Deafness from birth or early childhood

City Lit Relates to: Assignment 3a Effects of deafness from birth deadline 31 st Aug 2015.

City Lit Content of the session Examine key factors which impact on children born deaf or deaf from early childhood Explore language issues Explore issues of identity and culture

City Lit Activity Consider a child who has been born deaf. In pairs, make a list of the main factors that are likely to have an impact on all aspects of their life – from childhood through to adulthood

City Lit Medical or social model of deafness A baby with defective hearing A little linguist

City Lit How does a child develop spoken language? Mimicking - vocalising and hearing own sounds Practising Parents/family reinforce correct language Parents/family correct language Incidental speech/conversation around They acquire complex grammar at the same time e.g. “ Go and fetch the red ball for Mummy” Visual cues match what they hear to reinforce meaning

City Lit Language acquisition in early years- what are the most significant factors for a deaf child? First few years vital – a delay in acquiring language (spoken or sign) will cause a deficit that is very hard to make up in later years. The importance of grammar Hearing parents not fluent in BSL at the crucial time child needs it. Missing out on incidental conversation – effect on vocabulary and general knowledge Is there enough support for parents to learn BSL?

City Lit What will influence language choice and development ? Deaf or hearing parents? Experience of language in immediate environment Cognitive ability Aptitudes and personality Degree of hearing loss Age of diagnosis of hearing loss Amplification – hearing aids CI radio aids Expectations

City Lit Educational choices special schools units mainstream schools (now over 80%) New - Children and Families Act 2014 Aim is for greater emphasis on views and involvement of parents and children/young people BUT local authorities can still refuse preferred option if significantly more expensive than the local authority’s proposed school/other educational setting.

City Lit Language approaches in education oral/aural maybe mainstream or a school for deaf children where signing by staff or students strongly discouraged; emphasis on amplification and speaking; mainstream support may be inadequate THERE IS NO HARD EVIDENCE THAT SIGNING PROHIBITS DEVELOPMENT OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE ‘total communication’ mixture of BSL, SSE, SE (signed English) and spoken and written English Do teachers end up using more SSE than they mean to? Are children getting exposure to full BSL? bilingual treating the learning of English and BSL with equal importance.

City Lit BSL levels of teaching staff In one school for deaf children: 82% of children were using BSL BUT Only 8% of the ToDs had level 3 or above Only 23% of the CSWs had level 3 or above

City Lit Raising standards of BSL amongst CSWs in schools Applications for a new Communication Support Worker (CSW) development fund has now opened. The aim of the fund is to improve the level of BSL for communication support workers in England. The fund is being administered by NDCS on behalf of the National Sensory Impairment Partnership, with funding from the Department for Education in England. Document Title

City Lit Outcomes: The attainment gap in education Proportion of children achieving expected GCSEs benchmark (NDCS, 2013) YearDeaf children Children with no identified SEN %70.4% %69.3% %69.5% %66.5% %61.3% %57.8%

City Lit Outcomes: The attainment gap in education Reading levels key stage Deaf children 65% Children with no identified SEN 94% Children with no identified SEN

City Lit Outcomes: employment Reduced employment opportunities Possible lack of confidence, self-esteem Coping in a hearing world ( if been in special school/deaf parents) Expectations/pre-conceptions of hearing employers Legislation not working in practice? The Equality Act (2010) Access to work Children with no identified SEN

City Lit Outcomes – identity issues deaf or Deaf? Some deaf adults educated ‘aurally/orally ’ can feel caught between 2 worlds - feel awkward about their speech quality in the hearing world - feel their BSL is clumsy and hence not comfortable in the Deaf world - CI usage objections of Deaf community Am I now deaf or hearing? Nathalie Koenig – a personal narrative password: nathalie

City Lit Some reading Marschark, M., & Spencer, P. E. (2006). Spoken Language Development of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: Historical and Theorietical Persectives. In P. E. Spencer & M. Marschark (Eds.), Spoken Language Development of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children. New York: Oxford University Press. Marschark, M. (2007). Raising and Educating a Deaf Child. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Powers, S., Gregory, S., & Thoutenhoofd, E. (1998). The Educational Achievements of Deaf Children (No. RR65). Norwich: DFEE. Schick B, Marschark M and Spencer PE (2006) Advances in Sign Language Development of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

City Lit Ladd, P. (2003). Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Padden, C., & Humphries, T. (1988). Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press. Deaf Ex-Mainstreamers' Group. (2003). Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Wakefield: Deaf Ex-Mainstreamers Group. Scoping study on linguistic access for Scottish D/deaf children and students