The Australian Education Reporter
Hard of Hearing or Deaf
The first national curriculum in Auslan rolled out as a LOTE language stream across Australia is an exciting development, and will “give legitimacy to the language of the Australian deaf community”.
“THIS IS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR AUSTRALIA. AUSLAN IS NOW ONE OF 14 LANGUAGES WITH FULLY DEVELOPED NATIONAL CURRICULA.”
DR Breda Carty from the Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) Renwick Centre believes the Auslan national curriculum will help develop good quality resources for teachers preparing their curriculum options.
“This is a major step forward for Australia. Auslan is now one of 14 languages with fully-developed national curricula,” she said.
“It gives legitimacy to the language of the Australian deaf community, and should make a big difference to community awareness of it and respect for it as a full language.”
More often than not, deaf and hard of hearing children are placed in classrooms where the majority of children can hear. Depending on the severity of hearing loss, support systems, and the particular child, this can affect learning in the classroom.
National Association of Australian Teachers or the Deaf chairperson Claire Loades said it depends heavily on the situation, but a sign language interpreter in the classroom was ideal. If a teacher of the deaf was unavailable, specialist advice for mainstream teachers working with students who are deaf and hard of hearing was very important.
“Ideally, what you would do is have some auditory training and speech therapy training for students with advice from the teacher at the desk to support what’s happening in the classroom,” Ms Loades said.
“Across Australia and even internationally, the move to generic services for students who are deaf and hard of hearing by putting them with other students with disabilities [is an issue].”
“Saying that a generic special educator can support them is one of the issues as an association that we are concerned with in Australia; there are specialist skills and knowledge that a teacher of the deaf brings to working with deaf and hard of hearing students.”
Deaf Children Australia family support and community development coordinator Debra Swann said that in her school days the classroom was set up in rows, and she often missed what was being said in the rows behind her.
“Today, the students are placed in either a horseshoe or with square tables facing each other,” Ms Swann said.
“There are more distractions, but being face-to-face with others may increase their communication, social development, and access to information.”
Ms Swann said it was important for deaf students that one person speak at a time, so they could identify the speaker. Students and teachers should also allow time for the deaf student to shift their focus to the speaker.
“Due to the access barriers caused by hearing loss, students require specific skill building and appropriate accommodation if they are to progress at the same rate as class peers,” she said.
More than 95 per cent of newborns are now screened for hearing loss at birth. While this means children are diagnosed much earlier than in the past, newborn screening captures only about 50 per cent of those children who will be diagnosed with a hearing loss by school age.
Ms Swann maintains that the nature and context of a student’s hearing loss is important to understand, as the age of diagnosis will impact on their access to early intervention and will affect language development and relationships with parents and family members.
“The location and degree of hearing loss (conductive, sensory-neural, mixed, central hearing loss or unilateral) are important considerations when developing an individualised plan,” she said.
“Understanding the nature of hearing loss will help your school address the communication, social and education needs of each child in the classroom setting, and the strategies that are developed around their unique needs.”
Dr Carty says that most schools did not have the resources in place to assist in the education of a deaf child.
Schools are obliged to provide access
for all students with disabilities under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 and the associated Disability Standards for Education (2005) and there are external associations able to provide resources and staff necessary for the education of deaf or hard of hearing children.
“Government schools can apply to their state education departments for the support and resources they need, and independent schools can apply to other providers such as RIDBC or Catholic Education Offices,” Dr Carty said.
“Support may include sign language interpreters, speech/language therapy, real-time captioning, note-takers, itinerant support teachers, teacher aide time, adjustments to the acoustic environment of the classroom, special seating arrangements, additional exam time, and more.”
Ms Swann stated that schools which are not specialist or don’t have a dedicated unit for deaf students may have limited access to these resources.
“This impacts students who are hard of hearing in mainstream schools, which may not understand or are less able to respond to their needs,” she said.
“In these settings, it is common for schools to have access to a visiting specialist teacher who may provide advice to educators and even some direct support to students, but these are not full time resources.”
When deaf children are placed in classrooms where the majority of children can hear, their learning can be affected if specialised teachers are not available.
Although a variety of resources and professional training are available to educate teachers how to manage the schooling of deaf children, a dedicated deaf facility would have the resources to meet many of the communication needs of students.
“They will have a highly adapted approach to make curriculum accessible to students who are deaf or hard of hearing,” Ms Swann said.
“Specialist teachers of the deaf, integration aids and support workers, interpreters, and tailored environments and use of technology all promote the inclusion and engagement of students in such settings,” she said.
RIDBC Renwick Centre director, Professor Greg Leigh, and Continuing Professional Education manager Jacqui Cashmore say there are opportunities for teachers to undertake postgraduate study in specialist education and interventions for deaf and hard of hearing students as well as continuing professional education in the field.
“In 2017 the centre is commencing a new program in affiliation with Macquarie University which is one year of study leading towards a Master of Disability Studies and is aimed at preparing teachers who will work specifically in the educational support of students with hearing loss,” Professor Leigh said.
The Continuing Professional Education Program at RIDBC Renwick offers a range of seminars, conferences and workshops conducted by Australian and international experts in sensory disability.
“Teachers and associated professionals have access to these by attending in person, remotely or online. Courses provide research and best practice, practical strategies as well as opportunities to network and share ideas with colleagues,” Ms Cashmore said.
“Teachers can gain a deeper understanding of the characteristics, expectations, and needs of students who are deaf and hard of hearing,” she said.
The national Auslan curriculum is a step forward for inclusion and equality of deaf students in mainstream schools. There are two streams of the language, native speakers (deaf or hard of hearing students) and a non-native steam for students who are not deaf but want to learn the language.
Some schools, including Shenton College in Perth, WA, have a great reputation for initiating and running Auslan classes years before the national curriculum was introduced, as schools around the country take steps to prepare materials, workshops and staff education for the new curriculum.
“Auslan as a language other than English as part of the school curriculum provides an opportunity for a whole lot of students to learn the language,” Ms Loades said.
“It makes everybody realise that it is an Australian language and not [ a secret code for] deaf people; that status makes everybody feel proud, certainly for deaf people to feel proud about their language,” she said.
Dr Carty said there were many benefits to having a larger pool of people who know Auslan, including increased professional opportunities to work as interpreters and teachers, more accessible public services and spaces, and reduced barriers for deaf people in the workplace.
“Good Auslan programs in schools have definite potential to improve communication between deaf and hearing children in the classroom, and this has been demonstrated at many schools,” Dr Carty said.
“It helps to ‘normalise’ deaf students, and increase their opportunities for interaction and social engagement – which are important for academic and social development.”
“SPECIALIST TEACHERS OF THE DEAF, INTEGRATION AIDES AND SUPPORT WORKERS, INTERPRETERS, TAILORED ENVIRONMENTS, AND TECHNOLOGY ALL PROMOTE THE INCLUSION AND ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS.”