Special Arrangements/ Efforts made to accommodate the Student in Mainstream Education

H: Did you get any kind of support with your high frequency deafness?

S1: Yes er most teachers my teachers know about my situation and arrange my seat in the front row, I am near to the teacher, yes, and I have a special arrangement in the proper examination yes erm, I was arranged in a special place to have the listening exam and have the special place for my oral exam and this can facilitate my hearing and yes and also in my secondary school I also received er speech therapy, yes, because I was it’s because they think that when I was little I could not hear clearly and so I could not pick up the correct er word yes and so they arranged the speech therapy every week.

…

S1: Yes er we are not using our own earphone er yes they will provide a device that’s supported em they, the recording, er, the recording is much slower than the normal student.

K: Oh

H: Slower

S1: Yes, they will, between the two part they have erm, they have a long stop

K: A long stop for you

S1: A long stop er to relax

Despite a marked polarity between inclusive and specialised education in attitudes towards Deaf education, Student 1’s experience suggests more holistic approach, blending inclusive education with extra help and support from teachers aware of hearing impairments and how best to aid the learning process. The student repeats the word “special” numerous times when describing her education, demonstrating how accommodations were made to ensure that the quality of education did not lessen due to the student’s impairment. This sentiment in the phrase “special arrangement,” which is repeats throughout the interview and thus strengthens the idea that this Deaf student was be successfully integrated into mainstream education through a policy of accommodation and support. By listing all the ways in which she received particular support in her educational journey, the student suggests that many accommodations were made and thus awareness and sensitivity to students with hearing impairments can be found within inclusive education, implying that this is the best of both worlds. However, we must keeping mind that Student 1 has high-frequency deafness, which she herself classifies as a “mild hearing impairment” and so she may not need as much support as other members of the Deaf community, making it easier for her to integrate into mainstream education.

K: Did the school have any special arrangements for you? Like for your listening exam, or during the class, did the teacher give you extra support?

S2: I didn’t get lot of support because I am not a serious case of hearing loss. There is one measure to help me to hear better in class is that, some teachers may use a microphone that is better. It has a separate speaker so that I can hear well by using this measure.

K: You are so tall. Did the teachers ask you sit in the front row, or you are just sitting in the last row and you can still hear well?

S2: I am like in the middle row. But most of the time I am sitting in, because I am tall, so I am in the second last row of the classroom.

K: So they didn’t have any special arrangement for you even for the exam?

S2: Not much.

K: Did you apply for it? Did you take the HKDSE exam?

S2: Yes, I applied to use the infra-red arrangement for the listening exam.

Supposing Student 2 has a relatively serious case compared to Student 1, the student did not have a lot of extra support from the school and the teachers. The student believes that he is not a "serious" case, even though he has a medium level of hearing loss and he requires a hearing aid to support himself. The Deaf student tends to perceive himself as a hearing-able and does not ask for specific accommodations. Not all teachers take necessary measures: using a special microphone with a separate speaker that can help the student to hear better. Student 2 expresses that everyone in his class knows his situation, yet not many efforts are made to cater his needs. He did not demand the school, except asking for the infra-red arrangement for the HKDSE listening exam. His experience tells that some students with hearing challenges may have a passive role in schools, they might not express their needs explicitly all the time and not many support is given. Thus, it reinforces that awareness and sensitivity of the schools are needed to create a more inclusive studying environment in the mainstream schools.

How successful were the special arrangements?

S1: There not quite many learning difficulty and yeah, however in some listening parts that we have to do the listening part in the secondary school and erm, and compared to what my, what my classmates do and I think my listening part the result of my listening part is not quite good [laughs] but umm you say in other learning parts and I think this is okay and do not have lot of problem.

H: Ah okay, so it was only listening exams that you felt er disadvantaged?

S1: Umm difficult [laughs]

Problems faced in Tertiary Education, and how these are Dealt with

H: Um, so have you found any difficulties at HKU, or do you find sitting at the front of the class is enough and you can hear everything fine?

S1: Mmm, at this moment I do not find any difficulties, but in some tutorial classes um, some tutor may want to ask me some question and may, they may speak quite softly [laughs]

H: Ah

S1: And I, at that moment I do not hear quite clearly er but I may feel erm, embarrassed to

H: Embarrassed to ask again.

S1: Ask again yes, because, yes so this is maybe just one difficulty that I miss at HKU, yes, I have the normal life with other classmates.

H: Would you feel comfortable telling your tutors of your high-frequency deafness, if it did become a problem in the future?

S1: Umm, once I want to tell him, but it is difficult for me to talk to people [laughs]

H: Yeah [laughs]

S1: Because er [pause] I feel quite embarrassed um, maybe um, if I [pause, laughs] and he look so [pause]

H: Is he a scary tutor?

S1: Yes [laughs, others join in]

...

S1: Erm, mmm I do not tell them [CEDARS] that er, I do not hear what the tutor say. They told me that if I cannot hear quite clearly I can talk to the tutor, yes [laughs]

H: Yeah, but if the tutor’s scary

S1: A problem, yeah, mmm.

H: Oh so wait, CEDARS think if you have a problem hearing a tutor, that’s like your problem like you should speak to the tutor about, they wouldn’t get involved in that situation?

S1: Mmm, yes erm maybe yes and maybe if I have the problem maybe they can just, the social worker maybe can help me to, to, to tell

As the interview became more personal, shortcomings in the accommodations made for Student 1’s hearing impairment were revealed, particularly at the level of tertiary education. The way in which she reflected in these difficulties was particularly significant; she seemed to accept that she would always be disadvantaged because of her hearing impairment, and almost became embarrassed by the difficulties brought about by her physical impairment. When describing her lower marks in listening tests and difficulty in interacting with one of her tutors, and quiet and intimidating academic, the student always laughs. In the first case, this suggests acceptance of her lower marks in listening exams, as if she believes there is no way to eradicate this disadvantage and so instead she tries to make light of it. With reference to her tutor, her laughter develops from acceptance to nervousness or awkwardness, reinforcing the “embarrassed” feeling that she also mentions.

This student’s behaviour and feelings towards her education links to wider Audist ideology as explored in Deaf literature by suggesting that she is misjudged due to her hearing impairment, effectively hindering her academic career. The fact that Student 1 chooses not to make her hearing impairment known to her tutors, in spite of difficulties in tutorials, illustrates her conscious effort to position herself in the Hearing world (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005), even to the detriment of her academic achievement. Her decision to not emerge as a member of the Deaf community indicates that she is aware of the concept of Audism in education, and evaluates this as a greater disadvantage than suffering in silence, hence her decision not to speak to her tutor.

K: May I know that during your secondary school education, did you inform your school and your teachers about your situation?

S2: yeah.

K: The class teacher or all the staff know?

S2: Most of the students in my class.

K: Even your classmates?

S2: Yeah, because I talk to them.

K: So you are willing to share?

S2: Yeah.

...

K: After you go to university, did you find any differences between, because in university, you meet different people every day, you cannot tell all of them about your situation, so what are the differences? The studying environment and the interaction with your peers?

S2: I think the major difference is I find it hard to tell the situation to my new friends, because you didn’t get in touch for a long time. I find it hard to explain my situation. So most of the friends I made in university did not know much about my situation. And sometimes may cause misunderstanding.

K: So people may think that you are not attentive sometimes?

S2: Yeah, but it is just simply I cannot hear them.

...

S2: Sometimes I may ask them to repeat. And sometimes it is so awkward that even you repeat, I still cannot hear it. So if it’s that situation, I would give up. Maybe I would try to guess, based on the content, sometimes I may even read their lips. But it is not quite useful for me because I didn’t train for that.

K: So you learn all the lip reading by yourself?

S2: Sometimes I would try to use it.

There is a contrastive differentiation between the encounter of Student 2 in his secondary and tertiary school life. His hearing situation in the past was similar to the present, however, he adopted different approaches when he faced different people at different times. He was willing to disclose, share and discuss his medical situation with his peers when he was in secondary school. In comparison, he found it difficult and became reluctant to share his situation with his friends. The student's behaviour demonstrates two emblems discussed by Agha (2006). The perceivable features were the linguistic features of the student. The social persona would still be Student 2, given that his hearing situation did not change much. Yet, the one who read the persona changed. The student is aware of the distant relationship in the university community, that changed his self-conception of his identity. He preferred to veil his identity as it seemed to be easier for him to work with his peers in the university. He managed to do basic lip reading to interact with his peers. Similar to Student 1, Student 2 would not like to emerge as a member of the Deaf community, which tells that he is aware of the labeling effect of the Deaf community in the society.