Main reasons for deaf children to join public schools are for them to be in an environment where they can interact with other children of their own age and feel included in normal activities as their hearing peers. Of course, it is important to be under constant observation, as they might be rejected or even isolated by the other children, which can affect their overall development.

In a study where nine deaf children joined a mainstream school, the general conclusion was that they did not encounter strong negative feelings when interacting with the hearing peers. All the children in a mainstream school will attract positive and negative reactions from the other children, based on their personal characteristics, and this was the same case for the deaf children, independent of their hearing impairment factor. However, usually, it seems that a hearing pupil would prefer to have another hearing pupil as a friend, whether this was a person to play in school, or a person to invite to play at their house. A hearing child that befriended a deaf child showed a higher level of social skills and a different mentality and understanding than other hearing children.

One of the main problems is the communication between children. Being at a young age, they do not know how to interact and communicate with children that are different from then, and thus, especially at this age, losing interest and giving up is very common.

There are different ways for a deaf child to study in a mainstream school:

Total mainstreaming

This is when the deaf child attends a normal school together with hearing children, where they learn everything in the same way. Some help might be required for them, like note-takers, interpreters or speech therapy.

Partial mainstreaming

This is where they do some normal classes together with the rest of the same age students and some special classes with teachers specialized in deaf children. This will depend on the deaf community in that region. If there are more deaf children, they can take part in one class all together in a normal school with a special teacher. If there are not so many deaf children, they might take part in the normal classes with the hearing peers, and just few times a week take part in special classes with the specialized teacher.

Team teaching

Team teaching is when 2 teachers work together to teach a class, simultaneously. One is for the hearing children and one for the deaf children. This is not very common practice, however.

We live in a communication society, where we deal with a massive flow of information regarding every aspect of our life, and to be able to read is essential. According to a report from 2011 by UNESCO, children have 50% more chances to live past the age of 5 if their mother knows how to read. Literacy is important for the society as a whole, not just for an individual. Reading comes in the child’s live at an early age and will help, over the years, for developing into a successful, happy and knowledgeable person.

Children with hearing impairment, like all children, have the right to quality education that will maximize their potential. Many deaf children worldwide do not have access to education, mainly due to the lack of teachers specialized in such issues. What is more disappointing is that some parents do not even believe that their child has the same potential to learn as those without hearing impairment, and that all they have to do is offer him the opportunity to do so.

Deaf children will need good language and reading models, teachers and parents that will help them gain access to studying and learning a language, interact with other children, the chance to use and practice the learnt language and, most important, to have access to special educational materials.

A deaf child’s mind works like any child when it comes to literacy. They can easily understand and learn the code of a spoken language within a community, but it is more important for them to understand the language itself. For this reason, early intervention in the deaf child’s life is important, allowing him the time to fully understand the language and to have the necessary learning skills to read, making him suitable in joining pre-kindergarten or kindergarten.

Statistically, worldwide, deaf children are being less read to than the hearing peers. We should always remember that the parents or the caregiver are the first teachers in a child’s life; therefore, in order to have positive literacy outcomes, the parents should make a habit from reading to the children from early young age.

Here are some practices that will improve deaf child literacy:

-    Concentrate on the thinking skills

-    Good communication between the teacher or parents and the child

-    Use of visual stimuli for better understanding

-    Clear learning techniques and explanations

-    Step by step learning – every level should be fully understood before moving to next.

Learning how to read can be more of a challenge for a deaf child than for those without hearing impairment, but it is not that difficult. All that is needed is patience, practice and the right resources.

Receiving the news of being pregnant is probably the warmest and most fulfilling feeling a couple can get during their marriage. A new family member, who will carry the family gene and will take care of them in old age, is seen as the biggest blessing possible. Nothing can prepare parents to the news that their child is deaf, usually discovered soon after their birth.

Statistically speaking, with every 1000 born children, 2-3 are born without the hearing ability. This usually happens with parents that don’t have any hearing disabilities. All sorts of questions will raise in the parents’ heads: how did this happen? What will the baby’s future hold? How will they learn a language and to express themselves? Where can we find guide and help?

The truth is that, in present times, there is a lot of information and guidance in this field. An effective early intervention combined with the screening of the new born can help the child develop and function similarly to kids that don’t have such disabilities.

Here are the major keys to help the child have a healthy social and emotional development:

a.   Maintaining a continuous and positive communication, through any mean possible
b.   Helping them create bonds and friendships with other children, with or without      hearing impairing.
c.   Motivation and help to develop an independent and evaluating mind.
d.   Teaching them self-control and self-direction.
e.    Promoting the ability to adapt and understand the changes around them.
f.    Empathy on all levels from everyone involved in the child’s care
g.   Teaching the child about stereotyping and how to cope with it.

We need to consider the difficulties these parents have to go through to ensure a healthy social and emotional development. They need support from their families, from the community, as well as from special institutions that can provide guidelines and support them to join special classes, meet and interact with other families in the same situation, and of course, keep track of the child’s proper development.

Also an important role hold the professors in schools that can help by understanding these children’s special needs and working with them to overcome and make them feel they are just the same with all the other kids around.

It is very important that, from the early stages of the children’s life, the family, together with the professionals in this field, works to ensure that the present and future needs of the child are being met.