| Introduction:
In present day Ghana and Nigeria, the need for
appropriate identification and intervention programmes for individuals
who are Deafblind or multiply disabled cannot be overstated. There are
hardly any formalized programmes for these groups and the only school
for the Deafblind in the entire West African region is Manpong Akwapim
in Ghana. Kelley and Vergason (1978) define persons who are Deaflind as
"persons whose vision or hearing are deficient as to require specialized
methods of communication different from those used in the fields of the
deaf and blind". Such individuals may not be equally disabled in
each modality and might not meet the legal definition of either deafness
or blindness and many will have additional disabilities.
However, the term "Deafblind" is used in this article to refer
to a range of conditions including:
• Dual Sensory Impairment
• Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI)
• Hearing Impairment with additional disability
• Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment
(MDVI)
• Profound Multiple Learning Difficulties
(PMLD)
The main objective of this article is to consider the challenges that
face children who Deafblind, their teachers and their parents and to provide
an overview of the principles and materials used in instructing these
children in our region. It focuses on the curriculum and provides suggestions
for positive action by advocates and other professionals interested in
the welfare of define Deafblind individuals in Ghana and Nigeria, and
in the African region as a whole.
Case Study 1
This boy attended school for the deaf in Manpong Akwapin in Ghana. His
performance in academic work as a deaf child was outstanding. He later
developed a visual impairment which led to his transfer to the Unit for
the Deafblind. When his parents saw that their child had become both deaf
and blind, they withdrew him from his new school because they feared that
their neighbours would get to know of their childís condition.
At home, the boy was kept locked up in a room. His food was delivered
to the room and he had to crawl around to find it. He stayed there alone
and ate, slept, urinated and defecated in the same room. He was kept in
this confinement for two years. The hazard to his health and the psychological
torture the boy went through is beyond description.
By the time the teachers discovered his situation, the boy was in a terrible
physical, mental and psychological condition. When he was brought back
to school he exhibited many abnormal behaviours. At mealtime while other
children sat at the table, he squatted on the table to eat. He resisted
any attempt to sit him down on a chair and tried to bite anyone who touched
him. After every meal he lay down behind the door and folded himself up.
After tremendous efforts by his teachers, especially the head of the Unit,
the boyís behaviour and his relationship with others. improved
significantly.
Four years later the boy left the Deafblind school and
was enrolled in the regular primary school in his local community. He
was taught craft skills and members of the community have now accepted
him. People are proud of him and he makes a living with the sale of his
products.
Case Study 2
Grace was fifteen years old when I first met her. She was the third child
in her family and lived at home. She was partially sighted and hard of
hearing and she had no speech except for a babbling sound. She displayed
a pattern of self abuse which involved her continuously hitting and wounding
her head. Grace had extraordinary
energy and strength and she destroyed items around her in her house. Her
mother was still changing her nappies for her.
Mama Grace (her mother) had a great deal of difficulty looking after Grace.
Once Grace was awake the mother would have to stop all her household chores.
She often had to grasp the girl's two hands and pin her legs under her
in a sitting position to prevent her from wounding herself or destroying
things in the house. Sometimes after several hours of being in that position,
the mother could quickly feed the girl and Grace would go back to sleep.
The mother then quickly did all her jobs before the girl woke up again.
The local women wanted to help Mama Grace. The few that tried giving her
a helping hand could not cope. When the news went round, other women declined
to offer a helping hand. House girls that were employed to look after
Grace did not come back after their first experiences.
The mother did not know the whereabouts of Grace's father and her two
oldest children. They could not tolerate the presence of Grace in the
family and left. Mama Grace was always in trouble with her landlords.
Co-tenants complained about the disturbances the girl caused especially
when she began crying out aloud. Three times they were evicted from the
house they lived in. It became increasingly difficult for the mother to
find a new place to live. Friends and relatives advised Mama Grace to
get rid of the girl to enable her to have some rest in her life but the
woman was determined to take care of her daughter.
One day I took Grace and her mother out in a car for an enlightenment
television programme with the Plateau Radio / Television station in Jos,
Nigeria. When we were driving along the road, Grace remained quiet, calm
and stared at the trees. Her face was full of joy and an expression of
pleasure. A few weeks after the making of the television programme, Grace
passed away. It was clear that what Grace wanted was not confinement.
She wanted to see outside like any other child.
Priorities in Ghana and Nigeria
There is little or no formal training and education available for many
children with impaired sight and hearing in Ghana and Nigeria and for
those in the community who are involved with them. Very little use is
made of residual hearing and vision, yet we know that children can benefit
enormously from early training and development in this area. Modern optical
and auditory aids can be of real help in teaching the child to understand
their environment but these are usually not available in the community.If
a child with defective sight and hearing can be identified early, even
in infancy, the preschool years can be made profitable and the margin
of delay due to lack of communication can be narrowed considerably. If
a mother can be taught to show her child how to explore the environment
and understand it through touch, if she can enable her child to relate
to other people and play with other children, then she can give her child
a basic preparation for school and life. Resources in the community such
as mainstream nursery classes can sometimes be of great help, and (with
the right training) various types of professionals can offer useful counseling
and advice to parents. Social Workers, public health nurses, occupational
and physical therapists and
teachers of nursery school classes can also make valuable contributions
if they are provided with specialist advice.
Our schools for the Deafblind and Multiply Disabled have not published
pamphlets or offered advice to parents of Deafblind children or to the
professionals who come into contact with them since up to now they have
not been properly involved with them. It is of the utmost importance therefore
that specialist schools take on the role of furnishing guidance and counselling
to others in the wider community.
Principles and approaches:
The fundamental principles of teaching have not changed, approaches to
an individual child must be adapted to take account of that child's special
needs. When working with children that have sensory impairment with additional
physical, emotional and learning difficulties, the teacher must understand
the significance of all these factors and create a favourable climate
for learning. The teacher must initially develop rapport with the child
and watch closely for signs of an inner language. The teacher who recognizes
that the child has concepts that are unexpressed will be able to break
through the barrier of
communication and reach the mind and personality of the child.
The development of communication is a crucial element in the life of any
individual who is Deafblind or multiply disabled. Communication is a process
of the exchange of information by any means possible in which the person
who is Deafblind plays an active part. Activities in the process need
to be meaningful and motivating. The child must have a need to communicate
something to another person and therefore the environment and the context
in which interaction takes place is crucial. The child must be given opportunities
that will promote communication and this includes the use of a range of
approaches including speech, gesture, signing, finger spelling, the written
word (both print and tactile) and symbols such as Objects of Reference.
In order to give the child an understanding of the realities around him,
the teacher must aim at providing the child with a variety of concrete
experiences that are in line with the childís individual needs.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
Multiply disabled persons in Ghana and Nigeria can take their places in
the community if appropriate programmes are in place for them to develop
the necessary skills. A team approach to identification, assessment and
programming should be initiated. The Ghananian and Nigerian governments
should consider the training of teachers of Deafblind children and the
provision of services for children in specialized and regular settings.
Government should also consider the approval of separate funding for multiply
disabled persons in Ghana and Nigeria. Tertiary institutions of learning
that train special educators should include in their training courses
for producing personnel for children who have multiple disabilities.
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