Self-Advocacy
GOAL # 1: To continue to develop an understanding of the importance of self-advocacy for children who are Deaf or hard of hearing in the school system. How to teach them strategies that will allow them to be independent, confident give them the ability to meet their social, emotional and educational in order to be successful.
Artifact 1: Self-Advocacy Lesson Plan
During my practicum, I created a lesson plan for intermediate students involving self-advocacy. To be a thorough lesson, 3-30 minute sessions would be ideal. First, we did the student evaluation LIFE-R questionnaire, which led to great discussion. The student thought it would be a good idea to answer the questionnaire as if his hearing equipment was working and if it wasn't. We brainstormed all the words that were meaningful to him about self-advocacy using a bubble graphic organizer This included goals, strategies, strengths and weaknesses, and assertiveness. He came up with lots of words which he then highlighted the most important ones to him. We wrote down the words on strips of paper that he could then manipulate to put them in order of importance. It was great to see that the top two words were hearing aids and fm! He titled it Advocacy. We also did the Study Skills Questionnaire to talk about strategies that work for him or that he would like to try. This also brought other words up. We then entered them in to a 'wordle' cloud where he could play with the font, colour and composition. Once he was finished, I printed it out in colour and laminated it for him. We we're both so proud of the results that he wanted to frame it on his wall. I’ve realized how important it is to start working on self-advocacy early as these students will have these skills for life.
Artifact 2: Critical Review
The article, Social participation of children and adolescents with cochlear implants: A qualitative analysis of parent, teacher, and child interviews by Hyde & Punch (2011) had me understand the social and emotional implications that a child and their family go through being D/HH. Although 25 case studies were used in this research, 3 case studies that illustrate the social lives and these factors were presented. They included interviews, questionnaires, observations and self reports from parents, teachers and students. It discussed the risk and resilience factors that were student-related, schoool-related and family-related. The course work in EPSE 520 began my interest in the social/emotional realm of these students which is now a major theme when working with students. This paper was a cornerstone in my 590 poster on self-advocacy. As an HRT, the students and I work on their self-advocacy skills and I will always be open to hearing how they feel and what is going on in their social life. Hyde, M. & Punch, R. (2011). Social participation of children and adolescents with cochlear implants: A qualitative analysis of parent, teacher, and child interviews. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 16, (4), 474-493. |
Artifact 3: Self-Advocacy Poster
Recently, for EPSE 590 I created a poster titled, Inspiring Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing to Achieve Self-Advocacy, which was presented at the 2013 International Special Education Conference at the University of British Columbia. The purpose of this poster was to explore the need for self-advocacy skills in this population and to present three strategies for facilitating their development in a school setting. Students who are D/HH often have difficulties developing self-advocacy skills. It is important for them to learn how to take responsibility for their own social, emotional and educational goals. In turn, this will foster the independence and confidence they need to be successful. In particular, integrated students with a hearing loss benefit from self-advocacy skills when interacting with their teachers, peers and concerning their auditory equipment. Self-Advocacy skills will continue to evolve and will be a life-long practice. After elementary school, there will be new relationships to forge and different environments to encounter. As they mature, students will need to develop further self-advocacy skills as they will find themselves in new situations and other types of relationships. In addition, students should learn how to generalize their self-advocacy skills in other settings and relationships outside of school.