What we know and what we don’t know about early-developmental support and education of DHH children in five European countries

This proposition will present five European national systems of support for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children and their families. The countries are: Poland, Slovakia, Germany, France, Switzerland. The purpose is to compare different systemic and institutional solutions existing as a result of political, social and educational decisions, defined as support (diagnosis, hearing aids, rehabilitation, educational systems) for DHH. Two of chosen countries Poland and Slovakia have joined the structures of the EU later. Consequently the initiatives aimed at creating equal opportunities for disabled people have been based on other initial matters. The experience of French, German teachers has left its imprint on the solutions applied in other countries. An interesting issue is how it is solved in multilingual and multicultural Switzerland. Our method consists of comparative analysis of articles about the situation in chosen countries. We compare the solutions about the diagnosis process, preferences to hearing aids and rehabilitation type used in each country and then how the main issues influence on the child growth and the family satisfaction. The results show that the systemic and institutional solutions are different, however the implication of parents' status is the relevant indicator of harmonious child development. The question remains also: how better support the parents’ involvement ? What type of support propose to a child ? Description of the systems of support and education of DHH children will offer an insight into solutions proposed in the selected countries. However, based on the comparisons – the best solutions may be introduced

Wnioski oraz perspektywy badawcze dotyczące systemu wsparcia wczesnorozwojowego i edukacji dzieci i młodzieży z wadą słuchu

In the chapter the authors presented consistent analysis of systems of early-developmental support and education based on received articles. In spite of an attempt of objectivization it should be stressed that individual editors of the monograph perceived the reality in different ways and the presented view is a consensus agreed during the discussion. However, the analysis revealed specific gaps and the need for scientific research in leading fields, both in the period of early support and school education. In our opinion the largest number of changes, changes confirmed by research, towards “Evidence-based Practices”, are needed in school education

Comparative analysis of selected European solutions in the field of early-development support and education of children and youth with hearing impairment

The autors propose the analysis of descriptive studies relating to early-development support and education of children and youth with hearing impairment,coming from five surveyed European countries (Poland, Slovakia, France, Germany,Switzerland). Comparison takes into consideration the diversity of socio-political and legal decision-making contexts present in individual countries. Organization of early support and education systems for children and young deaf and hearing impaired visibly stems from these conditions. In all countries there is a noticeable change in legal and social situation of people with hearing impairment, especially children and teenagers. This applies mainly to changes in legislation allowing the use of sign languages and other available means of communication in early-development support, education and social life of people affected by hearing impairment

Conclusions and research perspectives concerning the system of early-developement support and education provided to hearing impaired children and youth

Our description of proposed system solutions in terms of early-development support and education is based on the analysis of submitted articles and personal,international cooperation of editors. The result of such comparisons are general conclusions and proposed postulates, regarding individual components of the system of support and education of children and youth with hearing impairment