What Can Deaf Schools Offer Deaf Children?

Deaf students are frequently short-changed in regular schools. They are treated as children with below-standard intelligences, often relegated to special education classes where they are treated as second-class students. There is no reason for this, as the problem is not due to some inability to learn as it is an inability to communicate; an inability to communicate does not equate to an inability to learn. Deaf children in regular schools also tend to be bullied more as they make easy victims. Because of this parents of deaf children should look into deaf schools for a better education for their children.

Deaf schools make allowances for deafness. There some issues that a deaf child needs to be aware of and taught to allow for. Without these allowances, a deaf child is not able properly fit in with "normal" society. There are specific programmes that enable a deaf child to better fit in, and deaf schools have these. Obviously this includes some form of speech and language therapy, as deaf does not always mean mute; by learning speech a deaf child is better able to deal with society in general.

The deaf child also learns confidence. He is better able to negotiate situations that would normally require some degree of hearing ability, adapting to the situation rather than forcing the situation to adapt to him. This is an important point; although businesses are becoming more tolerant of issues that separate one person from others, they are nonetheless unable to adapt past a certain point. A child that can adapt to situations is going to do better than one who does not, and learning to not only survive but prosper in those situations gives the child a certain degree of confidence.

By combining these social skills with an ability to overcome situations that would seem to otherwise prevent the child from going forward, the child gains the confidence to deal with any situation. Sometimes, asking a regular school to do so is not possible, especially in an era where schools are having enough problems dealing with regular children. They simply do not have the resources to do more than provide the basics for any child, and a deaf child requires more than those basics in order to get the most out of life. Specific deaf schools are what are required for the child to flourish.

It should not be inferred that deaf children are being relegated to deaf schools because they are inferior to so called "normal" kids. They are simply being given a better chance at getting an education. Where they would've had to learn a number of skills just to keep up with other kids, they can somewhat forego those skills in favour of learning the same subjects that other kids are learning. There are some exceptions to this, but deaf schools are simply better able to deal with the disadvantage of deafness than regular schools, allowing a deaf child to excel.

----------------------------------------------------
for more information on deaf schools, see http://www.stjohns.org.uk/

EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=196028