From Incorporation to Integration and Education of Deaf Children in the Mainstream School

The term integration means the systematic placement of something within something else and the completion of the subject as an independent, whole part of a larger whole. The term incorporation (mainstreaming) denotes the one-way attachment and assimilation of one to a whole or, in other words, the acquisition of a body or flow by acquiring the characteristics of a heteroid set and losing the original characteristics. The term inclusive education replaces the terms inclusion and integration. The adjective inclusive comes from the Latin verb includere, which means "include". The term can be abbreviated as "inclusive education" or "non-exclusion education". This article focuses on the integration, integration and inclusive education of deaf children in the public school.


INTRODUCTION
The transformation of existing structures means the transition from a model of social welfare to a model of equal opportunities and rights, while removing prejudices and accepting diversity.In order for this to happen, it is necessary to reconsider the values and goals of education and, therefore, a radical educational reform, which will include the design of new curricula and the education of teachers (Zoniou-Sideris, 2000).
In its general form, then, integration is the merging of different parts of a social system to form a whole.It is accepted that socio-cultural systems have internal coherence and unity which are basic and necessary elements for the maintenance of these systems.The elements that are interconnected to achieve the coherence and unity of the whole are of four types, with four corresponding types of integration: a).cultural, b).regulatory or ethical, c).communicative, d).functional.The first type which refers to the stability and coherence of cultural elements belongs to the category of cultural integration, while the other three, which are mentioned sequentially: a).consequently between cultural and social behavior, b). to the extent that the communication network penetrates the social system and c). to the extent of mutual interdependence between the units of a system and the distribution of labor, they compose social integration (Gizelis G., 1990).
Inclusion of people with disabilities, as mentioned above, means integration into the society of non-"disadvantaged" people.If we limit the concept of integration in education, integration means the inclusion of children with special needs in the general school.
The concept of integration is given by the terms: "Integration" in England, "Mainstreaming" in the USA and "Normalization" in the Nordic countries.
Children with special educational needs are considered those who are weak, for any reason e.g.deafness, mental retardation, etc., to attend their class program without special help.It follows from this definition that the mere presence of a child with special needs in the classroom does not necessarily mean its integration.
The Wornock exhibition in England distinguishes three types of integration: a). the local, for children with severe mental disabilities, where these children remain simply in the same place as the other children, b).social, where some children are not able to attend the educational program, but participate in the various activities of the school e.g.celebrations, excursions, group games, etc. and G). the functional / educational, which is the full integration, where the student participates in all the activities of the school and attends the educational program of his class.The modern and commonly accepted pedagogical view is that only the first above category should attend Special Schools.
Reasons in favor of the integration of people with disabilities are: a).Philosophers: People with disabilities are not considered as second-class citizens today, but as equal parts of our society.They have the same rights as their fellow human beings and, above all, the right to equal opportunities in education.This has been made absolutely clear in international declarations and has been enshrined in law in many countries.b).Social: Because children with disabilities will live as adults in the same society as other people, they need to be socialized.Their socialization is believed to be best achieved by enrolling them in general school and even from a young age.c).Psychological: With the co-education of children with special needs and not, the chances for tolerance, understanding and acceptance of the differences that exist between them are constantly increasing.Many researchers also argue that children with disabilities improve emotionally when they are in the same class as other children.d).Teachers: Many studies have shown that children with disabilities also improve in the field of academic knowledge when attending general school, more than other children attending special school.However, there are views that say that integration should not be done for the sake of integration, but to meet the two basic conditions that are: a). that the child should benefit from the integration; and.that the efficiency of the class should not fall.
The integration of deaf and hard of hearing students in the school Deaf are the children who, whether they wear headphones or not, do not perceive the speech from the audio channel only.They mainly use the visual channel, where through lip reading, sign language and written language they perceive their interlocutors.The hearing loss of the deaf is very serious and over 90 dB.Hearing impaired are children who, whether they wear headphones or not, have difficulty perceiving speech by hearing only.But most of the speech is perceived by their hearing.Their damage is moderate to severe between 35 dB and 90 dB.They usually have clear speech and wear headphones.Statistically, 1 in 1000 deaf children is born.A distinction is made between deaf or hard of hearing children in pre-linguistic and metalanguage.Pre-linguistic deaf or hard of hearing children are those who were born deaf or hard of hearing before learning the language or better before learning to speak, ie before the age of 3-4 years.Translingual deaf or hard of hearing children are those who have lost their hearing after the age of 3-4 years, ie after they have mastered the language, they have learned to communicate with their environment and therefore they have acquired a lot of knowledge and skills.Both of the above categories need pedagogical, psychological and social support (Lambropoulou V., 1999).The concept of bilingual -bicultural education for deaf students is based on a cultural perspective on the life of the Deaf.In many programs around the world, schools are constantly discovering ways to facilitate the operation of bilingual -intercultural educational approaches.
In recent years we have been frequently informed by the print and electronic media about the infamous cochlear implants.The Federation of the Deaf of Greece (ΟΜ.Κ.Ε.) through its president opposes and poses mainly moral dilemmas, such as: The parents of young children have the right to risk the lives of their children and to decide on such an important operation, which not perfected and in progress?have the right to decide on an operation, when deafness is not a deadly disease, but a different way of being?Do doctors have the right to experiment with young deaf children, especially when they can not give the assurance of the absolute success and positive results of this operation?(Gargalis K., 2001).It is true that we are on the right track, but the whole scientific effort needs to be perfected.Pedagogy, psychology, sociology, medicine, linguistics, etc. are some of the disciplines that are involved in the education of deaf children.Every science on its part tries to give the best.
The beginning was made with the pathological model which was used by doctors for many years.They considered deafness as a disease.They attached great importance to speech and its treatment, and overlooked the fact that these people had sign language as their language.The pathological model from the early 1960s was challenged due to poor school performance and gave way to sign language as the first language of the deaf child.This transition was not so painless, but through scientific toil until it was proved that sign language has nothing to envy from other languages because it meets all those linguistic elements which establish it as an equal language.It is a language with grammatical, syntactic, factual rules and rich in creativity.
It turned out, therefore, that children -users of sign language learn easier and thus learn better spoken language.Therefore, it is a linguistic-cultural minority, which claims the obvious: its self-management and selfdetermination.Law 2817/2000 establishes the Greek Sign Language as the official language of the deaf.Teachers, as well as the rest of the special staff, who wish to teach in schools for the deaf, to work as interpreters in KDAW (two positions currently in Athens and Thessaloniki) and wherever else needed, should know it.But even today there is no central body that will certify this knowledge.As we were recently informed by the president of OM.K.E.Efforts in this direction continue.
With the above law deaf or hard of hearing children, like all children with special needs, can attend the regular school classroom with the parallel support of a special education teacher provided by the KDAW or serving at the school.They can also study in Integration Departments that operate within the general schools.The teachers in the above departments must be specialized in teaching deaf children and of course know the sign language.
However, apart from the specialization required by the special education teacher, it is obvious that today the general education teachers should possess at least the knowledge that will sensitize them and lead them to better and more appropriate cooperation with the specialists.Another reason that we consider to reinforce the above thought is that more and more deaf or hard of hearing children are now being educated in schools of general and not special education, always in accordance with international data.However, it is not possible to include a deaf child in a listening class without the appropriate preparation.So, before we put a deaf or hard of hearing child in a listening class, all teachers, parents and of course students must be properly prepared.This can be done through discussions, screenings of similar films that will aim at different communication and awareness of everyone.Awareness campaign for the school or the reception class of the Deaf-hard of hearing student may include: a).The presentation of the UN Charter for human rights and discussion or implementation of a project on the rights of all children for equal education.b).Presentation of films with protagonists or themes about people with special needs (eg The children of an inferior God.The man of the rain.My left foot, etc.).c).Presentation of the videotape of the Deaf Education Unit of the University of Patras on the topic: "The Community of the Deaf" and on the occasion of this presentation a discussion about the Deaf -hearing impaired and their special communication and cultural needs.Similar cassettes can be found in Deaf organizations.d).Presentation of a section on: "Hearing Aid -Deafness -Headphones -Sign Language etc.".You can draw material from various guides.You can also invite Deaf people from Deaf organizations and other experts to present various topics (Lambropoulou V., 2003).It is good to have in the schools Social Workers and Psychologists who will constantly inform the students about the various educational or other needs of the deaf or hard of hearing students.But if these scientists do not exist then their role is taken over by the teacher himself.So for example we can: a).To organize Sign Language seminars for both deaf students and the deaf.c).To visit deaf organizations and to be informed immediately by the deaf about their problems.d).Provide Sign Language Interpretation at all school events.e).Collaborate the deaf with the hearing children in various fields, in order to develop bonds of mutual understanding and friendship between them.f).Encourage deaf students to participate in all school events.Teachers should be very sensitive, not to infringe through their overprotectiveness on the personality freedom of deaf students and to encourage listening students when talking to their deaf or hard of hearing classmate: a).Stand or sit nearby.b).To look at their deaf classmate whenever they speak.c).Have light on the speaker's face.d).Do not stand in front of the window as they talk, because their face becomes dark.e).Do not move when speaking.f).Do not cover their mouths with their hands, do not eat when they speak and do not chew gum.g).Speak slowly and clearly using short sentences.h).Do not murmur, do not speak too slowly and do not shout.i).When they change the subject, inform their deaf and hard of hearing classmate in advance.j).Make sure there is peace in the communication area.k).Learn some meanings.
The classroom environment must also be modified.The arrangement of the desks should be in a semicircle, so that the deaf student has visual contact with all his classmates.The ear that hears best turns to the teacher and not to the wall.The teacher's face should be illuminated, so that the deaf child can read better lips and if possible sit with a classmate, who will be able to help him during the lesson.
In addition to the teacher, a sign language interpreter may be present in the classroom.He helps the deaf student not only by translating the teacher's speech into sign language, but by watching the whole learning and not only the progress of the child.Noise generated in the classroom or from the outside environment should at least be minimized because it confuses the child's auditory stimuli.For proper communication in the classroom the teacher must: a).Make sure the deaf student is watching him.b).To speak clearly and not to cover his face.