All hard of hearing children must early in their life be given the opportunity to

learn both a national Sign Language and their native spoken

language so that they, later on in life, can

choose what type of communication they

want to use. That is real freedom

of choice.

!Why bilingualism is important

Who are you without a language? It is a breath-taking question. Accessibility to language is fundamental for social interaction, personal development and abstract thinking. Developing a language during childhood occurs unconsciously and automatically. But everyone who has been struggling with vocabulary, late night classes and phrase-books, knows that it becomes harder to learn a language later on in life. Nor is it necessarily the case that the language one develops as a teenager or adult, can be maintained at the same level as the one that develops from an earlier age.

Bilingualism, for a person with reduced hearing, means that she or he can master – and need – both a national Sign Language and a native spoken language. To be bilingual increases an individuals ability to participate in society by being able to switch between the two languages.

Bilingualism enables for children and young people with reduced hearing to participate in everyday life, to be independent and also gives them the opportunity to develop on their own terms. We believe that all hard of hearing children should be given an opportunity to learn both a national Sign Language and a native spoken language early on in their lives.

The language equation

Native spoken language

+ National Sign

Language =

Participation

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My bilingualism makes it possible for me to use Swedish Sign Language interpreters during classes. It gives me a sense of security, because I can easily follow what is being said and I don’t have to be afraid of missing out on information.

”” – Heléne, 23, hard of hearing since childhood, social studies-student

Why bilingualism?It is important to have a life long perspective when it comes to people with reduced hearing. It is impossible to predict what good technical hearing aids can do for a particular child in the future, or in which situations his/her hearing ability isn’t enough. For instance, what works in the classroom may not necessarily work during recess, in the woodwork room or at a café.

It is perhaps first at the transition point from upper secondary school to university or further into working life, that technical hearing aids are no longer sufficient to allow meaningful participa-tion in a discussion, a group project or a meeting. Having to learn a national Sign Language at that stage in order to be able to use an interpreter is for a majority of individuals not an easy option. The right to a bilingual upbringing is essential in order to guarantee participation and access in a wide range of situations, both in the present and in the future.

We advocate that all hard of hearing children are given the opportunity to learn both a national Sign Language and a native spoken language in order that they can at a later stage in life themselves make appropriate choices about what language to use.

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Sometimes it is hard for me to hear everything that is being said, and then it’s good to know Sign Language. I always use Sign Language on the subway for example because of the noise. At home and at school I speak Swedish, but I use Sign Language with my deaf and hard of hearing friends.

- Emma, age 13, uses cochlear implants and goes to a class for children with reduced hearing

Bilingualism and educationAt the playground, the dress-up box or during hide and seek, is not always oral communication that matters. But when a child starts school, conversations with classmates start to play a more central role. When a child has reduced hearing a lot of his/her energy is spent on reading lips and trying to hear what is being said. Today’s modern teaching that emphasizes group projects and discussions, unwittingly leads to less participation for hard of hearing students and not surprisingly many of them complain of head ache and tiredness after a school day.

In the special schools for deaf or hard of hearing students education is provided in Swedish Sign Language and with the help of hearing technical aids. Today the student groups in these settings are quite different compared to earlier on since many deaf children are operated with cochlear implants. As a result there is a decrease in the number of deaf children in the special schools.

It is important that the special schools continue to provide education in a bilingual environment that meets the children’s needs. Those students who are integrated in a class with hearing students should have the opportunity to regularly visit the special schools in order to keep in touch with Swedish Sign Language.

A lot of hard of hearing stu-dents complain of headache and tiredness after a day in school. Swedish Sign Language is a much more intelligent solution compared to pain-killers.

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Bilingualism after schoolIn the classroom it is usually possible for a person with reduced hearing to participate, with the help of technical hearing aids. But the situation is quite different when one is hanging out with friends in a café or at the swimming pool. To be able to go to a noisy café, and communicate in Swedish Sign Language with your friends is a major advantage - it makes it possible to concentrate on communi-cating instead of hearing. Hearing aids and water is not a good combination! It is really hard to hear at an indoor swimming pool where the acoustics are generally poor. To be able to use Swedish Sign Language there, or to engage a Swedish Sign Language interpreter to be able to take part in a swimming class enables participation.

To know Swedish Sign Language is also an advan-tage at the workplace, even if ones’ colleagues can hear. It does not matter how accommodating ones’ fellow workers are, it can be hard to get a technical solution that functions well during, for example, meetings. To know Swedish Sign Language and be able to use a Swedish Sign Language interpreter during such occasions is an effective solution for hard of hearing people.

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Striking numbersIt is only about 10 percent of hard of hearing high school students who go on into college and university, compared to 45 percent of the hearing high school students. One in five students with redu-ced hearing does not have a passing grade in the core subjects Swedish, mathe-matics or English.

- Information from the 2007 annual report from the Swedish Association of Hard of Hearing People

”” – Ulf, dad to Emma who has cochlear implants

We have never seen any opposition between Swedish and Swedish Sign Language, we feel quite the opposite since the languages help each other to develop. Emma’s first language is Swedish but we are convinced that she speaks as well as she does thanks to her early access to Swedish Sign Language.

Problems and solutionsOption to chooseProblem: One sometimes hears that it is possible to learn a national Sign Language if one wants to, and that it is freedom of choice that determines the learning. But in reality it is the hard of hearing child’s parents who decide if their child should have access to a Sign Language or not. What happens if the parents lack commitment – or the knowledge – to take up the fight for their child’s right to bilingualism? Solution: Stop the option! A national Sign Lang-uage is a must alongside the native spoken language. All hard of hearing children should be given the opportunity to learn both a national Sign Language and a native spoken language.

TUFFProblem: In Sweden we have an ordinance called TUFF that gives parents and siblings of hard of hearing children the right to government funded Swedish Sign Language education. But TUFF does not include the hard of hearing child itself; para-doxically this child has no legal right to learn Swedish Sign Language.Solution: Toughen the law! Make an amendment that will give all hard of hearing children and adults the legal right to Swedish Sign Language education. Such a law must also be much more encompassing then the one we have today.

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Double useFor children who have a severe hearing reduction it can be difficult to start spea-king a native language. Sign Language can step in and be a launching pad to help get the native spoken language going. A native spoken langu-age and a national Sign Lang-uage therefore benefit one another in a linguistic com-municative development.

Problems and solutionsSign language environments Problem: Today there is no clear organisation for how hard of hearing children and young people should have access to Swedish Sign Language environments. That is the case especially for children attending mainstreamed classes with hearing children.Solution: The National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools in Sweden should have the responsibility for Swedish Sign Language education and make sure that there is a possibility to have access to Sign Language environments. Resource centers should be created where students who attend mainstreamed classes should be able to meet other hard of hearing children not least in order to have access to Swedish Sign Language. The responsibility for the development of Swedish Sign Language should fall on the Swedish audi-tory rehabilitation, where Swedish Sign Language should be an integrated natural part of the services.

How does it sound?Every hard of hearing person is unique and it can be difficult to explain how one perceives sound. Hearing aids do not only help you with hearing what you want to hear, but rather also enhance back-ground sounds.

As a result of that when you are in a classroom for example, you hear the noise from the classmates chairs as clearly as the teacher’s voice.

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On July 1st 2009, a new language law was adopted in Sweden. The law states that Swedish is the main language in Sweden. This means that Swedish is the common language in our society and that all residents in Sweden should have access to it and that it will be used in all areas of society. Swedish Sign Language is also included in the law together with other national minority languages and the state has a special responsibility to protect and promote this group of languages as well.

The state also has a responsibility for individuals’ access to language. Anyone who is in need of Swedish Sign Language will have the opportunity to learn, develop and use Swedish Sign Language.

A new language law

The Swedish school system consists of kinder-garten, preschool, primary school, secondary school, upper secondary school and university. Education is organized either in the public sphere (state, municipality or county) or privately driven (so-called independent schools) or as a private school. The responsibility for the school system is divided between the state and the municipality in Sweden. The state decides on the overall legislation, the curriculum, training teachers and supervises the running of the schools.

The Swedish school systemWithin the framework of the new Swedish Language law, it is stated that the state has a responsibility to protect and promote Swedish Sign Langu-age. Anyone who is in need of Swedish Sign Language will have the opportunity to learn, develop and use Swedish Sign Language.

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This is a brochure about how bilingualism can enable hard of hearing children and young people access in schools and in society at large. The solutions we present in this brochure are morally, socially and economically justified. We advocate that all hard of hearing children, will be given the opportunity to learn both a national Sign Language and a native spoken language from an early age in life.

It is important to create opportunities so that individuals are equipped to meet lifes challenges - bilingualism leads to access in the longer run.

To make this possible an amendment is required in Sweden so that all hard of hearing people have the right to Swedish Sign Language education. This implies that society provides Sign Language environments during the children’s growing up and school years. Native spoken language + national Sign Language = participation. That is what our language equation looks like.

Finally

Questions and orders for the brochure, please contact: Hard of Hearing Young People, www.uh.se, kansli@uh.se

The National Agency for Education is the agency that regulates the educational system. The muni-cipalities are responsible for the content of the education and for ensuring that all residents have the right to education.

We advocate that all hard of hearing children, will be given the opportunity to learn both a national Sign Language and a native spoken language from an early age in life.

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Translation & layout: UH inhousePrinted: Ljungbergs, Klippan, 2009

Hard of Hearing Young People

This brochure is a the result of a collaborative effort between the following organisations:

Since the 1970s, DHB, HRF and SDR have collaborated. In the mid-1980s FSDB joined this collaboration. During the 2000s the group has expanded to include the youth organisations: DBU, UH and SDU, and also the adult organisations: VIS and Barnplantorna, the Swedish organisation for children with cochlear implant.

Today there is close cooperation and consensus on most issues between our organisations. We see this cooperation as a strength, with our diverse expe-riences, to create a society that is accessible, offers participation and equality for our common target audiences.

Cooperation in Sweden

The Association of Sweden’s Deaf-blind

Swedish Deaf Youth Association

The Swedish National Association

of the Deaf

The Swedish Association of Hard of Hearing People

The Swedish Association of Hard of Hearing People

The Swedish National Association for Deaf, Hearing-Impaired and

Language-impaired children

Deaf-blind Young people

The Swedish National Association of the

Late Deafened