Hanah International Foundation

THE EDUCATION OF A DEAFBLIND CHILD

A deafblind child has an auditory and visual limitation, whose combination, even using hearing equipment and optical devices, gives such problems that access to information, communication with other people and the mobility is very limited such that an appropriate deafblindness-specific support is needed.

This is because a child who is deafblind has:

• a distorted perception of the environment;
• no ability to anticipate to events or on the consequences of his own behavior;
• no access to the most simple extrinsic motivations such as direct appreciation with a compliment or rejection;
• medical problems that can cause developmental delays;
• the wrong validation by others and is regarded as mentally or emotionally disabled;
• to compensate his multiple disabilities  with very specific learning styles that are very intensive and special guidance requirements;
• extreme difficulties with building and maintaining friendships with others.

In the United States in the 1980s the majority of DeafBlind people stayed in special institutes for DeafBlind people or institutions for the mentally handicapped. A legislative change, made that on the turn of the century, only 20% was on special institutes and the rest of the Deafblind children received education at public schools in individual programs. In the United States the education of the Deafblind child focuses on stimulus-response situations. It is done very individually with the child. In Russia and the countries have followed that education model of children with special needs the socialization process is central. There is worked in groups and the program consists mostly of creative activities. This often brings much behavioral problems. Because the children are constantly in larger groups, they get an awful lot of to them elusive impulses, making it no longer feel safe in his environment and problematic behavior.

The most important development issues for the guidance of a child who is deafblind are:

• safe relationships; it is very important that already at a very young age relationships develop. People from the immediate environment, family and guidance, must ensure that the child will feel safe with them and learns to recognize them.
• a correct body image and self-awareness; a Deafblind child can hardly make a picture of himself or what  a human being actually is. He is often very passive with the result that the child does not encounter situations to develop awareness  of the functioning of the body.
• a safe, organized and responsive environment; a Deafblind child must feel safe in his environment. Everything around him is unpredictable. That is why he needs  a manageable environment around him so that he gets the feeling of control over the environment. It must contain enough elements to stimulated him continuously and learn new things.
• communication; with a safe environment and a base of relationships can be searched for a suitable form of communication. It must apply to the individual child.

In order to realize this the should be:

• an extensive range of experiences; skills that children who are experiencing a normal development recognize by themselves must be explicitely taught. A deafblind child has to learn how tangible objects should be used; to learn how to put  a jacket on  or how you eat properly. This  should be presented in a realistic way. The use of dolls or models has no success because the children can not make that into that mental representation.
• the use of certain senses (touch, smell, taste) is encouraged and if possible also the hearing and sight; by offering the child certain incentives that stimulate his sensory perception.
• things are announced; a Deafblind child cannot anticipate to actions that take place in their immediate surroundings. For example, he does not  notice not that there’s someone approaching. A solution to this is such a kind of floor that the child by feeling vibrations, knows that there’s someone coming. Another example is a vibrating alarm clock that goes under the pillow and produces a firm shaking. Nowadays, a cellphone with different vibration functions can be a mean of communication.
• the child gets extra time: he must have enough time to develop the  skills. It is important that what is learned is repeated enough also, so that the child the skill  continues to be there.. Sometimes it is wise to change a skill just a bit. That way you keep the attention of the child and he remains remembering the skill.
• the child learns primarily functional activities; the entire learning is already so difficult. It is a good idea that only activities take place that have a functional meaning. The impressions the child gets must be relevant for him.
• a good overview is possible; organize the day by clearly structuring and inform him well too; use clear referring resources as objects, icons, and boxes to use, bring structure to the day.

Communication with a Deafblind child is not so obvious. In general, there are five methods , depending on the level of development of the child, sometimes depending on the situation and often in different combinations that can complete each other. Of course, communication is the most important, the methodology here is really a means.

• International Standardized Alphabet: writing the letters of the alphabet in block print in the palm of the hand of the Deafblind. This form of communication can be done by anyone who can write.
• Finger spelling in the hand: this is directly derived from the regular manual alphabet. The speaker  presses with his fingers the letter in the palm of the Deafblind partner . Each letter is spelled separately in the hand. This is a quick communication method, but nevertheless asks skills of the Deafblind person and his interlocutor.
• Cursive writing: with the finger of the Deafblind child, for example, on a table written.
• The Tadoma method: The Deafblind feels by hand the speech movements from the mouth and jaw of the speaker.
• Four hands gestures: the Deafblind child and his partner keep each other’s hands and make gestures. It uses national sign language. The Deafblind person takes the gesturing hands of
• the interlocutor loosely fixed. Most gestures are this way just as clear to feel as reading gestures for a deaf child. Only for the gestures involving in important mouth image a separate gesture is used . When people already master sign language is easier to learn the four hand gesturing. Otherwise, it’s a long-term process is before someone can perform well.

A deafblind child has an auditory and visual limitation, whose combination, even using hearing equipment and optical devices, gives such problems that access to information, communication with other people and the mobility is very limited such that an appropriate deafblindness-specific support is needed.

This is because a child who is deafblind has:

• a distorted perception of the environment;
• no ability to anticipate to events or on the consequences of his own behavior;
• no access to the most simple extrinsic motivations such as direct appreciation with a compliment or rejection;
• medical problems that can cause developmental delays;
• the wrong validation by others and is regarded as mentally or emotionally disabled;
• to compensate his multiple disabilities  with very specific learning styles that are very intensive and special guidance requirements;
• extreme difficulties with building and maintaining friendships with others.

In the United States in the 1980s the majority of DeafBlind people stayed in special institutes for DeafBlind people or institutions for the mentally handicapped. A legislative change, made that on the turn of the century, only 20% was on special institutes and the rest of the Deafblind children received education at public schools in individual programs. In the United States the education of the Deafblind child focuses on stimulus-response situations. It is done very individually with the child. In Russia and the countries have followed that education model of children with special needs the socialization process is central. There is worked in groups and the program consists mostly of creative activities. This often brings much behavioral problems. Because the children are constantly in larger groups, they get an awful lot of to them elusive impulses, making it no longer feel safe in his environment and problematic behavior.

The most important development issues for the guidance of a child who is deafblind are:

• safe relationships; it is very important that already at a very young age relationships develop. People from the immediate environment, family and guidance, must ensure that the child will feel safe with them and learns to recognize them.
• a correct body image and self-awareness; a Deafblind child can hardly make a picture of himself or what  a human being actually is. He is often very passive with the result that the child does not encounter situations to develop awareness  of the functioning of the body.
• a safe, organized and responsive environment; a Deafblind child must feel safe in his environment. Everything around him is unpredictable. That is why he needs  a manageable environment around him so that he gets the feeling of control over the environment. It must contain enough elements to stimulated him continuously and learn new things.
• communication; with a safe environment and a base of relationships can be searched for a suitable form of communication. It must apply to the individual child.

In order to realize this the should be:

• an extensive range of experiences; skills that children who are experiencing a normal development recognize by themselves must be explicitely taught. A deafblind child has to learn how tangible objects should be used; to learn how to put  a jacket on  or how you eat properly. This  should be presented in a realistic way. The use of dolls or models has no success because the children can not make that into that mental representation.
• the use of certain senses (touch, smell, taste) is encouraged and if possible also the hearing and sight; by offering the child certain incentives that stimulate his sensory perception.
• things are announced; a Deafblind child cannot anticipate to actions that take place in their immediate surroundings. For example, he does not  notice not that there’s someone approaching. A solution to this is such a kind of floor that the child by feeling vibrations, knows that there’s someone coming. Another example is a vibrating alarm clock that goes under the pillow and produces a firm shaking. Nowadays, a cellphone with different vibration functions can be a mean of communication.
• the child gets extra time: he must have enough time to develop the  skills. It is important that what is learned is repeated enough also, so that the child the skill  continues to be there.. Sometimes it is wise to change a skill just a bit. That way you keep the attention of the child and he remains remembering the skill.
• the child learns primarily functional activities; the entire learning is already so difficult. It is a good idea that only activities take place that have a functional meaning. The impressions the child gets must be relevant for him.
• a good overview is possible; organize the day by clearly structuring and inform him well too; use clear referring resources as objects, icons, and boxes to use, bring structure to the day.

Communication with a Deafblind child is not so obvious. In general, there are five methods , depending on the level of development of the child, sometimes depending on the situation and often in different combinations that can complete each other. Of course, communication is the most important, the methodology here is really a means.

• International Standardized Alphabet: writing the letters of the alphabet in block print in the palm of the hand of the Deafblind. This form of communication can be done by anyone who can write.
• Finger spelling in the hand: this is directly derived from the regular manual alphabet. The speaker  presses with his fingers the letter in the palm of the Deafblind partner . Each letter is spelled separately in the hand. This is a quick communication method, but nevertheless asks skills of the Deafblind person and his interlocutor.
• Cursive writing: with the finger of the Deafblind child, for example, on a table written.
• The Tadoma method: The Deafblind feels by hand the speech movements from the mouth and jaw of the speaker.
• Four hands gestures: the Deafblind child and his partner keep each other’s hands and make gestures. It uses national sign language. The Deafblind person takes the gesturing hands of
• the interlocutor loosely fixed. Most gestures are this way just as clear to feel as reading gestures for a deaf child. Only for the gestures involving in important mouth image a separate gesture is used . When people already master sign language is easier to learn the four hand gesturing. Otherwise, it’s a long-term process is before someone can perform well.