Lindsay Taylor

Rest in Peace Lindsay Taylor

It was with great sadness that we report the recent death of our colleague and friend Lindsay Taylor. She passed away after a short fight with cancer on 09.1.18.

Lindsay completed her Teacher of the Deaf training at London University and Lady Spencer Churchill College Oxford and put her skills into practice at Cheriton Partially Hearing Unit, in Folkestone Kent from 1982 to 1988, she became a visiting teacher of HI children in 1989. She took a few years off to have a family and then re-joined the working world as part of the Physical and Sensory Service in Kent. In this role she worked as a visiting teacher initially in special schools, then in later years in all educational settings and homes. She has worked for our service for 25 years.

n these roles Lindsay worked tirelessly in support of deaf children and their families. Showing unfaltering compassion and support for all her pupils, as well as their families. She was a dedicated professional who was always willing to champion the needs of those she worked with. She very often went above and beyond the call of duty to improve the lives of hearing impaired children and young people. For example her work with pupils who had English as a second language was a great focus for her and she forged links with local charities to support these young people.

Following the introduction of the NHSP, she was eager to support the families with young children and embraced this work. She reached out to families who were in need of emotional and practical support to raise their hearing impaired child.

Although the babies were her favourite age range to work with, she showed similar support for her teenage pupils and their well-being. She enjoyed running the ‘Think Right, Feel Good’ and ‘Healthy Minds’ projects and was always keen to support Secondary school transitions with her ‘Young People Understanding Deafness’ and ‘Moving On’ work. The young people who attended her last course touched her with their ability to open up and be reflective about their hearing loss. Lindsay returned this with open and frank support for the young people (in a fun way, naturally).

She enjoyed attending the BATOD regional events and national conferences, striving to keep her knowledge up to date. She liked to take a colleague with her on most occasions, as her sense of direction did not match her enthusiasm for reaching her destination!

Lindsay had a good sense of humour to lighten serious moments, always greeted everyone with a smile and a kind word. She was unfailingly positive, even to the end when given the sad news about her cancer.

She was very much liked and respected by staff, parents and pupils alike and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and condolences go to her family; Robert, Jenny and Chris at this time.

Jo Robson, Sensory Service Kent