hearing loss and the criminal justice system - Australian Indigenous ...

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Senate Inquiry March 2010_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________difficulties, or attempting to overcome the exclusion experienced because of listeningdifficulties. While these responses prompt social contact, they do not generate positivesocial interaction. These responses are seen by teachers and peers as behaviourproblems.3) Calling outSome students with Conductive Hearing Loss were observed to call out in response tothe loud comments of teachers or other students. Students responded to loudclassroom talk but did not participate in quiet small group talk. Quiet classroom talkwas too hard for children to hear clearly because of the interplay of their ConductiveHearing Loss with the background noise generated by small group work. Calling out,enabled these students to utilise the opportunity, available in class, for verbalengagement when they could easily hear. These opportunities were usually when theteacher was talking to the whole class. As with ’talking when quiet’, calling out mayinvolve students grasping the opportunity available to them for verbal participation inclass, even though their participation was unwelcome, from the perspective of teachersand peers.4) Using visual observation strategies in classVisual observation strategies help to compensate for difficulties in accessing auditoryinput because of Conductive Hearing Loss and background noise. Visual observationstrategies used included standing up to see over those who were sitting; pushing infront of peers; moving around to get a better view; and looking around the class morethan their peers did, to watch what was happening. These responses were seen byteachers as ‘pushing in’ and ‘moving around without permission’. Students makingthese responses often stood out to teachers, who were intent on maintaininguniformity of student behaviour.5) Seeking help from peersStudents were observed to seek help from their peers to enable them to deal with thedifficulties they experienced in knowing what to do in class. However, this could lead tothem being disciplined for talking when the teacher was talking, or for being distractedfrom the task at hand.Collectively these responsescontribute to students withConductive Hearing Loss beingseen by teachers as ‘havingbehaviour problems at school’.Collectively these responses contribute to studentswith Conductive Hearing Loss being seen byteachers as ‘having behaviour problems at school’.The influence of the combined effects ofConductive Hearing Loss and background noise onchildren’s classroom behaviour was outside of theawareness of teachers. These behaviours are oftenviewed as purposeful defiance and may be met with sanctions and, if the behaviourcontinues, students may even be excluded from school.The above information, when converted into a training program, provides information thatcan help give teachers a new perspective when viewing the behaviour in their classroom._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________36 Phoenix Consulting
Senate Inquiry March 2010_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The training program can also create an understanding about the origin of some of thosebehaviours and an ability to implement an appropriate behaviour management plan.Changing the attitudes of teachers involves challenging their views about various behavioursbeing an exhibition of defiance of classroom rules and of the teacher’s authority. Thealternative interpretation is that they represent, for some students, attempts to cope withdifficulties listening in noisy classrooms. The way changed perspectives can result indifferent responses is described in the following case study of Alex.Case Study: AlexAlex was a student referred by his parents to a psychologist becauseteachers were concerned about his behaviour. His teacher wasconcerned that he was often disruptive in class, bullied other studentsand completed little work. He was often in trouble for talking in classand for teasing others, as well as for wandering around in class.Standard behaviour management strategies of ‘time out’ (being sentout of the class for a time after unacceptable behaviour) and acommunication book (a book that his teacher filled in each day andthat he took home to inform his parents of his behaviour at school)were not working. His school suggested he be taken to see apsychologist ‐ the author.While discussing Alex’s health his parents said that Alex hadexperienced persistent middle ear disease since early childhood. Heregularly visited an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, often experiencedhearing loss and had an unhealed perforation in one ear drum.It was suggested that instead of counselling Alex about his behaviour atschool a training program could be offered to his teacher. The programwas based around the research results from this study and explainedhow some students with Conductive Hearing Loss exhibited the samebehaviour as Alex, especially in the presence of background noise. Theprogram suggested some strategies to provide visual cues tosupplement verbal instructions and to limit his wandering as he tried toobserve how others were doing their work. After one month theteacher was contacted again and asked if this different managementregime had worked.She firstly reported a change in her attitude to Alex. She had reachedthe stage where she actively disliked Alex and felt he was purposely_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________37 Phoenix Consulting
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hearing loss and the criminal justice system - Australian Indigenous ...

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