Deafness Essay

When a person thinks of an example of a disability, they usually associate physical features with it. But a disability can be invisible or very well coped with that many may not define them as a disability. An example of a disability that is often dismissed or misunderstood is deafness or hearing impairment. Deafness is defined as a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects a child’s educational performance (Dussault, 2003, p2). Bing aware of the disability and the different outcomes is important because there are different levels of deafness. “Hearing impairment” means impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section. (Dussault, 2003, p2) This as well can bring complications to the quality of life but the complications can always be overcome.

There can be language delays due to the speech and language methods used by most people that are around the deaf person. Thus making it harder for the deaf person to communicate with others. American Sign Language or ASL is not a direct parallel to written English. It has a vocabulary and syntax all on its own. A student would learn ASL as a basic language (L-1), then learn written English as a second language.(Dussault, 2003, p8). Having to take the time to learn ASL as the basic language takes work and still having to learn written English as a second language causes there to be a slow down because written English is different than ASL. Similar to ASL there is also Pigeon signed English. Pigeon signed English or PSE; while ma...

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...t to have any distractions during the time that should be put to the client. Speech rate and normal tones need to be used at all times when speaking directly to the client and not the interpreter. Like we do in class it’s very important to the client and the family to explain the role of each person in the room. Not forgetting to mention that the professionals are bound to keep confidentiality. This should be mentioned because it gives the confidence to the clients reminding them that we are here to help. Time should be planned out because if necessary more time might need to be provided and the service provider should be willing to take said time. The same interpreter should be used throughout the course of treatment. The client needs to feel comfortable at all times around all of the team but it’s most important to have that comfortableness with the interpreter.