Transcript Presentation TS project Leeds-ZGNL File

School for the Deaf and hardof-hearing Ljubljana, Slovenia
P R O J E C T: T I N Y S I G N E R S
L E E D S , 1 8 - 2 2 J A N U A RY 2 0 11
Participants from School for the Deaf,
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Živa Peljhan, teacher in Grade 1-2 (6-7-year-olds), project leader,
SSL (Slovene Sign Language) interpreter
Katja Krajnc, acting head teacher, SSL interpreter
Andreja Trtnik Herlec, English teacher in Grades 6-9 (11-16)
Alenka Škofič, teacher of the Deaf in the Pre-school Unit
Barbara Pogačar Vratarič, teacher of the Deaf in the Pre-school Unit
Alenka Kučič, speech therapist in the Health Unit
Vanja Dolenc, Pre-school and Elementary school teacher
Peter Potočnik Hönigsman, Deaf teacher of the Deaf in the
Secondary school
Established in 1900
in Ljubljana, first as a
private institution.
Since 1905 as the
first national
institution for the
deaf in Slovenia.
School for the Deaf Ljubljana by Alenka Kučič
Celebration of 110. Anniversary of our School
School for the Deaf Ljubljana
It is the central Slovenian
national institute for:
The School cares for
 Deaf and hard-of-hearing children
1,572 children per year from 1 to 23
years of age, which includes:
 Children and adolescents with
 223 children in inclusion,
182 in pre-school, primary and
secondary vocational schools, and
 948 children in the Health Unit
dispensaries.
and adolescents
speech and/or language disorder
and
 Children and adolescents with
autism spectrum disorder.
The founder of the School for the
Deaf Ljubljana is the Slovenian
government.
There are 152 professional staff
members employed in the School.
School for the Deaf and hard-ofhearing Ljubljana
PRE-SCHOOL
PRIMARY SCHOOL
SECONDARY
SCHOOL
RESIDENTIAL UNIT
HEALTH UNIT
INCLUSION
OTHER FIELDS OF WORK
When is it deafness?
Sign language for the
deaf
Speech and language
Language
development in the
deaf, education,
bilingualism
Deafness and language by Katja Krajnc
This is interesting!
Early communication
by Barbara Pogačar Vratarič
A deaf or a hard-of-hearing child must be exposed
to language as early as possible.
Language, cognitive development and social
communication skills should be developed
harmoniously through listening during different
stages of child’s development. In our Pre-school
unit we also support the use of sign language.
Early communication expands the children's
vocabulary, and encourages their thinking and
cognitive development.
In children who do not speak, it is necessary to
develop elementary coordination, acoustic and
visual attention, understanding of texts and initial
articulation.
The following
exercises are of
great help for
achieving this:
Exercises for the
development of
general motor
functions of the body;
Acoustic exercises;
Visual perception
exercises.
It is important to establish a good contact with the
child and obtain his/her cooperation, even if this
means only passive attention in the beginning.
Practice for
understanding words;
Exercises for bodily
reactions;
Exercises according to
given instructions;
Exercises for speech
organs;
Exercises of phonation,
speech imitation and
initial articulation;
Use of Slovenian Sign
Language.
Early communication
Children with Cochlear Implants by Vanja
Dolenc
 Cochlear implant (CI) is a device
that mimics the function of the
inner ear and transmits sound
information by means of electric
current in the auditory nerve.
 NOTE: Not all deaf people can
benefit from a cochlear implant.
 Worldwide, there are several
manufacturers of cochlear
implants.
Children with Cochlear Implants
In the past 10 years, the opportunities
for the development of deaf children
have changed significantly.
In 2011 there are 18 children with
cochlear implants in our pre-school
unit.
After 2006, neonatal screening has
been carried out in all newborns in
Slovenian maternity hospitals.
The Health Unit supported 61 persons
with cochlear implants altogether.
In our in School, the first child with a
cochlear implant started
(re)habilitation in September 1997.
Children with Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implant consists of external
and internal parts.
Cochlear implants are inserted by
surgery.
Perception of sound by a cochlear
implant is different from normal
listening.
The CI appliance requires a power
source - batteries.
Ambient noise reduces speech
intelligibility.
Situations that could cause damage
to the outer or inner part of the
apparatus should be avoided.
The equivalent of words in the spoken language are
the signs in sign language.
To express a wide range of content, the sign
language uses movements instead of voice and
spoken words; namely it uses the movements of
hands, body, face, mouth and head.
"Sign language is a form
of communication,
where the terms are
expressed by gestures,
which may reflect the
meaning of individual
words, clauses or whole
sentences, depending
on the context "
(UNESCO, Paris, 1984).
Sign Language in the Pre-school
by Alenka Škofič
Sign Language in the Pre-school
In the pre-school there are 36 children, of whom: 18 with cochlear implants (CI), 6 with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD), and 12 deaf or hard-of-hearing children using hearing aids (HA).
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I communicate in Slovenian Sign
Language (SSL) in my group of 6
children:
a 3.5-year-old deaf boy with HA, from
deaf family;
three 3-year-old boys, who have used
CI for one year;
a 2-year-old girl, who in November
got CI in both ears, from a family that
uses SSL, and
a 5.5-year-old deaf girl with autistic
spectrum disorder whose parents
want her to acquire communication in
SSL.
 Children in this group daily encounter
SSL and Signed Slovene, where we pay
more attention to the elements of the
Slovene language, while speaking in
the spoken Slovene language.
The sign language and the spoken language in
the group are used because of:
the two children whose mother tongue is SSL
the girl who hasn’t developed any communication
learning and expanding the vocabulary and syntax of the Slovene language
language before the actual development of articulation and
speech in children
facilitating the children’s expression of their wishes and needs, diminishing their
problems of understanding and therefore building more confidence in
communication partners
the usually faster and easier memorizing of new terms, since the SSL uses the
visual-kinetic mode of delivery of (and receiving) information even children who do
not come from deaf families can communicate with their friends in the group and
understand them and at the same time acquire an additional language
the teacher's better understanding of the children's wishes and wants and what they
want to communicate, even before their speech is better articulated, and so there is
less frustration and stress due to lack of understanding
the SSL as an additional mode of establishing communication, for some children
with the outside world, for some with the native speakers (or the only language
users) of SSL, and these children will give it up easily when the SSL is no longer
needed.
Look at me!
In teaching different subjects,
Sign Language is very
important because it is
understandable and very close
to deaf pupils and students.
They obtain optimal
information on the teaching
content which can then be
processed, consolidated and
memorized.
Information conveyed without
Sign Language gets lost
quickly, and therefore the deaf
cannot process it and
incorporate it with their
general knowledge.
Standard teaching methods for
the Deaf should also use visual
approaches as much as
possible.
My experience of schooling and the
importance of Sign Language for the Deaf by
Peter Potočnik Hönigsman
Benefits of the use of Sign Language:
 Open communication and fluid
feedback between teachers and deaf
pupils/students;
content conveyed in understandable
mode of communication;
by using Sign Language it is easier to
motivate pupils/students to learn and
to get their attention;
 double identity;
It is necessary to build the relationship
on role-modeling and mutual
understanding!
Weaknesses:
There is no uniform
approach to the use of
Sign Language;
there are difficulties in
communication with
some parents;
Sign Language is not in
wide use.
Thank You!