Honors

HNRS 289-01: Deafness and Education

Have you ever known a person with diminished hearing? If so, was the person born that way, or did the loss occur due to an illness, prolonged exposure to loud sounds, or advancing age? Was the loss hereditary? Congenital? Does it make a difference how and when the loss occurs? If you have not ever known such a person, why not? An estimated twenty-eight million individuals in the United States live their lives with hearing loss. How do they cope, and how do they learn? Perhaps you,yourself, have diminished hearing.

People with hearing loss receive a variety of labels, and these labels are interpreted in ways that determine the forms of education offered to them. A number of “camps” have developed over time, and each has created a particular philosophy and range of communication approaches.As a result, some children with hearing loss are taught sign language, others to use cued speech or to lipread spoken language, and still others to listen to and use the language spoken around them by people with normal hearing. Variations of the “camps” combine two or more approaches; an example of this is called Total Communication, wherein the goal is that children learn both to sign and to use a spoken language.Sociocultural matters play a role, as well.Some people with hearing loss want to extend and maintain what they call “deaf culture” and use “deaf-pride” arguments designed to enhance their self-esteem.Others prefer to blend into the mainstream, along with people with normal hearing.Sociopolitically, some approaches have gotten more attention—and more funding—than others. Technologically, digital hearing aids and cochlear implants hold the promise that almost no one who is treated early enough in life has to live without hearing.

In this class, we will explore all of these educational approaches and the many issues surrounding them.We will pay particular attention to the issue of literacy, as, historically, people with hearing loss have been much less likely to achieve sufficient levels of reading and writing to get along in the mainstream of society.

We will seek out and read studies published on each of the approaches, and we’ll seek understanding of the theories that inform such research. We will take at least one field trip, most likely to visit the Auditory-Verbal Clinic at the University of Akron.Other possibilities include the Ohio School for the Deaf in Columbus and Rufus Putnam Elementary School in Zanesville. If possible, students in the class may have opportunities to work with children with hearing loss.

Class sessions will include interactive lectures, invited speakers, discussions and debate, and videotape.Students should expect to read widely, write often, and to take on one larger investigation, either independently or in a group.

Spring Term: 2008

Credits: 4

Fulfills: GE Requirement in Social Sciences (E)

Cross-listed: EDUC-189-01

Meeting times: 10:00-11:20 TR

Instructor: Lyn Robertson

Open to: Sophomores/Jrs/Srs Only