SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN WITH ADDITIONAL DISABILITIES

Some children in special schools may suffer from additional disabilities on top of their hearing impairment, such as visual impairment, physical handicap, mental handicap or maladjustment. Some of these children can follow the curriculum for hearing impaired children provided additional resources are available but some cannot. For those who cannot, a specially tailored curriculum, as distinguished from that for the majority of hearing impaired children, and special grouping arrangements are required.

 

5.1 Diagnosis

Medical, paramedical and psychological reports are valuable sources of information to help identify these children, but school-based observation and assessment by related professionals such as teachers, social workers, other specialist staff, etc. are also important. The performance of the children may be affected by many factors other than physical and psychological ones, e.g. the parents' educational background and their support. To carry out a reliable diagnosis of these children, the following factors should also be considered:

5.2 Grouping Arrangements

Grouping arrangements for these children depend on the nature and the degrees of severity of their additional disabilities. The children can be set aside as a special group in their own class or allocated to another class, or they may even form a separate class themselves. Sometimes these arrangements may be required for only a few subjects but sometimes for all subjects. In some cases, a combination of different modes may be necessary. The arrangements are subject to constant review: sometimes, to achieve the best result, it may be necessary to change the arrangements during the school year.

5.3 Planning of Teaching Tasks

Due to the differences in the nature and the degrees of severity of the additional disabilities of these children, even the specially tailored curriculum may need to be further adapted to meet their specific learning difficulties. Reference to the curriculum guides for the related disabilities other than hearing impairment will be a great help.

However, whatever the adaptations, the following are some of the knowledge and skills which need to be developed in all children, regardless of their disabilities:

5.3.1 Learning Areas

(1)

Motor Co-ordination Skills

e.g. gross motor co-ordination, fine motor co-ordination and eye-hand co-ordination

(2) Self-care Skills

e.g. personal hygiene, eating, toileting, dressing and undressing

(3) Communication Skills

e.g. understanding gestures, pictures, symbols and other communication aids

(4) Occupational Skills

e.g. sorting, collating, assembling and packaging (Besides work skills, the children should be helped to develop a proper work attitude and good work habits in the training.)

(5) Basic Living Skills

e.g. dealing with numbers and money, using household equipment, taking safety precautions, using transport, asking for help, profitable use of leisure, etc.

Although the above learning areas are common to these children, every child is unique. Individual Educational Programmes (IEP) can be designed at the beginning of each school year and reviewed from time to time. In this process, other teachers, social workers, other specialist staff and parents may be consulted.

5.4 Implementation of Teaching Plans

5.4.1 Close Coordination among Staff and Parents

In the daily teaching process, close co-ordination is needed among all staff concerned. Positive morale and support from all other staff are the basis of success. Parental involvement is also indispensable. The teacher should discuss with the parents about their children's progress so that consistency in approach can be ensured when the parents follow up at home what the children have learnt at school.

5.4.2 Spiral Curriculum Design

A spiral curriculum design can be considered. A learning task which has been mastered previously may have to be taught again in a different way and at a greater depth, if possible, at a later stage. It should be broken down into steps small enough for the children to master.

5.4.3 Design Special Teaching Materials and Activities

Sometimes the learning materials in the textbook may not be suitable or sufficient. The teacher may need to design special teaching materials, worksheets, activities, etc. to cater for the needs of the children. "Learning-by-doing" type of exercises can be more helpful to low achievers. Sufficient activities should be provided to reinforce what they have learnt in the class, and these activities should be purposeful and well-structured.

5.4.4 Handling Emotional and Behavioural Problems

Some of these children with additional disabilities may have emotional or behaviour problems. If serious, these problems can affect a lesson in progress and the teacher often has to deal with these problems before the lesson can go on. The use of behaviour modification is one of the ways to help solve these problems.

5.5 Record Keeping and Assessment

To facilitate evaluation and further planning, the children's performance should be recorded. Continuous assessment and recording may be more suitable than traditional examinations. In this case, the school reports may have to be re-designed.