Deaf 'losing out on education'

From: icWales, UK - Oct 13, 2003

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail

DEAF children in Wales are at risk of losing out on a basic education as they are forced to cope in a hearing world.

They are wasting years learning to speak instead of being taught sign language and as a result are experiencing high levels of mental health problems, according to the British Deaf Association in Wales.

Richard Jones, community advocacy officer for the BDA in Wales, explained that all too often a deaf child will be expected to "do all the work" to live in a hearing world, and is not given adequate access to the deaf world, or deaf role models.

He explained that 2% of people suffer with mental health problems, yet in the deaf community that shoots up to 27%, often through frustration at not being able to communicate or having few opportunities in life.

"Children are made to feel like failures if they can't speak," he said.

"So much of their time in school is spent teaching them to speak, at the expense of their education. "

At the start of Learn To Sign Week, Mr Jones says he hopes to raise awareness of what life is like for the deaf. There are currently between 250 to 300 deaf children in Wales.

"Seven out of 10 employers would rather give employment to an ex-criminal than to a deaf person," he said.

"But communication needn't be a problem."

He would like to see a deaf person "assigned" to a family if they have a child who is deaf so that they will know what options are available to them in a practical sense.

He said that in many instances the medical options such as cochlear implants will be talked about, but these focus on what the child can do to change, and not how the family can adapt to the child's needs.

Eva Fielding-Jackson, youth training officer for the BDA in Wales, who has set up positive developments like deaf youth clubs, said, "Many deaf people I know are emotionally disabled because they can't communicate with people properly.

"You hear some really sad stories from people, and you think if their parents had learned sign language it would be different.

"There are no schools for the deaf in Wales any more, only units at schools. And often you find at break times the deaf children are on their own because no one will speak to them."

The BDA would like to see residential schools for the deaf so that children can develop a more secure culture and identity.

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