Kelebogile Boleu
September is dedicated to observing the International Month for Deaf People as declared by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). The aim is to promote the positive aspects of deafness, and social inclusion.
As a hearing parent, I had few tools to help me navigate deafness in my child and ultimately the deaf community and culture.
I struggled to find my feet and make the choices that would be best for my child’s future. I simply did what I could and what health practitioners had hurriedly told me to do. I lacked support and access to parents who had been through the same thing, or just a space where I could share my journey with people who would enlighten me further than the health practitioners had. Eventually my son entered school, and he thrived with his sign language and his deaf identity formation.
However, the schooling environment itself was simply not a comfort to me. I experienced various challenges, and though I finally met parents who could relate to my journey, I was quickly disappointed by the lack of a positive school experience the learners had. Their reading and writing abilities were severely underdeveloped, and they struggled to keep up, even those in higher grades than my son.
The South African segment of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) 2021, conducted by the University of Pretoria (UP), reveals a concerning statistic: 81% of South African Gr.4 learners struggle with reading comprehension at the age of ten. This issue is exacerbated among children with learning challenges, particularly deaf children.
Research indicates that only one in three deaf adults proficient in South African Sign Language (SASL) are functionally literate, and the average literacy level of deaf school leavers corresponds to that of an eight-year-old hearing child. Contributing factors to these challenges include a lack of a reading culture, insufficiently resourced educational institutions, and inadequate emphasis on early childhood development.
I had multiple engagements with the stakeholders in the inclusive education space, including the Department of Basic Education (DBE), as well as the school for the deaf. However, I eventually realised the only solution might need to come from us as parents.
I wrote a proposal and consulted with potential partners: the University of the Free State (UFS) library, as well as the UFS Department of South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies.
Upon hearing my cry for help, this project was supported.
We formed a project called the HEARTS project. It is not an acronym, but simply means the children are the heartbeat of the project and everyone involved has taken their roles wholeheartedly. Parents in the project get SASL training and support each other in navigating parenting and educating their deaf children.
Children get extra reading classes, where we support their development through a positive reading culture and reading-for-fun activities.
The HEARTS project is close to the people involved, purpose-driven and valuable to each individual − regardless of how they have contributed to and gained from the project.
It is important to note that this project cannot be successful without the commitment of all parents, ensuring that the work is done beyond the classroom − incorporating a reading culture at home and improving their sign language skills through constant communication and engagement with their child.
We see this initiative as a small start to what we hope will be a bigger project, one where parents can get support as soon as their child is diagnosed, to understand fully their non-medical options before they make big decisions.
We hope for a schooling system that recognises the deaf community’s need for empowerment; a school that sees them as future contributors to the economy and leadership of the country; a schooling system that does not create limitations, but ensures extended possibilities.
■ Kelebogile Boleu is a lecturer in the Department of Criminology at the University of the Free State (UFS).
