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Deaf kids get to listen, talk at school | The New Age Online
Parents of deaf children find themselves in a difficult position when they try to find appropriate schools for their youngsters.
There are very few schools available to cater for children with a listening disability.
The department of education has encouraged parents to register their children aged up to six years at Carel du Toit School in Bloemfontein, which is situated at the National Hospital.
The children are taught to listen and speak using hearing aids and cochlear implants. Sign language is not used.
“The school offers moral support and educates parents on how to stimulate listening and language skills at home. Parents are also advised to take their children to hospital for check-ups if they suspect that they have hearing problems,” said department spokesperson Howard Ndaba.
The school accepts babies who are born with hearing loss, toddlers or preschool children who acquire hearing loss and those with a language delay due to allergies, repeated ear infections, and/or chronic wax build-up during the critical formative years.
“Pupils are admitted throughout the year,” said Ndaba. “All deaf children are accepted irrespective of the degree of their hearing loss. About 106 youngsters have benefited from the school’s programme, with most of them accepted at mainstream schools.”
The school, with a satellite in East London, was founded by respected professor Carel du Toit.
He founded the centre in 1973 as an integral part of the ear, nose and throat department of the Tygerberg Academic Hospital, the teaching hospital of the University of Stellenbosch.
Du Toit believed and proved through his work that deaf children can learn to speak through early intervention.
Parents of deaf children find themselves in a difficult position when they try to find appropriate schools for their youngsters.
There are very few schools available to cater for children with a listening disability.
The department of education has encouraged parents to register their children aged up to six years at Carel du Toit School in Bloemfontein, which is situated at the National Hospital.
The children are taught to listen and speak using hearing aids and cochlear implants. Sign language is not used.
“The school offers moral support and educates parents on how to stimulate listening and language skills at home. Parents are also advised to take their children to hospital for check-ups if they suspect that they have hearing problems,” said department spokesperson Howard Ndaba.
The school accepts babies who are born with hearing loss, toddlers or preschool children who acquire hearing loss and those with a language delay due to allergies, repeated ear infections, and/or chronic wax build-up during the critical formative years.
“Pupils are admitted throughout the year,” said Ndaba. “All deaf children are accepted irrespective of the degree of their hearing loss. About 106 youngsters have benefited from the school’s programme, with most of them accepted at mainstream schools.”
The school, with a satellite in East London, was founded by respected professor Carel du Toit.
He founded the centre in 1973 as an integral part of the ear, nose and throat department of the Tygerberg Academic Hospital, the teaching hospital of the University of Stellenbosch.
Du Toit believed and proved through his work that deaf children can learn to speak through early intervention.