The Model School for the Deaf Project [MSDP] first saw the light of day just twelve months ago when a small group of deaf people and their hearing friends decided to do something about the literacy and academic deficit resulting from the present system of education of the deaf in Ireland.  Research shows that well over 80% of deaf school leavers, after 14 years of schooling, have the same literacy level as 9 or 10 year olds hearing children.  In Sweden and Denmark, where they began using a legislated Bilingual system in the 1980s, deaf children in the better schools are tracking their hearing cohorts.  Apart from providing deaf children with a signed and majority language that are both fully accessible, the bilingual system also means that third level education becomes the same option for deaf students as it is for hearing students.

The higher levels of literacy and self confidence achieved by deaf children of deaf parents gave the crucial clue to the discovery of the value of the bilingual system for educating deaf children.  It pointed to the value of involving deaf adults in every phase of deaf education, but most importantly it highlighted the areas of first language acquisition and early childhood education, and the necessity for family and community support through Sign Language.  The MSDP will be concentrating on this critical area.

It is not surprising then, that less than 1% of deaf children in Sweden and Denmark opt to go to mainstream schools whereas in Ireland about 70% of deaf children are mainstreamed by default.  Research shows that less than one out of ten of Irish deaf school-leavers felt that an oral-only method should be used in the mainstream setting.  In addition, over eight out of ten of Irish deaf school-leavers are angry because they did not have the opportunity of an education in the only linguistic modality that is fully accessible to them, that is Irish Sign language.  [Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the third indigenous language of Ireland with around 4,000 users.  The Irish Deaf Society and the MSDP are lobbying the politicians to have Irish Sign Language officially recognised by including it in a Bill of Rights for the Deaf in the Education Bill.]  ‘The majority of these deaf pupils entered school semi-lingual as they lacked an early childhood linguistic environment that could ensure their natural acquisition of a first language and they never caught up, due to the oral policy of refusing to acknowledge Irish Sign Language, either as a medium of communication or as a subject of the curriculum.  In short, the current system of education is both unsuitable and inaccessible.’

The Montessori system is available in Ireland to hearing children [for those who can afford it].  This project is the first attempt to provide it for deaf children—indeed it is more necessary for the deaf than the hearing child, because it is critical to his or her acquisition of first language fluency as well as for his or her cognitive social development.  The MSDP is really an attempt to clear a safe space in the oral forest for deaf culture to develop in a friendly relationship with its neighbours and the country at large.

The arrival of the ‘education for the masses age’ in Ireland a generation ago has proved to be a mixed blessing for deaf people.  As industry and the services are demanding ever higher levels of education for
entrants to the job market a huge section of society hitherto discriminated against has taken advantage of
the new education facilities now on offer.  Those weak in literacy and communication skills are in the
greatest danger of missing the boat and because of this deaf individual’s untapped resources go to waste.

Literacy levels of the Irish deaf would need to be raised by around 400% to achieve parity with the
general population.  There is evidence now that achieving that increase is a realisable goal which will not
require the provision of expensive technology or require any major changes but a willingness to accept
some minor changes in attitudes.

The aim of this handbook is to inform parents of deaf children of an new option opening up for them
and those in their care.  It was the parents in other countries who took the lead in making these needed
changes, in particular, it was the sociologically enlightened parents of Denmark and Sweden.  Appendixes 3 and 4 gives firsthand experiences of the teachers who performed what in previous centuries would be described as a miracle, but in reality is plain common-sense.  It amounts simply to letting nature take its course and allowing the deaf to use the language that is not only of their choice but also their only viable option.

Brian Crean, the Project Manager of the Model School for the Deaf Project is deaf.  He graduated with Leaving Certificate from St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf, Cabra, in 1980, the first deaf student to do so from that school.  In 1988 he graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Gallaudet University, Washington D.C.  He has worked as co-ordinator of the Summer School Programmes in Gallaudet University for 3 years prior to returning to Ireland in June 1997, when he initiated this project. In 1982, prior to completing his degree course, he started working in the accounts department of a twenty million dollar [turnover] industrial company in California rising to the position of chief assistant to the financial vice-president.  He is ably assisted by his father, a retired engineer and author of the authoritative book, Breaking the Silence, a history of education of the deaf in Ireland.

I know that this handbook will answer some of the most frequently asked questions and will be useful to all concerned.
 
Dawn Duffin (Dawn@clubi.ie)
Teacher of English as a Second Language to Deaf Third Level Students.