Education for Deaf Children

This is the second blog post in a “101 Series” Martha EDU is publishing to educate Jordanians and their allies about the Deaf ^a community.

Should deaf children be educated in sign language?

Are there benefits for deaf children to be surrounded by deaf adults and other deaf children? 

What educational programs are available in Jordan for my deaf child?

How can I learn sign language along with my child?

Should deaf children be educated in sign language?

​Educators and advocates should consider how environments where children share a language, culture, and experience, can affect social, cognitive, and personal development.

• Martha EDU believes in deaf-led practice; therefore, it follows the guidance of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD).  WFD emphasizes that deaf people should be educated in sign language and have opportunities to learn about sign language and deaf culture within local education environments– receiving an education in sign language is a “unique need for Deaf learners”.¹
• If a child is enrolled at a mainstream school, deaf schools can still serve as resources, such as referrals to peer signing groups¹; you can reach out to your local deaf school for resources. No matter where deaf children live, they should have opportunities to access direct instruction in sign language¹; direct instruction means that both the teacher and student can communicate effectively using the same language without an interpreter.
• In 2007, Jordan ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Article 24.3.c stresses the importance of educating deaf students in the most appropriate languages and communication modes.² Martha EDU believes the most appropriate language for Jordanian deaf students is the language that is most accessible to them- i.e., Jordanian Sign Language (LIU).
• Jordanian Sign Language (LIU) may be a completely new, foreign language to family members, and learning it can be time-consuming and requires patience. For these reasons, the decision to educate your deaf child in sign language can be difficult. However, educating a deaf child using spoken language can be just as time-consuming, especially when considering the extra support (e.g., speech therapy and audiologist 

appointments) a deaf child needs to attempt a spoken language educational approach.³

Are there benefits for deaf children to be surrounded by deaf adults and other deaf children?

Being educated among peers and role models is essential for any young learner. This remains true for a deaf learner – social skills, language skills, and general knowledge are reinforced through interaction among cultural and linguistic peers and role models.

• Many deaf people discuss the experience of “dinner table syndrome,” in which they are surrounded by hearing family members who don’t sign or adopt turn-taking strategies and miss out on important and enjoyable conversations; this can lead to feelings of isolation and separation from family members.⁴ Using sign languages in your home, seeking opportunities for social interaction in sign language, and learning turn-taking strategies,⁴ are ways to promote positive social experiences for your child.
• When deaf children learn from deaf teachers and adults, they gain important relationships with people who can advocate for their educational and social well-being. They also learn critical life skills from deaf adults with first-hand experience and knowledge about being deaf.¹ 
• Deaf schools and environments where sign language is the primary communication method allow deaf children to be included in conversation and socialization.⁵

What educational programs are available in Jordan for my deaf child?

According to Al-Makhamreh (2016), ten publicly-funded (Al-Aml) schools and two private residential schools- Holy Land Institute for the Deaf and the Al-Rajaa’ school in Zarqa- specifically cater to deaf education in Jordan.⁶ Beyond this, there is a significant amount of deaf students in mainstream programs at public hearing schools. These students mostly rely on hearing-assistive technology like cochlear implants and hearing aids. Martha EDU believes that such students still deserve to be educated in the language that is most accessible to them- LIU.

• Holy Land Institute for the Deaf currently serves deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind students with a K-12 academic boarding program and a wide range of vocational programs.⁷ To learn more, access their website here.
• The Al-Rajaa’ School in Zarqa currently serves 125 deaf students. In a 2010 study examining a project to unify sign languages across Arab countries, Al-Fityani notes that although teachers at Al-Rajaa’ used their voice more often than they signed, the deaf students “communicate[d] with each other in sign language”.⁸
• A study done by El-Zraigat and Smadi indicates that the majority of deaf and hard-of-hearing students are educated by “general or regular teachers who were prepared to teach non-disabled or regular students…study the same curricula and have the same educational cycles as hearing students, [or] study at schools not prepared and not designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing students”.⁹

How can I learn sign language along with my child?

One of the best ways to learn sign language is from other deaf sign language users. Other opportunities include volunteering at a local deaf education program, seeking a deaf language mentor, and investing daily time practicing signs from a sign language dictionary. 

• Another resource is taking free LIU classes at the Amman Deaf Cultural Center. Click here to sign up and learn more.
• MarthaEDU is currently leading the field in assistive technology for teaching sign language to deaf children and their families living in Jordan. Click here to learn more about MarthaEDU’s new and exciting mobile app and sign language flashcards.

A note on mainstream education related to deaf learners:

Mainstream schooling for deaf learners usually means they are placed in environments with a majority of hearing peers and are taught by a hearing and speaking teacher.

Article 24.2.b of the CRPD requires that persons with disabilities, including deaf people, receive free, quality education equal to their hearing and non-disabled peers.² 

• Active members of deaf communities worldwide have argued that deaf learners should not be integrated into the general education system. In a 2018 article by Joseph Murray (current president of the World Federation of the Deaf) and co-researchers Maartje De Meulder and Delphine le Maire, they explain that “according to the WFD … Deaf students should be provided with appropriate sign language learning environments, as part of an inclusive education system”.¹⁰

To support Martha EDU’s development of technology-enabled learning products to increase literacy and LIU access for deaf children across Jordan, please click here. Click here to access our next blog post, focused on early language deprivation.

References  |  مراجع

1. World Federation of the Deaf. “WFD Position Paper on Inclusive Education.” 2018. World Federation of the Deaf. https://wfdeaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/WFD-Position-Paper-on-Inclusive-Education-5-June-2018-FINAL-without-IS.pdf. 
2. United Nations. 2006. “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” Treaty Series 2515 (December): 3.
3. Mellon, Nancy K., John K. Niparko, Christian Rathmann, Gaurav Mathur, Tom Humphries, Donna Jo Napoli, Theresa Handley, Sasha Scambler, John D. Lantos. 2014. “Should All Deaf Children Learn Sign Language?” Pediatrics, 136, no. 1 (July): 170-176.
4. Meek, D. R. (2020). Dinner Table Syndrome: A Phenomenological Study of Deaf Individuals’ Experiences with Inaccessible Communication. The Qualitative Report, 25(6), 1676-1694. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4203.
5. Cooper, Audrey C., Sonia Holzman, Maegan Shanks, and Phoebe Tay. 2021. “Beginning with Language: Inclusive Education Strategies with Sign Languages in Rwanda, Singapore, United States, and Việt Nam.” In Global Directions in Inclusive Education: Conceptualizations, Practices, and Methodologies for the 21st Century, edited by Matthew J. Schuelka and Suzanne Carrington, 45–65. London, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003091950.
6. Al-Makhamreh, Sahar. 2016. “Hearing the Voices of Young Deaf People: Implications for Social Work Practice in Jordan,” International Social Work 59, no. 1 (January): 47-59. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/intsocwk59&id=47&men_tab=srchresults. 
7. The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf. n.d. “Home.” Accessed September 16, 2022. http://www.holyland-deaf.org/en/home/. 
8. Al-Fityani, Kinda. 2010. “Deaf People, Modernity, and a Contentious Effort to Unify Arab Sign Languages.” PhD diss., University of California.
9. El-Zraigat, Ibrahim and Yahya Smadi. 2012. “Challenges of Educating Students Who are Deaf and Hard-Of-Hearing in Jordan.” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 2(8): 150-158.
10. Murray, Joseph, Maartje De Meulder, and Delphine le Maire. 2018. “An Education in Sign Language as a Human Right? An Analysis of the Legislative History and on-going Interpretation of Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).” Human Rights Quarterly, 40(1): 37-60.