Deaf Students in Education: Culture, Law, and Inclusion

Introduction

One of the more remarkable qualities of deaf culture is that those who are deaf or hard of hearing look directly at the person with whom they are speaking. In hearing culture, it is not uncommon for people to look away from one another mid-conversation, to break or even avoid eye contact, or to use technology such as phones to communicate. Deaf culture is far more dependent upon face-to-face communication and the use of signs—visual pictures—to convey meaning, whereas in hearing culture, people generally think in terms of words.

Deaf culture is an intriguingly unique culture for this reason, and it is one worthy of careful study. In seeking to promote inclusivity in the classroom, it is important to understand other cultures, and deaf culture is one that often receives little attention. Gaining insight into how the deaf and hard of hearing experience their reality can be helpful to educators as they honor their commitment to diversity and inclusivity. The more cultural competence that educators obtain, the more likely they are to exert a positive influence on others.

The deaf community is one that has often been overlooked in popular culture, yet it is worth investigation. In recent years, however, some steps have been taken toward shining light on this community through different artistic works. The 2014 Ukrainian film The Tribe was a dialogue-free film featuring deaf actors using Ukrainian Sign Language without subtitles, and it was celebrated by critics for creating a unique cinematic experience for viewers unfamiliar with life in the deaf community. Todd Haynes' 2017 film Wonderstruck focused on a deaf child and a hard-of-hearing child. The Marvel Cinematic Universe also introduced its first deaf superhero with the release of The Eternals. As deafness begins to receive more attention in popular media and culture, it becomes all the more valuable to understand what deafness is in reality.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are central to understanding the discussion that follows:

• Communication Disability — an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal, and graphic symbol systems, which can be manifested in hearing, language use, and speech.
• Deafness — a lack of or deficiency in the sense of hearing.
• Deaf Community — members share their own social and behavioral characteristics but do not view themselves as impaired.
• Deaf Culture — the set of values, social beliefs, traditions, customs, shared communities, behaviors, art, and history informed by the experience of deafness, in which participants use sign language as the primary method of communication.
• Hard of Hearing — having a defective or impaired but still functional sense of hearing.
• Hearing Impairment — the inability to hear well.

The History of Deafness and Hard of Hearing

The first free public school for the deaf was created in 1760 by a French Catholic priest. Prior to that, it was a Catholic Benedictine monk in the 17th century who focused on developing a method for teaching deaf students: his name was Pedro Ponce de León. In 1788, the first French sign language dictionary was published. In the 19th century, Alexander Graham Bell—who had a hard-of-hearing mother—established the Volta Bureau School for teaching hearing-impaired children.

By the end of the 19th century, the first hearing aids had been developed. A century later, the very first cochlear implants were being tested. The cochlear implant, also known as the Bionic Ear, was pioneered by Professor Graeme Clark in Australia during the 1960s and was first successfully used in 1978 (Hill, 2019). This technology can help deaf people hear speech and can assist them in learning to speak; currently, more than 13,000 children use the Bionic Ear (Hill, 2019). These implants consist of an electronic element surgically implanted into the ear, together with a small exterior microphone worn around the ear, a speech processor, a transmitter, and a sender/receiver.

The primary means of communication for the deaf, however, remains sign language. The most widely used system is American Sign Language (ASL), which grew out of a combination of signs used by the deaf community situated in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; the French Sign Language system; and signs developed at the Royal Institution for the Deaf. Gallaudet established the first school for the deaf in the United States, and the National College for the Deaf and Dumb was established by Gallaudet's son in 1864. These schools were the first to use American Sign Language.

While deafness is often considered a handicap, many celebrated deaf people have achieved a great deal. Helen Keller, for instance, was born both deaf and blind, and she learned to communicate thanks to an innovative signing technique taught to her by Anne Sullivan; Keller went on to become a famous lecturer. The sign language system used in baseball was developed by a deaf ballplayer. There are also numerous artists and professionals who have succeeded in spite of deafness (Arizona Office for Americans with Disabilities, 2007).

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (2006) states that "each public agency must take steps, including the provision of supplementary aids and services determined appropriate and necessary by the child's IEP Team, to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity." Deafness is one of the 13 disabilities covered under IDEA, which means schools must provide special education services to deaf students who qualify. Students who qualify are those whose academic performance is adversely affected by their disability; if this is the case, the school must make efforts to provide services designed to support the child.

IDEA defines deafness as "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification." IDEA defines hearing impairment differently—as "an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance" (Project Ideal, 2019). While both definitions identify the problem as a hearing impairment, they differ in terms of outcome: for deaf students, the impairment impacts the child's ability to process linguistic information through hearing, while for hard-of-hearing students, the impairment impacts academic performance.

Characteristics of Hearing Loss and Causations

There are four types of hearing loss, determined by where the impairment is centrally located in the auditory system.

Conductive Hearing Loss is the first type and is categorized based on damage or obstruction found in the external or middle ear. This damage or obstruction disrupts the passage of sound waves and vibrations through the chambers of the external or middle ear. Once identified, most cases of conductive hearing loss are treatable. However, it can impact a child's development of oral language and lead to speech impairments.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss is the second type and is caused by damage affecting the inner ear (cochlea) or impairing the auditory nerve, which sends impulses to the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss is usually more severe than conductive hearing loss and tends to be permanent, typically impacting oral language development to a significant degree.

Mixed Hearing Loss is the third type and occurs when there is some combination of both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Central Hearing Disorders are the fourth type and result from a dysfunction occurring in the central auditory system somewhere between the brain stem and the brain's auditory cortex.

Genetic or hereditary factors that impact hearing loss are not uncommon. Genetic mutations can result in hearing loss. Otosclerosis, Usher's syndrome, and Pendred syndrome are a few examples of hereditary genetic disorders that result in hearing loss (Sheffield & Smith, 2019).

Prenatal infections caused by toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes, as well as postnatal infections like bacterial meningitis, can lead to hearing loss—typically in developing nations (Shearer, Hildebrand, & Smith, 2017). In the developed world, however, the most common infection leading to hearing loss is the congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection (Shearer et al., 2017).

Developmental abnormalities that can result in hearing loss include congenital hearing impairment, which arises when both dominant and recessive genes are present. Structural developmental abnormalities in the ear are numerous and include microtia, anotia, aplasia, and other anomalies (Hill, 2019).

Environmental or traumatic factors that lead to hearing loss include fetal alcohol syndrome (Hill, 2019). Exposure to ototoxic drugs can also lead to hearing loss; these drugs include:

• Aminoglycoside antibiotics, which can degenerate inner hair cells and cause hearing loss.
• Chemotherapeutic agents, which can lead to cochlear metabolism toxicity.
• Salicylates, which can also lead to cochlear metabolism toxicity; however, in this case the loss can be reversed.
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which can likewise lead to reversible cochlear metabolism toxicity.
• Quinine, which, like chemotherapeutic agents, can lead to cochlear metabolism toxicity.
• Loop diuretics, which can degenerate inner hair cells similarly to aminoglycoside antibiotics.
• Erythromycin, which may have an impact on a child's central nervous system pathways.

Additional causes of hearing loss include the following:

Otosclerosis results from abnormal bone growth in the middle ear. The abnormal growth causes obstruction and prevents the ear from functioning structurally for hearing.

Ménière's Disease is an inner-ear condition that can cause vertigo as well as hearing loss. It is typically found in only one ear, can occur at any age, and onset typically begins somewhere between young adulthood and middle age.

Presbycusis is the most frequent type of sensorineural hearing loss and is triggered by the natural effects of aging. Onset is gradual rather than sudden and in the beginning stages affects only the person's ability to hear higher-pitched sounds.

Very loud noises can be damaging to the inner ear (cochlea). Even a single exposure to an extremely loud noise—such as a gunshot at close range—can be enough to cause hearing loss. Listening to loud sounds for extended periods can also cause hearing loss, as it overtaxes the hair cells in the ear until they die from exhaustion.

Acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor that forms on the vestibular or cochlear nerves. When on the cochlear nerve, pressure from the tumor can lead to hearing impairment.

Physical head injury can cause hearing impairment by damaging the auditory pathway, similarly to the way very loud noise can.

Autoimmune inner ear disease is rare, occurring when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the inner ear. It is found in only 1% of the 28 million Americans who suffer from hearing impairment.

Ototoxic medications such as quinine, aspirin, and other salicylates can cause high-pitch tinnitus and hearing impairment in both ears. The issue can be reversed upon discontinuation of the drug (Curhan & Curhan, 2016).