NCSE: Education Of Deaf/Hoh Children in Ireland

Educational outcomes for children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing, is the focus of a new policy advice paper from the National Council for Special Education.

Read the paper: The Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Ireland

Download the presentation in PDF format.

The goal of the paper is that children who are “deaf and hard-of-hearing… should graduate from school with levels of educational attainment on a par with their hearing peers.”

The NCSE presentation defines the challenges:

  1. How best to support infants who’re deaf/hard of hearing to learn language early on.
  2. How best to inform parents about communication and education options
  3. What professional development should be provided for teachers
  4. What supports should be in place in schools
  5. What health and education services are needed for deaf/hard of hearing children

 

The new policy paper confirms these needs:

  • to provide early identification and intervention for infants who’re deaf/hh
  • to facilitate interaction with hearing peers
  • to facilitate CPD for teachers and
  • to equip mainstream school and college classrooms with technology.

Further Reading

Team Sound Advice
New Study: Babies Learn Language By Lip-readingVideos Teach Social Skills To Children With SEN
Comments: 6
  1. 13 years ago

    “Eleven million euro needed to help deaf children” (The Examiner, February 6th, 2012) http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/education/11m-needed-to-help-deaf-children-182794.html

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  2. 13 years ago

    “Study says deaf pupils let down at school” (The Irish Times, February 6th, 2012) http://bit.ly/w09M1T.

    NOTE: The statistics in the first paragraph of this piece are not 100% accurate. Sound Advice knows of deaf trainees in dentistry, medicine, veterinary science & pharmacology in Ireland. Deaf students now study all topics at third level at Irish colleges. Today’s qualified, [deaf] graduates don’t need media statistics like this as they move into a very tight employment market.

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  3. 13 years ago

    A mum wrote in: “[The NCSE] seems to think all deaf people sign & need interpreters. I was mainstreamed and use spoken English but would need support in a meeting of a speed text operator, notetaker etc. This is not covered in the recommendation. ”
    http://on.fb.me/AgMAAh

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  4. 13 years ago

    The same mum wrote: ” I also had a question regarding pg 57, bilingual education. The [NCSE] understands bilingual education to mean that the child’s natural sign language is modelled and expected to be the child’s first language and primary means of communication as well as to serve as the classroom language…..” Is the council saying that all deaf children’s primary means of communication is ISL and is expected to be ISL? and is expected in school to be ISL? ”
    http://on.fb.me/woVYqS

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  5. Priscilla Gutierrez
    13 years ago

    This is a comment from across the pond from the parent of a 23-year old profoundly deaf male, and a coordinator of regional support to public schools and parents.

    The paper is designed to address the wide variety of needs of students in schools. And while the recommendations seem to emphasize signed language, it clearly shows a “one-size-fits-all” approach is not the answer.

    Bilingual education refers to instruction and mastery of two languages, and for many children with hearing loss, it also refers to bimodal ability, including those who utilize hearing aids and cochlear implants to augment auditory ability.

    The research of Christine Yoshinaga Itano, which is quoted in the paper several times, mentions the benefit of visual language support even to those children who utilize auditory amplification. It shouldn’t be an either/or scenario when it comes to sign or spoken language.

    And placing a child in a mainstream classroom with an interpreter is not a guarantee of access. Language delayed children, especially very young children, often do not understand how to effectively utilize an interpreter, and can lack the maturity to effectively self-advocate when meaning is lost.

    When it comes to deaf education, regardless of placement, it’s about designing and financially supporting programs that enable access to the curriculum, peer interaction and learning. It’s about enabling the child with hearing loss to be a member of a classroom or learning community rather than the occasional participant or “visitor” because communication barriers prohibit sufficient access and interaction.

    The only fault I have with the paper is the limited level of support to parents, many of whom have little or no prior experience with deafness prior to the birth of their child. Early intervention programs should span birth-six years of age, and then school-age support for parents should kick in. And I’m not just referring to sign language support. Just because your child is enrolled in school, it doesn’t mean the parents’ need for information and support ceases…

    Issues notwithstanding, kudos are in order for the authors of the paper – it certainly is a step in the right direction.

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  6. 13 years ago

    Consider Cued Speech/Cued language in your teaching, and you will see literate, age appropriate scores for your students.

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