Characteristics of children with hearing impairment: features of education and rehabilitation

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

A brief description of children with hearing impairment shows that their education is possible both within the school and in special institutions. Hearing impairment (an initial defect) leads to underdevelopment of speech (a secondary defect) and to a slowdown or specific formation of other functions associated with the affected (visual perception, thinking, interest, memory), which delays psychological formation as a whole. In special psychology, this kind of psychological development is called deficient.

Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with hearing impairments

The psychological development of children with hearing pathologies obeys the same patterns that are revealed in the development of normally hearing children (L. S. Vygotsky). The psychological development of children with hearing pathology occurs in special conditions of limiting external influences and contacts with the world around them. As a result, the psychological activity of the child is simplified, interactions with external influences will becomeless difficult and different, cross-functional interactions that form are changing.

Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with hearing impairments suggests that for a child with such a pathology, the shapes of objects and objects are often presented in the form of inert stereotypes: here is a green bowler hat, blue is no longer a bowler hat, another object. Deaf preschoolers who have mastered information in the course of learning often use natural gestures as a means of communication when they have difficulties.

Children with hearing impairments may experience changes in the pace of psychological formation in comparison with normally hearing children: inhibition of psychological development after a certain period after birth and / or after hearing loss and forcing in further periods under appropriate circumstances of teaching and education.

For a child with hearing impairments, oligophrenia is characteristic in the functioning of some sense organs and the conditional preservation of others. For example, skin susceptibility is preserved, however, in the absence of training, auditory perception does not develop, and visual perception is formed in special circumstances, compensating for hearing.

Visual forms of thinking dominate in toddlers, and written language (according to the teaching methodology, these children learn to read at an early age, before 3 years old) dominates oral speech. Pathology leads to the peculiarities of the formation of the cognitive and individual industry. Characteristics of the cognitive industry:

1. The visual analyzer of a hearing-impaired baby will become the main one in comprehending the environmentpeace and in mastering information.
2. The formation of visual perception in a child with a hearing pathology has several distinctive features: an analytical type of perception: they notice elements and details of objects, pictures contain more particulars and elements.
3. Difficulties in synthetic perception: difficulty in recognizing intermittent, inverted pictures, in perceiving pictures that express spatial relationships.
4. A preschooler with this pathology is able to understand the speech of the speaker, based on visual understanding.

The role of visual perception

Visual perception plays a huge role in compensating for pathology. A general characteristic of children with hearing and vision impairments is a slower recognition of objects compared to their hearing peers. Thus, deaf and hearing children of primary school age are shown drawings of well-known things for short periods of time (from 22 to 7 s). This allows you to discover how long it takes children to recognize objects.

Deaf babies had slower comprehension and recognition than their hearing peers. They need more time to note the informative properties of the object. More significant obstacles appear when there is a need to recognize familiar objects, geometric shapes, autonomous elements (groups of points and lines) in a 180-degree inverted position.

According to the theory of scientists, this is due to a less detailed analysis and synthesis of objects, with a delayedthe formation in deaf children of the arbitrariness of the course of perception. Emphasizing and recognizing the shapes of objects is facilitated by mastering the appropriate notation and using them in practice.

Features of thinking

Parents and educators need to know a brief description of children with hearing impairment. In the development of thinking, experts notice that the properties of the verbal memory of a child with hearing impairments are directly related to the slow pace of their speech formation. Characteristics of thinking:

• a child with disabilities has a superiority of visual-figurative thinking over verbal-logical;
• The degree of formation of verbal-logical thinking depends on the formation of the speech of the hearing-impaired.

The distinctive features of the thinking of a child with this pathology are combined with inhibited mastery of verbal speech. This is more clearly expressed in the formation of verbal-logical thinking. Visual-effective and figurative thinking of deaf and hard of hearing students also has specific features.

Hearing impairment affects the formation of all mental operations, leads to difficulties in applying theoretical knowledge in practice. Studies have shown that a deaf teenager needs slightly more time to comprehend acquired knowledge than a hearing peer.

Emotional sphere

Characteristic features of the formation of the emotional sphere:

1. A hard of hearing preschooler does not always understand the conditions in which the process takes place, and the emotional manifestations of those around him, and for this reason cannot empathize with them.
2. A preschooler with a hearing pathology differentiates opposite feelings (crying, laughing, angry good), has difficulty remembering their names.
3. A child with a hearing impairment is not able to fully absorb social experience through speech.
4. Oligophrenia of various types of children's activities (subject, play, elementary labor) has a negative impact on the development of individual qualities.

Interpersonal relationships

Description of hearing impaired adolescents in interpersonal relationships:

• for a hard of hearing teenager, a senior guide and interpreter in the course of interaction with the society of "hearing";
• priority interaction with the senior and limited with the children of the group;
• probably an expression of hostile behavior related to misunderstanding of children by older and hearing peers;
• “benevolent hostility” is the use of non-verbal means by children with hearing impairment to attract the interest of the interlocutor.

In accordance with the uniform laws of psychological formation, the personality of a deaf and hard of hearing child is created in the course of communication with peers and adults in the process of mastering the socialexperience.

Hearing failure or absolute hearing loss leads to difficulties in communicating with others, delays the process of mastering information, impoverishes the experience of children and cannot but affect their development of personality.

Rehabilitation of children with hearing impairment

Rehabilitation of children with hearing impairment is divided into several stages

Diagnosis. The main role at this stage is played by doctors who, using specialized equipment, make a diagnosis. The following factors may influence the diagnosis

• child's well-being;
• child behavior;
• child mental he alth;
• child's age.

At this stage, a deaf teacher and a psychologist also come to the aid of the doctor. The deaf teacher conducts his observations and, based on their results, confirms or corrects the diagnosis. The psychologist determines the level of psychological development and distinguishes between mental impairments and visual and hearing impairments.

Correction and rehabilitation. The audiologist selects and adjusts the hearing aid to the needs of the child. Adjustment of the hearing aid should take place constantly in the preschool and school age of the child. The device is set up according to age and psychological indicators, and also depends on the capabilities of the family.

Rehabilitation Methods

The following rehabilitation methods are distinguished:

1. Medical. Treatment and surgery (implantationa device that converts impulses from an external microphone into signals understandable to the central nervous system).
2. Technical. Prosthetic hearing aids.
3. Psychological and pedagogical. With the help of audiology and speech therapy techniques, hearing, speech, thinking and other mental functions develop.
4. Social rehabilitation includes parents choosing a place of study for their child, as well as the provision of free hearing aids and cochlear implants by the state.
5. Motive. This type of rehabilitation is aimed at developing physical qualities and motor abilities.
6. Verbotonal. When using this method, the child is engaged with the teacher. They speak into the microphone with the help of filters, the sound is not only transmitted through the ears, but also turns into vibrations, which allows the child to feel the speech tactilely. This method allows the child to perceive and understand others more quickly, and also improves the development of his speech.

Additionally, the psychologist conducts interviews with the child's parents. Tells them how to properly treat and communicate with a child who is hard of hearing or deaf, and what rights they have.

Teaching children with hearing impairments

Man develops directly in contact with the environment. Such interaction occurs with certain analyzers, namely, auditory, skin, visual, gustatory and others.

The auditory analyzer is one of the most important, therefore, whatever the reasons for partial or complete hearing loss in a child, the consequences are mainlysocial only:

• limiting communication with peers;
• isolation;
• impaired memory, speech;
• development of special thinking, etc.

Based on psychological and medical criteria, children with hearing impairment are divided into:

1. Deaf.
2. Hearing-impaired.
3. Late deaf.

Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of the speech of children with hearing impairment means that doctors, as a rule, refer children to the hearing-impaired category, for whom the presence of minimal hearing allows them to master the basics of verbal communication, without the intervention of specialists, that is, on their own.

Hearing-impaired children do not completely lose their hearing, and the child's body tries to bypass this defect, to compensate for such a deficiency. This child is fundamentally different from deaf and hearing children. In such children, hearing loss is a fundamental factor in the development of speech features.

Special educational institutions are provided for children with hearing impairment: kindergartens, in which there are two groups - for hearing-impaired and deaf children.

Special schools are usually demarcated for hearing-impaired and deaf children.

Teaching hearing impaired children

Features of hearing impairment, namely its partial presence, self-learning the basics of verbal communication, as well as adaptation to a hearing defect - not only determines the nuances of development, but also is the path to special education.

Learning is based not only on the acquisition and assimilation of newknowledge and skills, it is also aimed at overcoming the violation of the social development of such children. So, special teaching methods have been developed, which are based not only on the development of speech, but also develop compensatory mechanisms. Such techniques require certain conditions, namely, those capable of developing and increasing the child's already existing compensation fund.

Training using special methods is aimed at identifying gaps in the development of speech and filling them. Thanks to him, correct speech, conceptual thinking is formed and memory improves. Also, special attention is paid to the development of vocabulary.

Features of the methodology and its specificity does not mean at all that the learning process is different from ordinary schools. It only differs in that a specific method of teaching the language plays a special role in it - the accumulation of vocabulary, correction of vocabulary and understanding of phrases and phrases.

Also, special schools pay considerable attention to polysensory learning - the ability to read words on the lips, relying on hearing. Writing and reading are also part of special education. Such skills allow you to sufficiently master the language and speech, and also contribute to the formation of personality and overcoming psychological barriers.

An important place is occupied by special literature, in which a special place is given to illustrations, which should convey the content of the material as accurately as possible.

Teaching deaf children

Education of deaf children is carried out using a whole range of special techniques. The main task of which is trainingspeech, the correct understanding of complex meanings and adaptation in the social environment.

The main method of teaching deaf children is a bilingual method, which is based, in fact, on the study of two means of the learning process - based on sign language and language in written and oral speech. This approach to learning began to be practiced back in the 80s of the last century.

The peculiarity of the methodology is that there are no preferences between the means of the learning process. On the contrary, the study of sign language is aimed at accelerating the transmission of information, emotions, that is, the elimination of communication barriers.

Removal of communication barriers between the teacher and the teacher contributes to the rapid assimilation of the material, the betrayal of the emotional background, and also allows you to establish a trusting relationship, which is important in the educational process. However, this way of learning is not a panacea, there are many unresolved problems, for example, the optimal ratio of language learning is still unclear. In addition, written speech can be national, and sign language is international, which complicates the educational process.

Today, in addition to special methods, scientific achievements are increasingly used to teach children - various sound amplifiers and implants. And more and more methods are being improved with the use of modern technology. The use of modern technology in the learning process is not only a means of optimization, but also overcoming deviations in development.