Terri Bugler (right), a sign-language bilingual instructor, translates while Iris Soutar, executive director of the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, addresses the National Conference on Bilingual Deaf Education. The conference was held at the University of the West Indies, Mona. - Ian Allen/Photographer

Parents of hearing-impaired children who opposed the use of Patois in sign language to teach deaf children have had second thoughts on what they saw as a controversial learning method.

Since 2000, the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD), in partnership with the the Ministry of Education, agreed on a policy embracing Jamaica sign language (JSL) to teach deaf children.

The policy was developed in response to the challenges faced by teachers of deaf students who relied on the Ministry of Education's curriculum, which favours students with normal hearing.

For years, teachers of hearing-impaired children had the challenge of finding creative ways to educate their students, which resulted in them making modifications to the the ministry's curriculum to meet their students' needs.

During a recent conference on bilingual deaf education held by the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD) at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, several educators from schools for the deaf reviewed strategies dealing with differences between JSL and the English language.

JAD Executive Director Iris Soutar said JSL's use differed from regular sign language given its unique use of several facial expressions and body language employed to communicate information to deaf students.

She told The Gleaner a decision to adopt a bilingual approach in which JSL was used to teach deaf children came from recognising two languages - Jamaican sign and English - were used in the classroom.

Both languages needed

"Although deaf children would acquire naturally a sign language the same way hearing children learned to speak or acquire a spoken language, for them to become literate and function in our education system, they must also have fluency in English as a written language," she said.

Soutar said the reality facing deaf children was that JSL was the conversational language, while English was viewed as a written medium. The executive director noted, kids needed to be fluent in both if they were to be academically successful.

She said JSL, which was used to teaching deaf children English, had resulted in several students from these institutions successfully sitting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations.

However, Soutar admitted that convincing both parents and teachers that JSL would benefit children attending the island's schools for the deaf was initially met with resistance.

"When we made the decision in 2000 to embrace a bilingual approach, we had to do a hard sell to our parents and our teachers. The first five years, between 2000 and 2005 were spent convincing them deaf children had to be bilingual," said Soutar.

Donna Harris, who teaches deaf preschool children, agrees with Soutar that while some parents still had mixed feelings about using JSL in the classroom, attitudes were slowly changing.

"Some parents are not very receptive to sign (language), as we still have this stigma about disability in Jamaica, and there are parents who'd rather not be part of it," said Harris, who herself is deaf.

Harris said this attitude usually changes after parents, on observing JSL's positive effects on their children's development, take a more active part in their tutelage.

"I do believe persons are becoming more receptive to deaf persons, not only in the schoolroom, but generally, as I see more attention being given to deaf persons, and to sign language," said Harris.

"I just hope persons respond a little faster in giving a lot more attention and help, as I'm becoming a little impatient."