A series of fascinating photographs has revealed a behind-the-scenes look at the former Department of Education of the Deaf.
The department, believed to have been in Manchester until 1955, is shown in these photos taken around three years earlier.
Black and white pictures show children interacting with medical professionals and parents at what is believed to have been the first facility of its kind in the UK.
In one strange image a psychologist, Mr P C Kendall, bangs a drum beside the ear of a young girl in what appears to have been a rudimentary hearing test.
In this photo, psychologist Mr P C Kendall is seen banging a drum beside the ear of a young girl in a rudimentary hearing test at the Department of Education of the Deaf
Others show a boy playing with farm animals as he is having his hearing assessed, and a 14-month-old child being taught to lipread by her mother.
Another shot shows a little girl fiercely concentrating on her wooden toy as a woman tinkers with the testing equipment in the background.
The Department of Education of the Deaf was a department of the University of Manchester and the first of its kind in the UK, according to a report published in the British Journal of Educational Studies in 1956.
It was founded by Sir James E. Jones, a cotton merchant from Lancashire whose son, Ellis, was born deaf.
Ellis was so well educated by a private tutor that, at a time when most deaf children were taught at poor quality special residential schools, he was able to attend the University of Oxford when he grew older.
Sir James became so knowledgeable – for the time – and impassioned about the education of deaf children that he was able to set up the pioneering school.
Sheila Hadfield has her hearing equipment adjusted by an audiologist at the Department of Education of the Deaf in Manchester in 1952. The department is believed to be the first official centre of its kind in the UK
Noreen Buckley, just 14 months old in this photo, is taught to lipread by her mother. Lip reading involves watching a speaker's mouth and face movements to work out what they are saying without hearing them, and is commonly used by people with varying levels of hearing impairments
An anonymous father and son arrive at the Department of Education of the Deaf in 1952. The department was founded by a cotton merchant from Lancashire, Sir James E. Jones, who had a deaf son and was inspired to help children who couldn't hear
Miss D M Gutteridge (left), a teacher of the deaf, studies her pupil Lilian Cuddy as she plays with stackable cups with her mother. For much of the 1900s most deaf children had to attend poor-quality residential schools as teaching methods were not well understood and assistive technology and resources limited
Four-year-old Brian Lawrence plays with toys as he is surrounded by psychologist Mr Kendall, teacher of the deaf Miss Gutteridge, and his own mother. Mr Kendall appears to be testing how much Brian can hear by speaking from behind him
A woman in a classroom at the department, which was part of the University of Manchester, bangs a drum in a 'distraction test' being
