Georgia State University Series: Early Intervention with Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Part 1, Presentation 4 July 2001

Cultural Sensitivity And Early Intervention

Culture Defined “Set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterize a group.”

What is Cultural Sensitivity? Tolerance Acceptance Accommodation Assimilation

Discussion  Deaf Culture  Other Hearing Cultures  Verbal Communication vs.  Non-Verbal Communication

Discussion (Continued)  Values  Multiple Perspectives

Deaf Culture  Identification  Common Language  Shared Experiences

Identification  Familial  Societal

Language  ASL –Ability to freely express oneself –Freely understand others –Allow interaction with others

Experiences  Common heritage  Proud cultural heritage  Develop a sense of identity, integrity and belonging

Other Hearing Cultures  Increased Diversity  Impact of verbal and non-verbal behaviors  Values

Verbal Communication  Words  Concepts expressed as –Sound (speech) –Sign –Print

Non-Verbal Communication  Kinesics –Bodily movements such as headshake or gesture  Proxemics –Personal space  Haptics –Touching behaviors

Non-Verbal (continued)  Artifacts –Materials created to communicate certain messages  Silence –Amount of time obligated to talk to someone  Time –Continuum

Values  Environment vs. sense of fate or destiny  Change as positive/natural vs. valuation of stability, tradition and continuity  Time as precious commodity vs. human interaction  Equality/fairness vs. hierarchy, rank & status

Values (continued)  Self-help & initiative vs. birthright & inheritance  Individualism & independence vs. group welfare & dependence  Competition vs. cooperation  Future vs. past orientation

Values (continued)  Action & work vs. “being” orientation  Informality vs. formality  Directness vs. indirectness  Practicality vs. idealism, theory and beauty  Materialism & acquisition vs. spirituality

Multiple Perspectives  Be knowledgeable in the application of the philosophy being espoused by the teacher education program and

Perspective (continued)  Be able to identify how and where to gather information about other philosophies, modes and languages that may be encountered

Roadblocks to Multiple Pathways Pedagogy  5 basic mind-sets –Modality bias –Language bias –Stepping on other’s toes –Blaming the child –Betraying our roots

Modality Bias  The assumption the WE have the right to choose the modality through which a child is going to learn best.

Language Bias  Which language can the child most easily access in all its complexities? This is the important question to answer.

Stepping on Toes  Avoid being afraid to step on toes when necessary and know when toes must be stepped on.

Blame the Child  A child should not be blamed for his/her failure to use a given modality, language, or technology to a level that satisfies us.

Betray our Roots  Develop an open mind to learn rapidly from all experiences instead of leaning toward a particular bias, because you learned it that way.

Conclusion  REMEMBER  Not just dealing with a set of ears but with a Child and  Child lives within the context of a unique family culture.

Resources  Easterbrooks, S., Ed.D (2001) Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Teleconference