Aurally handicapped children

Title

Creator

Tan, Francisco C.

Language

English

Source

Philippine Educator, XII (3) August 1957,

Year

1957

Subject

Hearing disorders in children

Hearing impaired children

Deafness in children

Children with disabilities

People with disabilities

Elementary education

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

they do not understand the first time? By putting a premium on listening carefully, we can prevent inattentiveness from becoming habitual. We can listen to and look at films much more carefully than we now do. We can help pupils frame questions to put to the film just as we help them prepare questions for a guest lecturer. If you have no questions, you will get no answers. Do we encourage inattentiveness by making our listening periods too long? How many college students can absorb fifty minutes of straight lecture without a break for questions or little chance to reflect? Is the lecturer presenting new ideas unavailable in textbooks, creative syntheses of old information? Or could the student get this information more effectively by reading it outside of class? Our classrooms must not be places where students practice inattentive listening to repetitious discussion. You cannot learn without listening and you can learn to listen. Listening is like reading. You learn what the other fellow said and ponder what he meant. A good listener is both tender-hearted and toughminded. The tender-hearted listener gets the feel of a situation, is sensitive to the needs of others, builds emotional kinship. The though-minded listener knows how to tell a fact from an opinion, is neither a slave to unrelated facts nor at the mercy of sweeping generalizations. He is becoming an educated man. Aurally Handicapped Children CHILDREN who are aurally handicapped are those whose hearing mechanisms are impaired to some degree. These children are at a great disadvantage in their personal, social, and educational adjustments. The extent of this disadvantage depends upon their age at the onset of the hearing disability, the degree of hearing loss, and the type of assistance they have received in overcoming the handicap. These aurally defective children are fundamentally the same as the normal hearing children except their inability to hear normally. Most of them have normal mental ability and certain ones gifted. Unfortunately, however, children with undiscovered or undetected hearing impairments are frequently ignored by many individuals, their behavior is misjudged by others, and their inanimated expression; seeming indifference, and slowness in comprehension become the source of annoyance and irritation to parents, teachers, and associates. Such reaction on the part of those that surround the aurally handicapped children has very unfavorable effect to·wards the personalities of these unfortunate individuals. This intensifies the difficulties which they must overcome before they are able to make the necessary social adjustments and to progress educationally at a rate that is commensurate with their ability. Aural impairment may be present at birth, or may be acquired during any period of the person's lif~. A child born with a hearing disability so great th~t he cannot hear the spoken word is unable to acquire speech in the normal way. Until such time as this child can be taught speech through artificial A.UGUST, 1957 By Francisco C. Tao means he is deprived of the opportunity to develop the ability to communicate orally with others. A child who is born with a hearing impairment that causes him not to hear speech distinctly will acquire speech that is indistinct or inarticulate and language that is unnatural and imperfect. Generally, a child whose hear ... ing becomes impaired after he has acquired speech and other language facility is handicapped less in learning situation in which oral communication is involved than a child of the same age who had a similar impairment at an early age before the a~quisition of oral language. It is hypothetically difficult to draw a sharp demarcation line between children with normal hearing and those with slight hearing impafrmenf, between those with slight hearing impairment and those with considerable hearing impairment, nor between children who have extreme hc.aring impairmnet and those who have no hearing. For general purpose, aurally handicapped children may be classified as hard of hearing or as deaf depending upon the degree of hearing impairment and thP- consequent medical and educational needs of those affected require research and study hy the specialists in such work. The Hard of Hearing Individuals whose hearing for speech is impaired to some degree but not completely lost are for educational purposes classified as hard of hearing. The extent to whi~h a hard hearing child can understand and use language depends in large measure upon his age at the time the hearing impairment occurred and the degree of hearing loss. The extent to which he PAGE 55 can overcome his handicap depends in large measure upon the training that he is given in doing so. But hefore proper educational procedures can be planned, information must be available regarding the nature of the child's hearing loss. The importance of early identification of children with hearing defect and proper diagnosis of each child's hearing imnairment is great. • · The Deaf Individuals whose hearing is non-functional and whose hearing for speech is completely lost are for educational purposes cfassified as deaf. The extent to which a deaf child is affected by his handicap depends in large measure upon his age at the time he became deaf. One who acquired some language facility before he became deaf will be handicapped in activities in which oral communication is the principal medium of expression, but he will not be handicapped to the same extent as a child who was born deaf .and who has acquired all his language facility through artificial means. It is apparent, therefore, that the older the chilrlren are when they become deaf the greater are their chances for making progress in school with a minimum of help in overcoming their handicap. Providing Special Education Services Records of the results of testing children's hearing serve as evidence of the need for special education serYices provided physically handicapped children. Each school should provide for children with hearing loss the educational opportunities that they need to over'come their handicaps. If, however, a school does not have the guidance and information necessary for this purpose it may avail itself of the special services of the General Office on special education. Administrators of schools should provide for the education of the physically handicapped children who would otherwise be denied proper educational opportunities. The educational provision may be made through special day classes or remedial classes. Aurally handicapped children should be assigned to the class that will meet their needs. Those whose needs are sufficiently great should be assigned to special day classes. Those whose needs can be met with a limited amount of special instruction should be assigned to regular classes and provided with the necessary remedial assistance they need to overcome their handicap. · Special classes for aurally handicapped children are operated for the same length of time as regular classes at the same grade level. The children enrolled in special classes may, however, from the beginning take certain work in regular classes. And as they become increasingly proficient in lip reading and other phases of communication, they can participate in a proportionately increased number of regular class activities. During the children's participation in regPAGE 56 ular classes, the teacher of the ·special class exercises close supervision over their work and gives them such special assistance as they need to perform successfully. . The aurally. handicapped children are thus provided opportumty to make adjustments with normal hearing children. And through such participation, normal hea:ing chil.dren learn fo understand and accept these children with aural handicaps. Progress toward the goal of special edtication for children with severe aural handicaps is thus enhanced. Children with severe aural handicaps who have made sufficient progress in special classes may be enrolled in regular classes, provided they are given the assistance they need to overcome obstacles they encounter, and those children with minor aural handicaps can work successfully in regular ·classes so long that they are given special instruction in ways of overcoming their handicaps. The special instruction that the children need should be provided in remedial classes. The amount of time that such children should spend in remedial classes depends upon their needs and upon their ability to profit from the instruction they are given. Selecting Pupils For Remedial Classes All pupils with hearing loss sufficiently great to cause them difficulty in a learning situation should be given the special instruction they need to overcome their handicap. Pupils with known hearing loss should be given such instruction from the time they first enter school until su~h time as they have overcome their handicap. The deaf and extremely hard of hearing will be in this group. Pupils with hearing loss that is not discovered until after they have entered school should be given the special instruction they need immediately after the discovery is made, and until they have overcome their handicap. The pupils who will be in this group may be discovered through the use of screening tests, leacher observations, physicians' reports, or analysis of the pupils' school records. Hearing tests should be given to all pupils soon after they first enter school. These tests should be for screening purposes. Pupils discovered with hearing loss should then be given diagnostic tests repeated at a semester interval or as the needs arise. Hearing should also be adtninistered at any time to pupils who evidenced behavior indicating hearing loss. • · Teachers should be alert at all times for pupils' behavior that may indicate the existence of hearing loss. They should report such behavior to the proper authorities and request hearing tests for the pupils. Teachers should observe any unusual behavi~r that pupils exhibit in response to oral directions. If certain pupils pay no attention to oral directions they may not hear well enough to become interested-. ·in what is said. If some appear obstinate or confused they rp.ay not hear well enough to understand clearly THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR what is said, and therefore may refrain from making any response or, in their eagerness to please others, make responses that are unacceptable and erroneous. Certain pupils may appear to have inadequate ability to do school work successfully when in reality they are handicapped by hearing loss to the extent that they hear only a small ROrtion of the teacher's instruction and of class discussions. They appear reluctant to participate in class activities and unwilling to make contributions when the:'\· do participate. Or they may be eager to participate in class activities and go constantly attempting to make contributions, but their participation is unusual in type and are not in keeping with those made by other pupils. Assignment of Pupils To Remedild Classes Whether pupils should be assigned to special classes must be determined after a thorough study has been made of their needs. The length of time children will restrain in the special class depends upon their ability to pr~fit from the instruction given in ways of overcoming their handicap. 'I'he purpose of special instru·'.!tion is to help children overcome their handicap to the extent that they can participate successfully in activities that are common to children of their age. When those assigned to special day classes have attained this goal, they should be enrolled in regular classes and provided in remedial classes the special instruction they need to work successfully with children who have normal hearing. In assigning pupils to special day classes, it is imperative that they be assigned to classes operated at the proper grade level. This type of assignment makes it possible for the pupil to bridge the gap between the instruction he receives in special classes and the instruction that he will receive in regular classes with a minimum of disruption in learning after the transfer has been made. It also gives the pupil the advantage of being associated with others of his age, with similar interests and educational achievements. Children who have very slight hearing impairments may be sucessfully pla.,ced in regular classes without being given special instruction in ways of overcoming their ~andicap, provided their teachers give them every advantage possible. To give such advantages, teachers of regular classes should be informed regarding the hearing of each pupil in their classes. ' A child who was born deaf or one who became deaf before he acquired any language facility and has had no special instruction in ways of overcoming his handicap should be assigned to a special day class for the deaf at an early age as appropriate. If, however, he has had special instruction in ways of overcoming his handicap, and has become reasonably profkient in so doing, he may be enrolled in a regular class and with the assistance of the special class teacher he can progress to a point commensurate with his ability. For the welfare and interests of the aurally handicapped children, es_pecially those in the elementary grades, every school should have a hearing-impairment detection program which comprehensively includes: a. hearing tests in all schools; b. referral to an ear specialist or deafness prevention clinic when any deviation from normal hearing is discovered; c. favorable seating in the schoolroom and lip reading instruction for the slightly hard of hearing; d. lip reading lessons, speech correction, and amplified sound for the severely hard of hearing; and e. correct vocational guidance, based on the medical prognosis of the impairment as well as on personal aptitudes. The Rizal.Novels: Genuine Wo1·ks of Art? THE teachings of Jesus Christ are subject to different interpretations among Christian churches throughout the world. Dr. Jose Rizal, like Jesus Christ, preponderantly presented in his novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, poignant orchestration ·of significant incidents and ideas that gave bil-th to a raging controversy : Are his· novels genui:qe works of art or propaganda? Proponents of both sides have claimed time and again to have done exhaustive analysis of Dr. Rizal's literary works. HowAUGUST, 1957 By Romro M. de Rosas ever, those in favor of the artistic and cultural significance of his novels won so far the favor of Congress by its approval of Republic Act 1425. Now, t~e question of whether the novels of our hero are genuine works of art or propaganda remains wanting of a truthful, satisfactory and unequivocal answer. As embodied in Republic Act 1425, which requires all students of both private and public schools, colleges and universities in the Philippines the compulsory reading of Dr. Jose Rizal's life and works, the need PAGE 57

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