folkhälsan organisation I arranged international seminars in Helsinki in 1998, 1999 and 2001. We invited highly valued experts in the field to participate, including Susan Schmid-Giovannini from Austria and Warren Estabrooks, who has worked in Canada and the USA, to lecture on their therapies which are based on auditory-verbal communication practices.
In 2004 and 2006, with neuropsychologist Mia Nykopp and special needs teacher Eivor Larpes as coordinators, we invited Ross W. Green Ph.D. to lecture on children who are easily frustrated and chronically inflexible children. Our hope was that these "The Explosive Child" (Tulistuva lapsi, in Finnish) seminars would help reach greater understanding of these easily misunderstood children. In 2009 Ross Greene again came to Finland, this time to lecture on handling school-aged children's problem and problem solving at a seminar titled "Tulistuva koululainen" (The Explosive Schoolchild).
The inspiration for a Finnish language text book came to me when helping my (Swedish- speaking) son with his Finnish language homework, Lunttikirja - en handbok i finsk grammatik (a handbook of Finnish grammar) was published July 2005. The first edition sold out by the end of the first year and the second edition came out in December 2005. The third edition was published in 2008.
Inspiration for my next book came from following my son's difficulties at school and how easily such difficulties arise when a hearing impaired child is integrated into a class of normally hearing children. Hjälp - en elev med hörselskada i min klass! (Help - There's a deaf kid in my class!) publish concurrently with the Finnish language version, Apua - kuulovammainen oppilas luokassani! in 2007.
In 2003 I began working with Thomas Lindberg, an entrepreneur from the world of advertising. After working together on my books we broadened our sphere and are now working together on marketing campaigns, producing brochures, announcements, web pages etc.
Era Nova is a bookshop in Helsinki that I love. It is there that I came across the book “Diary of a Psychic”, written by Sonia Choquette. I had never heard of her, but for some reason I picked up this book and read it immediately. The book made me feel warm and hopeful, of what, I don’t know – it just gave me a good feeling. One thing led to another and soon I had signed up for Sonia’s training in Chicago in October 2009.
Returning to Finland after this event I felt like I was so much lighter. My heart was filled with joy, love and a deep appreciation for everything. I came to appreciate both the good and the bad things in my past, and I came to see how everything has a purpose. Sonia touched my heart with her loving spirit; her wise words, her positive energy and inspiration.
There is a saying “When the pupil is ready the teacher appears”, and without a doubt Sonia is one of my teachers. It was not a coincidence that our paths crossed, it was inevitable – and I am grateful that I listened to my intuition and took the opportunity I was given.
I have made a total of four trips to Chicago to attend Sonia's Trust Your Vibes certificate trainings (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3) and Leadership training.
Sonia has twice been to Helsinki to give workshops. The first time in September 2010 (Trust Your Intuition) and the second time in May 2012 (The Power of Your Spirit). The second workshop was organised in co-operation with Free Flow Factory.
Cooperative partners
Thomas Lindberg/Oy Studio Lindberg Ab
Thomas Lindberg has a 30-year track record in the world of advertising. Thomas is a widely respected graphic designers and AD with a broad experience in the business. He does all the various visual planning aspects of any advertisement (announcements, posters, customer publications etc.) as well as illustrations for books and digital works. Thomas also designs restaurant and exhibition stand interiors.
He is a skilled illustrator of texts books and has created characters for the MOI Finnish language study series, which is extensively used in Finnish schools. He is also the creative mind behind the characters in the interactive "Näppärästi" CD, intended for Swedish speaking Finnish students studying Finnish.
As a winner of the Svenska Litteratursällskapet (Swedish literary culture) award in 2000, Thomas Lindberg received FIM 20 000 for his acclaimed illustrations of the "Johansson och Silverligan" children's book.
Thomas was the clear choice as illustrator and layout person for the book Lunttikirja - en handbok i finsk grammatik (Finnish grammar). His sensitive and funny characters are created with a twinkle already in their eye - Ville and his gang put the reader into a good mood from the very start. Thomas has also done the illustrations for Hjälp - en elev med hörselskada i min klass! / Apua - kuulovammainen oppilas luokassani!
Thomas Lindberg
Tel. + 358 400 615 279
thomas@studiolindberg.fi
www.studiolindberg.fi