I am currently an art education major, but my dream has always been to work and possibly teach at a deaf school. I was born with a hearing impairment. I was not deaf but I was hard-of-hearing. We did not know about this hearing impairment until I was about four or five years old. I taught myself to read lips, so for the longest time they thought I was just stubborn and hardheaded, but little did they know I just could not hear them. When I was around five years old I went to an audiologist and had ear tube surgery. After that my hearing was 90 percent better. I still struggle every now and then if someone is not facing me when they are talking, but it is much better. Ever since then I have thought sign language and the Deaf community is extremely interesting! There are two groups of hearing impairments. They differ according to the degree of hearing loss. Children with a more severe form of hearing loss are deaf, and children who have a less severe hearing loss are considered hard-of-hearing (Meece & Daniels, 2008, p. 88). Student who are hard of hearing many be only to hear specific frequencies or sounds within a certain volume range. They will most likely have speech; however, their speech could be impaired due to their inability to hear their own voices clearly. While those students who are deaf may have little or no speech depending on the severity of their hearing loss, and they are more likely to use American Sign Language than those students who are hard-of-hearing (“Deaf or Hard of Hearing,” 2004). Hearing loss can affect a child dramatically in their early development. It is important to be aware and cautious of noticing signs towards possible hearing loss, because language and communication skills deve... ... middle of paper ... ...ded. By the use of ear tube surgery, hearing aids, cochlear implants, and ASL children are allowed to develop in a relatively same manner as other children. Lack of senses (e.g., hearing, seeing) makes all of the developmental processes more difficult, but with the help of the assistance listed above children with hearing impairments are allowed to develop like without hearing impairments children. With these assistance hearing impaired children go through information processing theory, social-culture theory, or many more. I am so fortunate to have had the ear tube surgery and to have gotten the opportunity to develop socially and cognitively. I will always have a special place and interest in my heart for hearing impaired students. I hope that one day I can have the opportunity to teach hearing-impaired students and give back because of my unique interest.
Especially for infants and children, loss of hearing at such a young age can be detrimental for a developing child (Williams & Jacobs, 2009). The first two years of life are the most important as they hold critical milestones of language acquisition (Zumach, Chenault, Anteunis, and Gerrits, 2011). If these milestones are not met, then the subsequent ones will be harder and take longer to learn. The loss of hearing in young individuals can alter the perception of words and sounds, and this can lead to a difficulty in learning language (Williams & Jacobs, 2009). For example, the child will not be able to determine the difference between similar sounds, which negatively affects speech perception, which then leads to the inability to interpret and acquire language later on (Williams & Jacobs,
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
The mind of an infant and toddler is a sponge to language. Whether or not the child is able to speak, their brain is rehearsing and affirming the linguistic structures they hear, and the period of baby talk—called “babbling”—is a crucial time of experimentation with sound. During this time, the child will babble while in social situations in order to see which phonological structures receive positive responses from their parents—i.e. which combinations of sounds elicit responses. If a child cannot hear the sounds that their language offers, the child does not have the opportunity to babble. A child with significant hearing loss will still make sounds in infancy, but will quickly cease due to the lack of response and the fact that they cannot hear the sounds they are making and so cannot affirm them for themselves.
Dr Jim Cromwell has also found that those deaf children who are being educated in mainstream schools are not getting the education that they be worthy of. There is not enough support for them, they are being helped by teaching assistants with level 2 BSL, which is less than an O-Level.
One of the largest challenges is people being unaware of the Deaf culture and how to distinguish communication. It may be assumed that the members of the Deaf culture have low self-esteem and live in a lower status in society. For the most part, a hearing person has little to no experience with Deaf individuals and society can have preconceived notions about Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Due to our society, one-side view of deaf people, they are stereotyped as people who cannot function without the help of someone else. People tend to think that there is a relationship between being deaf and intelligence. Many Deaf or hard of hearing people lead very successful and productive lives. In order to change societies discriminatory behaviors our society must understand the oppression that Deaf people face
There is no denying that hearing loss can have significant psychosocial impacts on those who experience it. The most negatively impacted group, however, is young children, for whom hearing loss can impede early learning and development (Connor et al., 2006). One viable solution to this problem takes the form of cochlear implants. An artificial cochlear unit is surgically implanted in the ear and functions by translating sounds directly into electrical impulses and sending them to the brain (Roland & Tobey, 2013, p. 1175). Despite the high success rates that they have produced, critics contend that cochlear implants should not be carried out on very young children. They cite certain physiological concerns as well as doubts about long-term effectiveness (Hehar et al., 2002, p. 11). Some have even expressed worries that cochlear implants will negatively impact young children’s social development by making them feel different or out of place (Ketelaar, 2012, pp. 518-519). Certainly, not every child with hearing loss is a viable candidate for an implant procedure. However, when a candidate has been positively identified, the procedure should take place as early as possible, in order to guarantee maximum educational and developmental benefits.
If more people looked at the world from a deaf point of view there would be much to gain. That is why it is so important to have D/HH inclusive classrooms. If students are taught from a young age to view the world as a deaf person would, then these benefits would come more naturally to them throughout their lives.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (November 2002). Retrieved October 17, 2004, from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp
The disparity between the Deaf and hearing is based around ableism, or a newer notion, Audism. Audism is the notion that those that can hear are superior. (Oberholtzer, 2009) Like most that are viewed as inferior, the Deaf are often looked at as lesser compared to those of the hearing community and labeled as disabled, even if they themselves do not view their deafness as a disability. Many of Deaf community members are able to hear and speak well enough to communicate with hearing people but still chose to identify with the Deaf community rather than in the hearing world. (Harlan, 1996) One’s involvement does not center around their hearing
From a deafness-as-defect mindset, many well-meaning hearing doctors, audiologists, and teachers work passionately to make deaf children speak; to make these children "un-deaf." They try hearing aids, lip-reading, speech coaches, and surgical implants. In the meantime, many deaf children grow out of the crucial language acquisition phase. They become disabled by people who are anxious to make them "normal." Their lack of language, not of hearing, becomes their most severe handicap. While I support any method that works to give a child a richer life, I think a system which focuses on abilities rather than deficiencies is far more valuable. Deaf people have taught me that a lack of hearing need not be disabling. In fact, it shouldn?t be considered a lack at all. As a h...
Children with a significant hearing loss tend to struggle and are at risk, falling below their potential. Often times children with a hearing loss do poor academically and have delays in critical thinking skills, language, and may often struggle when it comes to their social and emotional development. These struggles are because language plays an important role in overall development. Current early intervention is more ...
National Institute of Health. (2011). National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders: Improving the lives of people who have communication disorders. National Institute on
When a hearing loss is detected in a child, an array of reactions may follow. If the parents or guardian decide the appropriate route for their child is a cochlear implant, they must be made aware of the commitment and motivation necessary for the aural rehabilitation process. It is vital for the family, and even the child (dependent on age), understand that undergoing a cochlear implant will not automatically fix or restore the hearing loss. Cochlear implants are just the beginning of a long, yet hopefully rewarding journey that involves the child, his/her caregivers, and the entire health care team, as well as any individual who comes into contact with this child. Everyone in the child’s surrounding must focus on aural rehabilitation immediately post implantation. A service described by ASHA to include “training in auditory perception, using visual cues, improving speech, developing language, managing communication, and managing hearing aids and assistive listening devices” (ASHA). This vague description gives way to many different strategies, and subsequently leads to countless studies intended to determine which are most successful.
Itano, C. Y. (1997). The challenge of assessing language in children with hearing loss. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 28(4), 362. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/232585838?accountid=14800
So today, I have shared with you my journey in deafness. Being deaf can be hard, but it is not the end of the world. I can do what anyone else can do such as talk, play sports and hang out with friends. Every person’s journey is different. For me the key to success is perseverance.