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Educational method of teaching children with hearing impairment
The national deaf education project
The national deaf education project
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The people in the following list all have something in common: Whoopi Goldberg, Pete Townshend (lead guitarist of The Who), Huey Lewis, Helen Keller, Ludwig Van Beethoven, and Thomas Edison. If you were unable to guess, all of these people had a hearing loss. In terms of formal definition, a hearing loss is, “a spectrum of disorders causing a disruption or distortion of auditory information reaching or being processed by the central nervous system.” Hearing losses not only effect adults or the elderly, they are also prevalent among children. As future teachers, we should understand everything that accompanies a hearing loss considering we may have a few children with this disability through our careers as educators.
To have a better understanding and appreciation of students with a hearing loss, I will introduce the types of hearing losses that are prevalent among children. The first classification of hearing loss is called congenital, or a hearing loss that occurs because of a birth defect or malformation. Most cases of congenital hearing loss are caused by, “genetic malformations, or infections caused by maternal ototoxic drug use during pregnancy.” The other type of hearing loss, acquired, happens during the first few years of life, is called an acquired hearing loss. “Acquired childhood hearing loss is usually caused by infections, trauma, ototoxic medication or missed congenital cases.” (Butler, 2012, p. 314) Acquired hearing losses are more common than congenital when we are dealing with children. Hearing losses are also classified by which ear the loss is in. A Unilateral hearing loss, occurs only in one ear, and a bilateral loss is in both.
Even if a child has a hearing loss during their early life it is difficult to d...
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...CME: Continuing Medical Education Vol. 30(Issue 9), p314-317.
Easterbrooks, S. R., Lederberg, A. R., Miller, E. M., Bergero n, J. P. Connor, C. M. Emergent Literacy Skills During Early Childhood in Children With Hearing Loss: Strengths and Weaknesses. Volta Review Vol. 108 (Issue 2), p91-114.
Eriks-Brophy, A., Whittingham, J. (2013). Teachers’ Perception of the Inclusion of Children with Hearing Loss in General Education Settings. American Annals of the Deaf Vol 158 (Issue 1), p63-97.
Noh, H.; Park, Y.G. (2012). How close should a student with unilateral hearing loss stay to a teacher in a noisy classroom?. International Journal of Audiology, 51, 426-432.
Porter, H., Sladen, D. P., Ampah, S. B., Rothpletz, A., Bess, F.H. (2013). Developmental Outcomes in Early School-Age Children with Minimal Hearing Loss. American Journal of Audiology Vol.22 (Issue 2), p263-270.
Mark Drolsbaugh, the author of Deaf Again, was born to deaf parents at a time when the deaf population didn’t have and weren’t given the same availability to communication assistance as they have today. He was born hearing and seemed to have perfect hearing up until the first grade when he started having trouble understanding what was being said but was too young to understand what was happening. (Drolsbaugh 8).
Just like members of other minorities, such as Hispanics and African-Americans, Deaf people experience some of the same oppression and hardships. Although the attempts to "fix" members of and obliterate the DEAF-WORLD are not as highly publicized as problems with other minorities, they still exist. Throughout time, hearing people have been trying to destroy the DEAF-WORLD with the eugenics movement, the mainstreaming of Deaf children into public hearing schools, and cochlear implants.
Mark started losing his hearing when he was about six or seven years old. This was manifested in confusion in music class, misunderstanding the words that the choir was singing, and discombobulation in noisy rooms. Eventually, it was noted that Mark’s hearing was deteriorating.
Darrow advocates that music education is just as important for students with hearing loss as it is for those without. Students with hearing loss often have just as much a desire and interest to learn music as any other student and should not be withheld from the opportunity to explore and learn about this field. Darrow states that one of the most important adaptive strategies for teaching students with hearing losses is “the use of visual and tactile aids.” It is also mentioned that “special attention should be given to [appropriate] am...
“Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent,” wrote the iconic American essayist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, a lofty proclamation that inspired my focus to help those with hearing loss through restoration. After a winding journey in search for an academic focus, I discovered that audiology is far more than just aiding deaf or hard of hearing individuals, but restoring balance, managing loss through therapy, and discovering new research techniques that may involve auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. After arriving at my destination, I also learned that it is my responsibility as a future audiologist to be a leader, to work hard toward achieving a better future for myself, and a better world for humanity at large. This vision drives my aspiration to join the University of South Florida’s graduate audiology program this coming fall, and continue my examination of clinical audiology as a member of your community.
Singleton, Jenny and Matthew Tittle. “Deaf Parents and Their Hearing Children.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 5.3 (2000): 221-234. PsycINFO. EBSCO. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to PBS home video “Through Deaf Eyes,” there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing (Hott, Garey & et al., 2007) . Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are over ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents. Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class.” The deaf culture and hard of hearing have plenty of arguments and divisions with living in a hearing world without sound however, that absence will be a starting point of an identity within their culture as well as the hearing culture.
The medical field is notorious for providing cures to deafness, such as cochlear implants, which then leads people to believe that it is something that must be fixed and therefore labels deafness as a disability. While Tina Gianoulis was comparing the similarities between Queer and Deaf experiences in her article mentioned earlier she declares that, “most painfully, both groups have traditionally been forced to try to become “normal”. Well-meaning parents, determined that their children not be labeled “different”, have sent thousands of deaf children to speech pathologists and mainstream schools where they spend their youth feeling lonely, bewildered, and deficient.” which is the negative effect that the deafness should be cured thought has on those that actually experience hearing
Though some of the hearing community might take on an unknowingly negative approach on deafness due to a lack of knowledge, for those in the deaf community, their hearing loss is not a burden or a disability, but instead an important component of their identity and culture (Sanger-Katz). Many see being deaf as a positive attribute (Sanger-Katz). The motto belonging to the deaf community is “the deaf can do anything but hear” (“Deaf, not I...
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (November 2002). Retrieved October 17, 2004, from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp
In the United States today, approximately 4500 children are born deaf each year, and numerous other individuals suffer injuries or illnesses that can cause partial or total loss of hearing, making them the largest “disability” segment in the country. Although, those in the medical field focus solely on the medical aspects of hearing loss and deafness, members of the deaf community find this unwarranted focus limiting and restrictive; because of its failure to adequately delineate the sociological aspects and implications of the deaf and their culture. Present day members of deaf culture reject classifications such as “deaf mute” or “deaf and dumb”, as marginalizing them because of their allusions to a presumed disability. (Edwards, 2012, p. 26-30)
The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to an online transcript,“Through Deaf Eyes” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007) there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing. Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents (Halpern, C., 1996). Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007). The deaf culture and hard of hearing have plenty of arguments and divisions with living in a hearing world without sound however, that absence will be a starting point of an identity within their culture as well as the hearing culture (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007).
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...
Long before Thomas Gallaudet founded the first permanent school for the deaf in America, controversy as to the educability and best method of communicating with the deaf have existed. In fact, in the Biblical Times section of the book The Deaf Community in America Socrates, in conversation with Hermogenes is quoted saying, “Suppose that we have no voice or tongue, and wanted to indicate objects to one another, should we not, like the deaf and dumb, make signs with the hands, head and the rest of the body? Hermogenes replied, “How could it be otherwise, Socrates?” (M.Nomeland and R.Nomeland 7). However, Aristotle in apparent disagreement with Socrates believed that hearing contributed the most to intelligence and that thought could be expressed through the medium of articulation. A belief that for the next two thousand years led to him being accused of oppressing the deaf.
The search for the most effective way to educate deaf students has long been filled with controversy, due to strong advocacy for conflicting approaches. The bilingual model of deaf education has been in place in many schools for the deaf for the past 20 years (Drasgow, 1998), and while many advocates of a strictly oral approach to deaf education discount its success, it is still a viable and appropriate option for deaf students with severe to profound hearing loss. In this paper I will describe historical perspectives around deaf education and discuss hearing loss and language acquisition for deaf children. I will provide justification for the continued use of the bilingual model against arguments in favour of a strictly oral approach. In addition, l will address challenges inherent to the bilingual model and conclude with suggested changes that may benefit deaf students’ language learning and literacy outcomes.