Margaret Glasgow, MBE
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BATOD is delighted that Margaret Glasgow, a former NEC member, has been awarded the MBE in the 2003 Honours List.
BATOD offers sincere congratulations. Whilst Margaret was on the NEC she was responsible for many of the A&ICT articles appearing in the Magazine, especially the much acclaimed ‘Audiology refreshers’ which are soon to be available on CD in addition to the booklet about testing children with complex needs.
Margaret Glasgow and colleagues outside Buckingham Palace after the MBE ceremony
The citation by Gary Anderson is as follows:
“I should like to nominate Margaret Glasgow for a UK National Honour in recognition of her outstanding service and contribution to deaf children and Deaf Education over many years.
Margaret’s dedication and commitment to deaf children has been unparalleled since becoming a qualified teacher of the deaf in 1974.
In 1974 Margaret was appointed to be the Head of the Partially Hearing Unit at Knollmead Primary School in Kingston. The unit grew and thrived under her inspiring leadership during her 15 year tenure. The philosophy of the unit was a natural oral one and through this methodology the pupils, many of whom were profoundly deaf, successfully acquired excellent oral communication skills and left her care with clear, intelligible speech and a good command of written and spoken English.
Instrumental to these successes, was Margaret’s total commitment to providing the best amplification systems for her pupils. Knollmead was the first Primary Unit to introduce Cubex Radio Hearing Aid Systems and Margaret pioneered their use in an integrated setting. The pupils were successfully integrated in class alongside their mainstream peers and were also able to benefit from her expert specialist knowledge and skills for their individual programmes of speech and language development.
The reputation of the Unit took on a national context, as it became highly regarded in the world of deaf education as a model of good practice. Professionals visited from across the country to see how it worked and learn from Margaret’s success. This recognition was endorsed with a Royal Visitation from Princess Diana in 1989.
During the time that Margaret was at Knollmead School, she become a founder member of the National Aural Group now named DELTA (Deaf Education through Listening & Talking). She continues to be an active member, even though she officially retired as a teacher last July 2002, and for the past 20 + years has organised successful summer schools in the South of England for families and young pre-school deaf children. These events have been much appreciated by the families who participated and took up a lot of her time outside work to organise, but are typical of Margaret’s total commitment to the children and families.
In 1986 Margaret was invited by the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf to go to Calcutta. She worked in schools and clinics teaching Audiology; showing staff how to make ear moulds, repair and check hearing aids, assess hearing loss, improve acoustic conditions and develop audiology skills. In 1992 she was again sponsored by the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf to go to Bangladesh to teach the staff in the schools there as well.
In 1989 Margaret moved to the Surrey Hearing Impaired Service where she became an Advisory Teacher for the Hearing Impaired. A year later she was seconded to Manchester University where she completed an MSc in Educational Audiology. She assumed responsibility for training all Surrey staff in Audiological matters with a particular responsibility for the Hearing Impaired Units in the North of the County and for Cochlear Implanted children. Her specialism in early years work was also quickly recognised as she was promoted to be Head of the Pre and Primary department within the Service.
Margaret was constantly looking for new ways of developing the Service to benefit the children. Of particular note is the Hearing Aid loan library, which Margaret initiated 9 years ago, to ensure that children were provided with a spare while their own was sent away for repair.
Following two years of fund raising Margaret and two colleagues opened the Surrey Suite – a diagnostic and assessment centre where children could be sent for in-depth hearing assessments. This innovative work involved hours of planning and dialogue with a partner hearing aid manufacturer and sponsors.
Margaret has played a key role in providing training and professional development opportunities for the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf. Between 1992 and 2001 she was a member of the National Executive and the Audiology Committee. She wrote articles and leaflets for her professional colleagues through the National Association magazine. Through this medium she has influenced good practice across the country.
For nine years Margaret was responsible for Health Visitor training in Surrey and she wrote the Health Visitor ‘Hearing Assessment’ manual. She was also responsible for supporting and training Community School Medical Officers in 3rd tier clinics in Surrey. Margaret continues to be at the leading edge of this field and her work as a Tutor for Birmingham and Oxford Brookes Universities on their Distance Learning Courses ensures that both current teachers of the deaf and those of the future receive an excellent grounding in both the principles and practices of this Specialist work.
The world of deaf education – children, families, colleagues in teaching and the Health Service have much for which to be grateful in Margaret’s commitment to them. It would be a fitting end to a career dedicated to others to receive a National U.K. Honour and I wholeheartedly commend her for consideration.”
Gary Anderson
Head of Physical & Sensory Support Service, Surrey
June 2003