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Advice to
parents with
hard of
hearing
children.
The success of the education given to hard-of-hearing children depends, in
a great measure, on the action of the parents in the home, and, with a view to
securing their co-operation, the following pamphlet has been prepared. This
pamphlet is circulated to the parents and guardians who bring children to the
County Hall for examination, and arrangements have been made whereby copies
of the pamphlet are forwarded to the teachers of the hard-of-hearing schools for
distribution if, and when, necessary.
Your child has been examined and found to be sufficiently Hard of
Hearing to require special education at a Partially Deaf School for a time, and
he (she) will be admitted to one as soon as possible. If you will read
the following explanation you will see how it will materially help in your child's
education.
The Partially Deaf School is not a Deaf School, but a small class at which
special teaching in lip-reading is combined with practice in an ordinary hearing
class.
Your child will not come into contact with "deaf and dumb" children but
only with children of the same degree of deafness as him (her) self. At this
Centre the children are merely taught to help their partially deaf ears by using
their eyes in lip-reading.
Your child will pass one-third of the school time in the special class for
lip-reading and the remaining two-thirds in hearing classes. Therefore
he (she) will be in contact with hearing children for the greater part of the
school day.
As soon as he (she) has made sufficient progress in lip-reading and has
gained confidence in its use, he (she) will be returned to his (her) own school,
where he (she) will be able once more to enter fully into the work there.
You are advised to see the teacher frequently to consult on the child's
progress and to assist in the education by every means in your power.
Scholarships
for partially
blind and
partially deaf
pupils.
The Council has decided to award scholarships to partially blind and partially
deaf pupils who are not able to pass the necessary medical examination for ordinary
scholarships. The number of children suitable for such scholarships is not likely
to be great. The awards for the partially deaf are tenable at a junior technical
school, and a maintenance grant is given to enable a partially blind child to attend
suitable day classes whilst learning a trade or training for some definite vocation,
provided that the parent take full responsibility for the cost of training and the
risks involved thereby. Special scholarships are awarded without written examination
to assist pupils from myope schools who have shown evidence of exceptional
ability, and who are more suited for a secondary school course than trade training,
provided that the parents accept full responsibility for the risks involved in training.
It has also been decided that pupils who are successful in the ordinary scholarship
examination, but who are disqualified by the School Medical Officer owing to myopia,
shall be allowed to hold their awards at certain selected secondary schools where
special arrangements for training are obtainable on parallel lines to those that have
proved successful in myope or sight-saving classes in the elementary schools.
Where the selected school is more than two miles from the pupil's address,
an allowance may be made for travelling expenses over and above the ordinary
maintenance grant.