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Deaf Association helping to fast track first school for the deaf
For a very long time the approach to educating the deaf was premised on “oralism…they (educators) were teaching the deaf to speak.” This was the observation of one of the Directors of the Guyana Deaf Association, Quincy Richards, who pointed out that initial attempts at teaching the deaf did not embrace the notion of signing.
He disclosed that for far too long a lot of people saw deafness as unnatural perhaps even “demonic”.
“We have seen the parents of deaf children who would even lock them away,” said Richards. But he expressed delight recently in the fact that this has become a thing of the past. The Deaf Association, has for some time, been working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, along with other support, to realise a Deaf Curriculum which was recently launched.
But according to Richards, this is not nearly the grandest thing that will happen in Guyana for the deaf. He disclosed plans for a school designated for the deaf, a feat that has never been realised. “We are going to have the first deaf school in Guyana. We already have everything, it’s just to put the structure up,” confided Richards.
This publication understands that a company has given its commitment to construct the school for the Deaf Association and was prepared to commencement building about one year ago.
Currently, Richards noted that there are several special need schools with some deaf classrooms. But according to Richards, “That is less than ideal…we need to have a building for deaf only, you see if we have a building for just the deaf then a lot of (positive) things will be encouraged.”
The deaf, Richards noted, are treated in much the way that persons diagnosed with autism, cerebral palsy and mental disorders are treated. Essentially, they are treated as disabled people and are therefore left behind since they simply are not allowed to be developed.
And according to Richards, “That is not good because there is nothing wrong with a deaf person’s mental processing faculty…there is nothing wrong with them. The only difference is that they communicate differently.”
Moreover, the challenge that the Deaf Association has recognised for a number of years is that after a number of years of schooling, deaf students are left “hanging in the balance”.
But this too is geared to become a feature of the past, Richards assured. He divulged that only recently the Association was able to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) that will help the deaf students to eventually be able to find meaningful employment.
“The Association has been working with them (deaf students), going to business places with them and literally forcing people to take them on. We urge them to ‘take a deaf person’…we try to convince them and that is how it has been happening,” said Richards.
This has, however, been a challenge, according to the Association’s Director. “We can’t always force people to take them,” he added but nevertheless noted that “some of them are able to get jobs on their own or either through some friend or family member.”
Richards pointed out though that in order for a deaf person to be aptly qualified and become productive citizens, a sound education is imperative.
For this reason, he disclosed that the Association saw the need to meet with influential individuals, including President David Granger, to push for the realisation for sign language.
And it was with such support that the Deaf Curriculum was brought into being.
Moreover, instead of using a curriculum designed for hearing people it has been revised to cater specifically to the deaf, Richards asserted.
“What we have done is adapted the curriculum for the deaf,” said Richards who noted too that teachers tasked with teaching the deaf will have to be proficient in sign language in order to deliver efficiently.
The move to adapting the Deaf Curriculum is currently in its second phase whereby the teachers are being educated on how to teach the deaf. The programme is gaining immense support from the University of the West Indies.
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