In the recent years, I have been paying more attention to how public schools support students who need more accommodations. Since one of my family members has low vision, I learned that finding reliable technology and resources to have similar school experiences as the other students can be difficult. We have moved from different states in the past years, but we were fortunate to be able to attend the schools that had access to resources such as magnification systems and large print materials each time. Knowing about the accommodations schools are required to provide for students with low vision and for those who are blind got me interested in researching how the school system supports those students who are hard of hearing or for those who are deaf.
Although there are certain schools for the deaf and for the blind, over 75% of deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) students attend the mainstreamed public schools in the United States. There are many pros and cons for each system, but the decision should be made with the child as the top priority. Although mainstream schools can better prepare students for the hearing world, there won’t be many DHH students and deafness can be seen as a disability. Deaf schools accept and embrace Deaf culture, but people may have trouble finding a school close to them.
Unlike most mainstream school students who attend the full day with their designated school teacher, DHH students have slightly different schedules. They receive assistance from a teacher of deaf or hard of hearing (TODHH) for about 50% of the school day, a portion of their day attending the routine general education class, and the remainder of their day receiving instructions from the TODHH. DHH students can also have professional sign and oral interpreters to help them communicate with the people around them depending on how the school is funded. For this system to succeed, the students must be academically and socially be integrated in school. This would mean that they must participate in class activities, have access to the learning materials, and be accepted by their peers.
We know that appropriate support such as classroom sound field or FM systems can be provided by the schools so that the students are able to understand the speaker better, but this will only apply to those who are hard of hearing and not for those students who are completely deaf. The academic integration has also been found to be more successful. DHH students academically perform better when they spend more time in a general classroom setting compared to those in a self-contained room. Still, it has also been found that it was more difficult for these students to communicate during group discussions compared to communicating with the teacher.
Even though we know a lot about the mainstream school structure for DHH students, there are still many unknowns such has the specific instructions of the TODHH and if it is actually effective and beneficial to be taught by a TODHH. Furthermore, though students can receive assistance during school, they can find it more challenging to participate in extracurricular activities and therefore can miss out on social integration. I believe that many schools do try their best to accommodate all their students in school, but I think there should be more resources so that these students can also fully experience the social aspect of school.
Sources:
https://hearmeoutcc.com/mainstream-school-vs-deaf-school/
Comments
Thanks for doing this post, I found it really interesting! I definitely think that we, or myself, at least, can take my abilities for granted quite often but once you start to really think about it you often realize how those with disabilities might struggle or have to adapt. It's awesome that you looked into this, as the more attention it gets the more changes can be made to help them out!
Somyung, I agree with you that there should be more resources for students that are impaired in order to get the most out of their experiences like other students. The differences between DHH and regular schedules helped show how things are not the same as we would expect and how there is still work to be done to get towards the goal of equity!
I think as society become more open to people with visual or auditory disabilities, we will be able to create a more inclusive environment for everyone. I agree that we as a society have the responsibility to work towards accommodating the people that need it.
Hi So Myung, I thought it was cool to share an issue that we tend not to care about because it doesn't affect us directly. I agree with you when you said that many schools should do their best to accommodate all their students in school, especially those who are less privileged.
I agree with what you said that it is difficult to find the technology and school systems that can reliably help impaired students enjoy the educational system just like any other student. I read through the articles you attached and it was definitely interesting to learn about the differences between deaf schools and normal schools and they should definitely start trying to integrating it together so impaired students can have the same enjoyable life normal students have.
Somyung,
Thank you for sharing this post. I found it really interesting to hear how the school schedules between hearing and DHH students are different. I never quite thought about what differences in the actual schedule would occur, but rather, I solely thought an interpreter just followed the student around the majority of the day.