Dear Gill,
I hope you don't mind me writing to you again but I saw your message
on dis-forum and it reminded me that we had been in touch earlier in
the year (you kindly answered several questions that I posed about
exam provision for disabled students). I don't have much specific
information about alternative arrangements for Deaf Students, but
recently I attended a one-day conference in London arranged
by the National Deaf Childrens Society.
I thought you may be interested in one or two points re. exam
arrangments that I learned about on the day.
(Nearly all the presentations were given by Deaf people.)
(Some) D/deaf people have difficulty with spellings and grammatical
structure in assignments/examinations because they are so used to
'thinking/speaking (if they are signers)' in pictures, not using
words. Thus, perhaps in a similar way that dyslexic students might
receive allowances, consideration might be given to D/deaf students
when marking exams (in terms of, say, making allowances for poor
structure/grammar/spelling).
It emerged from the conference that some D/deaf students did not feel
that they were in the best position to decide what their needs were/
additional support that might be provided (in academic terms). They
felt that professionals dealing with Deaf people often knew far more
about the impairment than the students themselves. This was an
interesting finding from some research, and something which some
people at the conference had not thought about (e.g. one disability
coordinator said that she had been working with students for years
and that the practice had always been to assume that the students
best knew what their needs were). Whereas as a general principle
this may be the case, I feel it is useful to take on board that some
students do not feel that they are in the best position to make such
judgements. (Raising issues of empowerment, greater information,
etc.)
I hope these thoughts might be useful to you. Let me know if I can
be of further help. When I finish my research I will send you a copy
of my findings. Last time you wrote to me you kindly said that you
would send me a copy of a draft report you were working on, including
information from a literature review. I would still be most
interested to see this when you are able to send it. Thank you.
If I don't speak to you beforehand, I hope you have a good Christmas.
Best wishes,
Stefan
P.S. I did not get any other replies to my questions so I am unable
to forward them to you, as you requested!
Dear Chris,
I received your message via dis-forum. I was particularly interested in
the CHESS meeting agenda item on alternative examination arrangement
specifically for Deaf Students as I am in the process of collating
information on such arrangements for tertiary ed. institutions in Australia
as soon as possible. Can you tell me please how I can learn more about
these?
Regards,
Gill Bruce
Gillian Bruce, Regional Disability Liaison Officer for Victoria
A post secondary Disability Integration Network Project
funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education,
Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA)
C/- Deakin University, 336 Glenferrie Rd
Malvern Vic 3144 AUSTRALIA
email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: 61 3 9244 5011
Mobile: 0411 885 910
Fax: 61 3 9244 5104
URL: http://www.deakin.edu.au/extern/rdlu/
CHECK OUT DIRECT http://direct.deakin.edu.au
Disability Information and Resources for
the Education Community - Tertiary.
Stefan Klidzia,
c/o A.S.D.U.
Education House,
Woodlands Road,
University of Teesside.
01642 - 342541.
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