5.1 Supporting a deaf student

Activity 5: Alex in the classroom

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes
This image is a cartoon of a young person, Alex, at a desk. On the desk is a notebook. The student holds a pen but is looking up from his book with a worried look on his face. Behind the student, lots of people in the background are talking.
Figure 13 A noisy classroom

Alex is in his Year 6 classroom on a Monday afternoon. His class is noisy and bosterous as usual. He’s finding it a challenge to complete the task in front of him: not quite sure how to answer the questions. Although it was explained by the teacher, a lot of disruption occurred and Alex didn’t have the confidence to ask for the information to be repeated.

What could the teacher or tutor do in this scenario to help Alex? What measures could the school put in place to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing students don’t struggle in this way? Write down your thoughts.

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Discussion

As a deaf pupil in a mainstream school, trying to access your education and create a social circle can be a daunting challenge.

Ideally, the school would have access to a group of tutors that are able to sign. Having deaf awareness can help those students feel comfortable to comunicate to their tutors freely.

Resources such as a signer, notetaker, Teacher of the Deaf and Speech and Language therapist are invaluable for a deaf or hard of hearing student. Having access to these professionals right from preschool to degree level makes a difference to being able to access the world around them. Far too often students have to endure difficulties due to not having access to these resources.

To help students such as Alex in the classroom, teachers could provide information in advance such as key words, a visual glossary, and generally supply additional information in order to support the deaf. In fact, a lot of this is not specific to deaf students and writing with deaf students in mind can be helpful to ensure that teaching resources are accessible for all students.

5.2 Working with a deaf employee