Let Me Sign like I Speak: the life story of the hearing-impaired under the influence of special education in Taiwan
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Hsu, Wen Gin
Abstract
This in-depth reporting thesis portrays stories of hearing-impaired people in Taiwan, and goes through the history of Taiwanese special education for the hearing-impaired. This thesis then further discuss an important issue while most hearing people lack the understanding of the hearing-impaired, they hold the power of formulating related policies, thus creating an environment full of obstacles to the hearing-impaired.
Ever since the period of Japanese rule in Taiwan, sign language has been used as the main medium of instruction and communication in hearing-impairment education system in Taiwan. However with the rising trend of oral education for the hearing-impaired, alongside mainstream education and increased inclusivism, learning how to speak in order to attend regular schools becomes the better way for the hearing-impaired to acquire educational resources. However due to current technological restraints, most hearing-impaired people still have limited speaking ability. At the same time, special educations institutions that teach mainly in Taiwanese sign language also faces many hurdles, such as the decreasing number of students and the shortage of teacher with proficiency with sign language.
In order to understand the reasons behind choosing hearing-impaired or oral education, this thesis employs interviews conducted with “Children’s Hearing Foundation” (1996 onward)—an organization providing auditory-verbal therapy treatments for the hearing impaired, and with a researcher in the Department of Special Education in National University of Tainan who conducted a National Science Council research project on bilingual education for the hearing impaired (2011-2013). Considering that most hearing-impaired people have hearing parents who know little about the culture of the hearing-impaired and sign language, the parents mostly decide to let their children undergo cochlear implants and verbal training to accommodate into the hearing world. These young hearing-impaired children thus lack the opportunity to get to know other hearing-impaired peers, communities, and often do not learn sign language until adulthood. Later when they gradually develop their identity with other hearing-impaired people who also share similar experiences, they also develop their own interpretation of the terms such as “hearing-impaired” and “Deaf.”
In 2010, the 21st International Congress of the Education of the Deaf (ICED) rejected the resolutions of the 2nd ICED in 1880, which advocated oral education. They now believe that such resolutions have actually excluded Deaf people from equal access to opportunities. From then on, they call on all educational programs to accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication. In Taiwan, the situation of the hearing-impaired has become noticed. While the disability protest that fights for the rights of the disabled came to its’ forth year, the reportage “Silence,” which covers the shocking sexual assault scandal happened in the Affiliated School for Students with Hearing Impairments of National University of Tainan, sets off a series of panels where the hearing-impaired and the hearing could all discuss equally via both verbal language and sign language. The Ministry of Culture in Taiwan also held a barrier-free theatre play which had performers with hearing, vision impaired or physical disabilities together on the same stage. Through this in-depth reporting and the stories in this thesis, it is hoped that one day hearing people in Taiwan can get to know more about the hearing-impaired and sign language, so that “signing as a way of speaking” for the hearing-impaired can one day come true.
Subjects
聽覺障礙
聽障教育
回歸主流
融合教育
認同
手語
聾人
Type
thesis
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