ECIA VC ‘Best of’ the ECIA National Conference

Professional Development Day

23rd November 2012

Challenges of participation
for deaf children in early childhood
programs

Elizabeth Levesque
Teacher of the Deaf
Aurora Early Intervention, 96 Holland Road, Blackburn South, Vic. 3130
 Aurora Early Intervention is one of three
programs offered at Aurora School. All programs follow
a bilingual approach (English/Auslan):

 Early Intervention (Home-based, birth to 6 years)

 Early Education (Centre-based, 3-6 years)
 Deaf-Blind Education (Centre-based, 3-18 years)

Aurora School is a Victorian Department of Education and

Early Childhood Development (DEECD) state-wide early intervention service for deaf and
hard of hearing children and their families
 What we’ll be talking about today
 Facts about childhood prelingual deafness

 The impact of deafness on children’s development

 Current research and practice

 National and state early childhood frameworks

 Pathways to participation for deaf children

 Funding issues
 Some background information
 Approximately one baby in every thousand is born
with a ‘significant’ bilateral hearing loss (greater than
30 decibels) that requires the fitting of hearing aids.
Many babies are now diagnosed through infant hearing
screening in hospital
 Children with hearing losses greater than 30 decibels
in both ears are fitted with hearing aids and are eligible
for early intervention
 More than 95% of deaf children have hearing parents

 In about 50% of children, no known cause of deafness

can be identified

 Up to 40% of deaf children have additional sensory

and/or developmental needs, eg. vision impairment,
cerebral palsy, language disorder, sensory processing
disorder, intellectual impairment, Autism, health issues
 The first two years of neurolinguistic development
are vital. During this time, a child acquires language
relatively effortlessly
 If language is not accessible to a child, as in the case
of prelingual deafness, the critical period for language
acquisition will be missed
 Deaf children with an ineffective mode of
communication ....are at greater risk for developing
mental health problems in adolescence
(Wallis, Musselman & MacKay, 2004)
 Children with hearing aids and cochlear implants
do not hear speech as clearly as children with normal
hearing. Incidental learning through listening does not
occur as it does for hearing children
 Young deaf children need to be spoken to directly,
from a short distance
 Unlike glasses that correct vision impairment,
listening devices do not correct deafness, but amplify
distorted sound. Young children also may resist wearing
them!
 Deaf children’s receptive and expressive language
and literacy skills are significantly below normative
populations
 The average deaf student graduates from high
school with language and academic achievement levels
below those of the average fourth-grade (9 year old)
student with normal hearing (Wake et al, 2004; Helfand et al, 2001)
 Most deaf children (> 80%) are educated in inclusive
[mainstream] settings and use oral communication
(Hyde & Power, 2003)
 Only about 40% of sounds of the English language
are visible on the lips.
For many deaf children, acquiring a spoken
language is very challenging when access to speech
sounds is limited

To be an effective lipreader, you need to know the

language you’re ‘reading’!
 CONSIDER THIS….
Many deaf children starting school have an expressive
vocabulary of fewer than 500 words

In comparison, many hearing children at the same age

have an expressive vocabulary of about 3,000-5,000
words and a receptive vocabulary of about 25,000 words
Early exposure to Auslan and English allows children
to determine their preferred language in a natural,
developmentally appropriate way. (Auslan will not
necessarily be the preferred language)

By school age, bilingual deaf children should show a

preference for the language that best suits their
communication needs. Preferences may change over
time, depending on the specific need
Deaf children who have full access to sign
language from birth develop language skills
within the same maturational timeframe as
their hearing peers. They start school with
age-appropriate language in Auslan

However....Auslan has no written form –

how does this affect literacy?
Understanding deafness
 0 decibels
Normal threshold

30 decibels
‘Screening Level’

Australia:
Approx. 12,000 deaf children
with hearing aids/implants
approx. 70% =mild-moderate
10%= severe, 10%= profound
Deafness is described in terms of where the problem
occurs in the ear – either CONDUCTIVE (outer, middle),
SENSORINEURAL (inner) or MIXED (combination of both)
Conductive deafness hinders sound from being
conducted through to the inner ear and auditory
(hearing) nerve. It is caused by wax build-up in the
outer ear canal, Otitis Media (“glue ear”) or damage to
the tiny bones of the middle ear (ossicles). Conductive
deafness tends to cause problems in volume rather
than distortion of sound, rather like blocking your ears.
Most conductive hearing losses can be corrected with
medical treatment or surgery
Sensorineural (‘nerve’) deafness involves damage
to the cochlea in the inner ear and is permanent.
The listener experiences problems with loudness,
distortion and fragmentation of acoustic speech
cues. Imagine listening to a radio with the volume
turned down, then add some static, interference
and interrupted signal. Then imagine a young child
learning and acquiring language under these
conditions.....
Damage to the cochlea causes distortion to the
auditory signal. It takes very little distortion to
cause significant challenges for children acquiring
language through listening
Degrees of deafness
 0-20 dB: Range of normal hearing

21-45 dB: Mild deafness

Some difficulty hearing soft speech and
conversations, but can often manage in quiet with
clear voices. Voices often sound muffled. With 30
dB loss, can miss 25-40% of speech signal; with 35-
40 dB loss, may miss 50% of conversation. Speech
and language should develop normally if diagnosis
is early and hearing aids are fitted promptly
46-60 dB: Moderate deafness
Difficulty understanding conversational speech,
especially with background noise. Amplification
essential if spoken language is to develop.
Without amplification and with a 50 dB loss,
more than 75% of the speech signal can be
missed
61-75 dB: Moderate-severe deafness
Without amplification, a 55 dB loss can cause a
child to miss much of a conversation. Speech
quality would be poor and would not develop
spontaneously. With early amplification, most
phonemes should be accessed across the
speech spectrum, although a significant level
of distortion would be experienced. Visual and
contextual information is of great value
75 -90 dB: Severe deafness
Normal conversational speech cannot be heard
without hearing aids. With optimal amplification,
speech and environmental sounds can be
identified. Speech quality may be affected; visual
cues will assist comprehension. Some children
are recommended for cochlear implants
91 dB +: Profound deafness
May have difficulty hearing soft or distant speech
and localizing sounds and voices. Ability to acquire
language through listening alone can be
compromised, however this may depend on
degree of amplification tolerated. With this degree
of deafness, most children are eligible to receive
cochlear implants
Children are considered eligible for a cochlear
implant when their hearing loss is severe-
profound or profound. A cochlear implant
does not restore normal hearing, but provides
sound input equivalent to a moderate-severe
severe hearing loss
How do we redress the challenges
faced by deaf children?
 The Disability Standards for Education
(2005) have been developed to clarify and
elaborate the legal obligations of the
Disability Discrimination Act (1992)
The Standards give students with disabilities the
right to participate in the courses or programs, and
to use services and facilities, provided by an
educational institution, on the same basis as
students without disabilities, including the right to
reasonable adjustments, where necessary, to
ensure they are able to participate in education and
training, on the same basis as students without
disabilities
Disability Discrimination Act 1992

“Participation refers to the way a student engages

with the learning activities. An education provider
must take reasonable steps to ensure that the
student is able to participate in the courses or
programs provided by the educational institution,
and use the facilities and services provided by it on
the same basis as a student without disability and
without experiencing discrimination”.
What are the challenges of participation for
deaf children?
“Meaningful participation is the engine of
development and the key to attaining a
true sense of belonging and a satisfactory
quality of life”
Tim Moore ECIA 2012
What research tells us...
 After 2 years of age, non-verbal communication
becomes increasingly insufficient as a basis for the
ongoing development of attachment
(Lederberg and Everhart, 2000)

 Many deaf children have difficulties forming and

sustaining relationships with hearing peers (Weisel, Most, &
Efron, 2005)

 Deaf children have lower social status (Nunes et al, 2001)

and report more loneliness than do hearing children
(Kent, 2003; Most, 2007)

 In mainstream settings, low speech intelligibility

increases feelings of loneliness (Nikolaraizi & Hadjikakou, 2006)
 Many deaf children have difficulties in large social
settings . They cannot attend to multiple simultaneous
conversations, especially when there is background
noise (Bat-Chava & Deignan, 2001)
 Joining an existing group of peers and maintaining
play behaviours with them is socially challenging
(Martin et al 2011)

 Deaf children often have an inadequate concept of

how others think and feel [Theory of Mind]
(Remmel & Peters, 2009)
 Children’s ability to communicate well with others
affects both the formation of close relationships with
others and the development of a positive identity
(Stinson & Whitmire, 2000)

 Delays in metacognitive processes, such as problem

solving and attention affect play behaviour and
socialization (Beer, Pisoni, & Kronenberg, 2009)
 Children’s social skills may be enhanced by targeted
interventions, especially in the areas of peer entry and
cooperative play (Brown, Odom, & Conroy, 2001)

 A play session is rewarding when the child is able to

repair communication breakdowns, sometimes with
the help of the hearing playmates (Martin et al, 2011)

 Positive peer interactions in preschool are

associated with better school adjustment, successful
emotion regulation and maintaining positive peer
relationships in the future (McElwain & Volling, 2005)
We also know that....
 Bilingual deaf children’s language use can change
frequently, depending on access to spoken language,
communication partners, language environment

 Some bilingual deaf children may prefer one

language for input and another for output (eg. listen
to speech, express in Auslan)

 Many bilingual deaf children do not receive

Auslan support in early childhood settings because
they ‘present’ as oral communicators
Are the developmental needs of young
deaf children supported adequately by
national and state early childhood
frameworks?
Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child describes children’s right to have their
cultural identity, language and values respected
(UNCRC, United Nations 1989)
The national Early Years Learning Framework provides
an opportunity for educators across Australia to work
towards:
 a clear focus on children’s learning & wellbeing
 a shared language for curriculum in the early childhood
field
 a base for planning, promoting & assessing learning
 improved quality in early childhood settings
 cultural security for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children and their families
 including families & communities in children’s learning
 The Victorian Early Years Learning & Development
Framework (VEYLDF) identifies five outcomes for all
children:
 Children have a strong sense of identity
 Children are connected with & contribute to their world
 Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
 Children are confident and involved learners
 Children are effective communicators
The Practice Principles integrate the pedagogy
that forms the basis of the Early Years Learning
Framework for Australia with the Principles of
Learning and Teaching, which inform the work
of teachers in Victorian schools
Practice Principles are interrelated and are
designed to inform each other. They are
categorised as Collaborative, Effective and
Reflective
Collaborative
1. Family-centred practice
2. Partnerships with professionals
3. High expectations for every child
Effective
4. Equity and diversity
5. Respectful relationships and responsive engagement
6. Integrated teaching and learning approaches
7. Assessment for learning and development
Reflective
8. Reflective practice
How are these Practice Principles being
implemented for deaf children?
Some questions to ponder.....
VEYLDF Practice principles 1 & 2:
Family Centred Practice/Partnerships with Families

 Young children benefit from consistent and responsive care‐

giving (Rolfe, 2004)
 Professionals need to know and respect the care- giving
styles of the family by building on familiar routines
 Children need to feel secure and attached to professionals in
early childhood settings.
How secure do children feel if they can’t
communicate with their caregivers?
VEYLDF Practice Principle 3: High Expectations for every child
 The expectations of professionals impact directly on children’s
motivation, self-esteem and self-efficacy (Morales, 2010)

Expectations are often lower for deaf children in early

childhood programs
 Children who develop strong self-esteem, sense of agency and
academic motivation are more likely to achieve their potential at
school as well as being resilient to risk factors throughout their
education (Brown & Medway, 2007; Gizir & Aydin, 2009)
There is a prevalence of mental health issues amongst deaf
adolescents and adults
VEYLDF Practice Principle 4: Equity and Diversity
 Recognise bi-and multi-lingualism as an asset and
support children to maintain their first language and
learn English as a second language
Auslan may be a deaf child’s first language
 Early childhood professionals’ attitudes toward
diversity affect children’s wellbeing, self-esteem and
academic outcomes
 Professionals take responsibility for identifying and
removing sometimes unseen barriers to equity and
inclusion
Many early childhood educators are not aware of the barriers
faced by deaf children. Deafness is ‘invisible’
Equity refers to ideas of fairness and social justice
which may require challenging the dominant culture in
order to provide different treatment, or special
measures, for individuals or groups to ensure that they
experience equal opportunities to succeed (Sarra, 2008).

Equality refers to the same conduct in communication

and contact, quantity or values for all individuals
(Hyland, 2010; Lappalainen, 2009)

What is the dominant culture’s attitude to deafness?

VEYLDF Practice Principle 5: Respectful relationships
and responsive engagement

 Understand, communicate and interact across

cultures by being aware of their own world view

 Respect the views and feelings of each child

Many deaf children do not have the language skills

to communicate about their views and feelings
VEYLDF Practice Principles 6 & 7:Integrated teaching and
learning approaches/Assessment for learning and development

 Play is essential for early learning, and is best

supported by meaningful interactions with early
childhood professionals

 Extended interactions are a foundation for

learning. Early childhood professionals provide
responsive feedback to extend children’s
contributions

Extended interactions are compromised when deaf

children have limited communication, language and
social skills
VEYLDF Practice Principle 8: Reflective Practice

 Gather information that supports, informs,

assesses and enriches decision‐making about
appropriate professional practices

 Promote practices that have been shown to be

successful in supporting children’s learning and
development

 Challenge and change some practice

Early childhood educators need ready access to information

related to deaf children’s challenges
 Deaf children face complex challenges to
participate in early childhood programs on
the same basis as their hearing peers

Do funding models reflect these challenges?

Funding Models
In Victoria
IPSP Inclusion & Professional Support Program
(component of Australian Government‘s Child Care Services Support Program)

Children with demonstrated ongoing high support

needs include:
 children with diagnosed disability
 children who are undergoing continuing assessment
of disability
 children from a refugee or humanitarian intervention
background
 
Kindergarten Inclusion Support Services (KISS) 2012
(Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development)

It must be demonstrated that the child meets at least

one of the following criteria:
 they are at significant risk of serious injury to self or
others and/or
 they are extremely restricted in their capacity for
movement and/or
 they have exceptional support needs that require
immediate medical intervention for life-threatening
situations
 Do these funding models support
young deaf children to participate in
early childhood programs on the
same basis as their hearing peers?
So... let’s think about these wise words

“we also need to go beyond traditional

notions of inclusion, and think in terms of
creating environments that are able to
cater for the individual and collective
needs of all children and families”
Tim Moore ECIA 2012
Thank you for your
attention
levesque.elizabeth.m@edumail.vic.gov.au