These materials are from the archive of the SSC Website and may be outdated.

 

University of Edinburgh
 

Moving on from School: challenges for deaf pupils, their families and professionals

Presented on Wednesday 28 September 2005

How do deaf pupils access information and participate in class?

Marian Grimes
Scottish Sensory Centre

The pupil's visiting ToD may provide services such as teaching support; assessing/ monitoring access and advising mainstream staff. They may also provide some direct access services as part of their job, as identified with an asterisk (*) in the table below.

Pupils may use different strategies/combinations of strategies in different situations. Factors like these will make a difference.

  • Type and level of pupil's deafness
  • Availability of specialist services (staff and/or equipment)
  • Type of class (direct teaching, group discussion, etc)
  • Environmental noise levels

English-based strategies

Knowing what's being said by teachers/other pupils

Uses amplification

  • Hearing aids
  • Cochlear implants
  • Radio aids (body worn/'microlink', etc)
  • Soundfield systems in the classroom
  • Loop systems in the classroom

Uses lipreading

  • Direct
  • Support worker* lipspeaking

Uses Sign Supported English/Signed English

  • Direct (that is; class teacher/other pupils communicate in SSE/SE
    - mostly schools/units for deaf children)
  • Support worker* relays the lesson in SSE

Reads text

  • All written curriculum materials
  • Support worker* notetaking
  • Electronic notetaker (rare - more common in further/higher education)
  • Subtitled videos

Joining in class (eg; speaking up in discussions/answering questions, etc)

Speech

  • Direct
  • Via a support worker* (that is, if speech not clear to others)

 

 

 

 

Uses Sign Supported English/Signed English

  • Direct (that is, communicates with class teacher/other pupils directly in SSE/SE)
  • Support worker* 'voices over' the pupil

 

Writes text

 

 

 

 

British Sign Language (BSL)-based strategies**

  • Direct (ie pupils/class teacher sign, using BSL - mostly schools/units for deaf pupils)
  • BSL/English interpreter*
  • Deaf support worker (who may act as both teacher and interpreter)
  • Direct (ie pupil signs directly to class teacher/other pupils, using BSL - mostly schools/units for deaf pupils)
  • BSL/English interpreter*

** In a sign-bilingual setting, both BSL and English are used, with BSL usually being used to access the curriculum in the classroom.

How do deaf students access information and participate at mainstream college/university?

Students may use different strategies/combinations of strategies in different situations. Factors like these will make a difference.

  • Type and level of student's deafness
  • Availability of specialist services (staff and/or equipment)
  • Student's knowledge of the full range of possible strategies - and what works best for them
  • Student's confidence and ability to make full use of the services on offer
  • Type of situation (lecture, class, seminar, demonstration, practical workshop, etc)
  • Environmental noise levels

English-based strategies

Knowing what's being said by tutors/lecturers/other students

Uses amplification

  • Hearing aids
  • Cochlear implants
  • Radio aids (body worn/'microlink', etc)
  • Soundfield systems in the classroom
  • Loop systems in the classroom

Uses lipreading

  • Direct
  • Via a lipspeaker

Uses Sign Supported English/Signed English

Communicator relays the lecture/discussion, etc in SSE

Reads text

  • All written materials
  • Manual notetaker
  • Electronic notetaker
  • Subtitled videos

Joining in sessions (eg; speaking up in discussions/ answering questions, etc

Uses speech

 

 

 

 

Uses Sign Supported English/Signed English

Communicator 'voices over' the students

 

Writes text

 

 

 

 

British Sign Language (BSL)-based strategies

BSL/English interpreter BSL/English interpreter 'voices over' the student

NB Specialist tutors are sometimes employed who can:

  • Coordinate and monitor access support in cooperation with the student
  • Provide extra tutorial support to the student
  • Advise mainstream lecturers