Deafness is a not a learning disability. Despite this, only 36 per cent of deaf children achieved five GCSEs (including English and maths) at grades A* to C in 2014, compared with 65 per cent of other children. This is unacceptable and indicates that too many deaf children are not getting the support they need in mainstream education.
Part of the problem is that deafness is a low incidence need. More than 77 per cent of school-aged deaf children in the UK attend mainstream schools where there is no specialist provision, and in which they may be the only deaf child enrolled. That’s why local authority specialist education support services play such a vital role in employing visiting teachers of the deaf to advise mainstream schools about how they can improve outcomes.
Failure to provide this advice means that deafness can often be overlooked because mainstream teachers simply don’t have any understanding of the needs of a deaf child. Often these children are nodding their way through life without really understanding what is being said and missing out on vital early development.
What can schools do?
Given the right support, deaf pupils can make the same progress and achieve as much as other pupils of similar cognitive ability. However, as most teaching and learning relies on being able to listen to and hear the teacher, deaf children can face significant barriers.
And unless support is in place from the very start, deaf children may start secondary school lacking the skills they need in language, literacy, working memory or to manage socially.
The National Deaf Children’s Society has recently republished its advice for secondary schools on the type of reasonable adjustments that can be made to support deaf children in a mainstream setting.
Here’s an overview of some of the barriers deaf children face and what schools can do to help:
- Insufficient medical information
Make sure the school receives all information relating to the pupil’s deafness before term starts. The school must work closely with health and other education specialists who are supporting the pupil at school, such as their teacher of the deaf.
- Inappropriately equipped classrooms
Small physical changes can improve the listening environment. For example, soft furnishings will help to absorb reverberating sounds.
- Schools are uninformed about hearing technology
Teachers must ensure that the child has access to the best possible hearing technology (if this is their preferred method of learning), and that this is being used properly.
- Disadvantageous seating plans
To optimise the child’s learning experience, it is necessary to seat the child where they can clearly see what is being said by the teacher and, ideally, by their hearing friends.
- Not all staff are ‘deaf aware’
It’s important to raise deaf awareness across the school. This might include training all staff so that they are aware of the need to speak clearly, at a normal pace and without anything obstructing their face.
Ian Noon is head of policy and research at the National Deaf Children’s Society
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