From Theory to Practice
Project duration: January 2016 - December 2017
Our project aims to enhance the quality of education and services that special education schools provide to children ages 0 to 15 with an emphasis on their health and hearing care through mobility and cross-border cooperation between partners.
There have been lots of theoretical approaches to promoting the education of students with disabilities and deafness or hearing impairments. However, when we consider the interventions that special education schools in Turkey and EU countries have implemented in schools over the years (such as raising awareness about cochlear implants or hearing device usage, promotion of biological facts about deafness, special categories of hearing loss, primary ear and hearing care, causes and prevention of hearing loss, ear care equipment, structure and function of hearing), it becomes clear that there is a lack of practical training by means of workshops, lectures or other professional support, not only for the students but also for their families.
Cochlear Implants
An estimated 1 ‰ of the world's population is Deaf. There are about 10,000 Deaf people in Austria (as of 2017). According to Med El, 300 cochlear implant (CI) surgeries are performed in Austria every year and in the meantime, as many as 90 per cent of Deaf babies receive an implant. As much as 1.7 million Euros is spent here on implantations annually.
This is a very controversial topic. A CI operation is not without risks and it has an effect on the identity of the individual. On the other hand, a CI may also create new communication possibilities.
In the following video, we would like to let CI-users and the Austrian Cochlear Implant Society (= ÖCIG) have their say and gain an insight into the different perspectives.
How do you communicate at family celebrations
Statistically speaking, 90 per cent of Deaf children in Austria have hearing parents and nowadays, 90 per cent of all Deaf children have cochlear implants (CI). Often the assumption is that a Deaf child can become a hearing child through the use of CI. The focus in education is often placed solely on learning the spoken language.
In the video, our interviewees explain that communication in the family may still be difficult despite CI. They tell of their own personal experiences and ways in which their family deals with the challenges of communication.
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