Communication Systems For Children With Deafness

Communication systems for children with deafness

Introduction

To favor and strengthen oral language learning in children with hearing problems, it is important to teach them some communication support system. Therefore, we have prepared this article on communication systems for children with deafness.

The decision of the use of one or another system depends on families. Therefore, fathers and mothers of children with deafness must take into account the characteristics of their children and inform themselves about all options before making a choice.

Developing

Communication systems, also called alternative and augmentative communication systems, are an instrument for speechopédica and educational intervention. Which are composed of a structured set of nonverbal codes.

Its purpose is to be able to provide children with deafness with a communication:

Functional.

Spontaneous.

Generalizable.

Thus, there are two types of communication systems: 

With help: they require technical and external resources.

No help: it is necessary to use the body itself and external elements do not intervene.

In this sense, it should be noted that deafness children must use communication systems without help, such as reinforcement to facilitate their communication.

Here are the main systems used by this group.

Types of communication systems for deafness

Sign language

It is a communication system for children with deafness, used to support the oral language of the little ones.

Therefore, it serves to establish a communication channel with the social environment.

Sign language is a non -vocal modality of verbal language, based on gestures:

• Manuals.
• Bodily.
• Expressive.
• Lipstick.

It is composed of signs, which can be:

Arbitrary: whose meaning can only be extracted if the tongue is known.

Inconic: which can be guess by a person who does not know the meaning of the sign. It should be noted that the sign language is not universal, there are differences between some countries and others and, even, within the same country there are various dialects.

Bimodal communication

The bimodal communication system consisting of the use of an oral modality with a visual to communicate. That is, oral speech and manual signs are used simultaneously. Which are normally extracted from the lexicon of the sign language.

The use of gestures favors the understanding of messages in children with deafness or low audition. Since, these usually have difficulty developing hearing memory. But if the verbal message is accompanied with the corresponding signs, its visual memory is also used, which is usually of better quality. This communicative strategy does not follow certain implementation standards. Therefore, metolodology and signs used, vary depending on the characteristics of each child. 

Complemented word

The complemented word is a communication system that combines lip reading with manual accessories information. Thus, these concrete gestures have no meaning apart from lip reading. Therefore, they act as a complement to speech that acquires the meaning when combined with it.

Manual accessories are composed of three parameters that are perceived simultaneously:

The positions of the hand in the face: that represent the vowels. The way in which the hand is placed: to represent the consonants. The movement of the hand: that can be soft and brief, to accompany a direct syllable. Or brief and energetic, to accompany any consonant that is not within said syllable.

Dactylological alphabet

Dactylological alphabet is a communication system for children with deafness or low audition, which consists of the manual representation of each of the letters that make up the alphabet. Thus, a concrete form of the hand corresponds to a letter of the written alphabet.

conclusion

Therefore, it can be said that it is a form of writing in the air instead of on paper. To carry it out, the dominant hand is used and movements are executed at chin height. Its realization is complemented with oral language, so it is necessary that the face and mouth be visible. In this way, through dactylology, any word can be transmitted to deaf people, however complicated. In fact, it is usually used to spell proper names, oral terms that have no exact correspondence with a specific sign, etc.