Hi everybody. Today, I will be chatting to Jeannette Hille, who is a registered counseling private practice, and has been working with deaf children and their families for over 18 years. Jeannette, thank you for being with us today. It's a great pleasure. Thank you. Jeannette, could you describe what one might see in a deaf child who is just coming into the preschool setting, and what we see in a deaf child might be different to a typically developing child? Okay. Let me start by saying the following. The foundation for every infant to develop optimally is strong bonding and attachment with the caregiver, which is the mother in most situations. With the strong scenes of attachment, the infant is able to explore the world around him or her, and interaction and communication between mother and child facilitates this exploration, and contributes to the child's general development at all levels, whether it's physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional, sensory, or social. A typical developing child will hear, see, touch, smell, and taste the objects and people in his environment. Through linguistic input, everything around him gets a label and language and thought processes develop from here hand-in-hand. Through play, social rules are explained and adhered to. Emotions can be expressed and inappropriate expressions of feelings can be explained to the young child. By the time the child enters a preschool, he or she is equipped to cope with separation from the mother or the parent. They will be able to follow rules in another setting from home and participate in a group. The child will play with other children, knows how to wait its turn, and how to listen to another adult in the room. Of course, I'm sketching the ideal situation here. Even with normally developing children, there are many factors that can contribute to adverse reactions entering a preschool. I will not elaborate this point, but rather concentrate on this severe to profound the deaf child. The fundamental principle of bonding and attachment, certainly is vital for deaf children. They will need a sense of safety and security from their mother, before they can explore the world around them. Of the utmost importance is communication. I cannot stress this more. Whatever mode of communication is decided upon, the parents must start communicating with their child as soon as possible, preferably from day one. Early screening, diagnosis, and fitting with devices will most certainly be a huge advantage for the deaf infant, as long as the parents realize the importance of communication. Especially for severe to profound deaf children, this may well require learning sign language, a new language for the parents and the family. Because sign language is a full natural language, the young deaf child would also acquire language, develop thought patterns and reasoning, social, and emotional skills. A deaf child who can develop through the medium of sign language, is able to enter the preschool without many problems. There may be some separation anxiety because the school, the teacher, and the children are unfamiliar, but this is true for all children. However, the reality is that in many schools in South Africa especially rural schools, the learners arrive in the preschool with little or no language. This presents many many challenges. It is for this reason that early childhood teachers in schools for the deaf, may well observe behavior patterns that are more typical of young toddlers. Tantrums, frustration, inability to follow routines, and such things may be seen. It is important to realize that this is more likely a result of language deprivation than intentional disobedience or defiance. A lack of communication will hamper the deaf child to reach that required level of school readiness upon entering into the school setting. But lots of language exposure and love will help them learn. With all that in mind, what are some of the things then that a teacher might do differently for a deaf preschooler that's is in an early childhood setting? To some extent, it really depends on whether the early childhood development setting is in a mainstream school or a school for the deaf. However, in both situations, the physical and practical considerations will be the same. Good lighting, the child should be facing the educator, knows how to do the tapping on the shoulder to draw attention, the teacher checking the hearing aids and their batteries on a daily basis, focusing also on language-rich learning experiences, and so on. In the school for the deaf ECD setting, I would label the objects in the classroom preferably with the sign attached to it. That way, the deaf child can first read the signs, and later on the written words. The classroom we'll have plenty of visual information. But be careful not to have too much, as too much visual information may distract the child during teaching time. The placement of the child in the classroom is also important. They must be able to watch the educators face to look for facial expressions, lip reading, sign language, and other linguistics expressions. It's important to check that the child has followed and understood an instruction, and you as a teacher must be prepared to repeat the information or the instructions regularly to instill and to develop mastery. The educator also models good behavior. The child sees what the desired behavior is or should be. This can contribute to healthy, social, and emotional development of the child. Waiting his turn to speak, play a game by the rules, accepting winning or losing a game, but also comforting a child who got hurt, no fighting, etc. Positive reinforcement of target behaviors is also very important, so that the children are encouraged to repeat desirable conduct. Now Jeannette, you've been working with deaf kids and their families for a very very long time. What are some of your experiences working with families of deaf preschoolers, specifically around facilitating social and emotional development in the classroom setting? My own experiences in their deaf preschool have been varied. Some parents established good communication with their child and that could easily facilitate further social and emotional development. However, when an appropriate level had not been reached and parents did not know how to communicate with their child, the problems were endless. You basically had to start from scratch, showing the child what to do and what not to do, instilling discipline in the child. At the same time, you need to support the parents by ensuring that what has been put in place at school is carried through at home. I used behavior modification plans and they have been successful, as long as the parents are open to them and persevere. Communication between home and school is vital for the successful execution of these plans. Peer pressure, even among young children, also works well. Children will in their own way indicate what they lack or do not like. Insecure children will often observe other children to see what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. You as the teacher would have to monitor this closely and steer the process in the desired direction, and step in when necessary. Now Jeannette, sometimes children are admitted to score fairly soon after they have been diagnosed as having a hearing loss, also as being deaf. How do you manage a situation where parents of the learners in your class has still not come to terms with that the child has a hearing loss? For me, the key word here is patience. There will be parents who have not accepted their child's hearing loss. This may occur due to lack of information or inadequate guidance and support for the parents in the earlier years. A huge factors especially with the mother is that of guilt. Guilt can become so overwhelming, that parents may not hear the information about the hearing loss and continue to think that the hearing will improve. My own experience with this kind of situation is that firstly, parents need to be properly informed about the cause of deafness, if it is known. A second point for me is that parents need to be told about the support and assistance that can be given to the child. I also like to tell parents about the many successful deaf people around the world and here at home. I would if possible, introduce them to deaf adults who are sign language users, as positive examples of what their child can become. In that conversation with the parents, I do avoid telling them that I know exactly what they're going through. As a parent myself of two hearing children, I always found it extremely difficult to imagine being a parent raising a deaf child. However, through my work experience with deaf children, I have obtained a fear of mound of understanding of the many challenges faced by parents with a deaf child. So with empathic understanding, I can inform them about the hard work that lies ahead of them. It is tough raising a deaf child, but parents must realize they are not in it alone. They will have support and assistance in the form of trained educators, supportive staff at the school, and even parents group for support. I often had to repeat and repeat this scenario for parents until the pain eventually dropped. Therefore, patience, patience, patience is key. Often, you as the educator are the only port of call. You are the one that has to put the parents on board. But when the parents are on board, the child can flourish and reach his or her potential. Thank you so much, Jeannette. Thank you for sharing your insight and your knowledge with us today. It's very much appreciated. You're very welcome.
