Education is a key element in personal development and skill acquisition, and it is also essential for achieving social equality, fostering tolerance, and enhancing economic independence. Through education, individuals gain not only formal knowledge and skills but also the ability to understand and engage with the world around them, along with critical thinking skills. This blend of knowledge, skills, and abilities enables individuals to be active and equal participants in their communities. Therefore, education is a fundamental human right that should be accessible to everyone, under equal conditions, and according to their individual needs. Educational inclusion means integrating everyone into the educational system, regardless of their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, linguistic, or other conditions, and finding suitable teaching methods that align with their abilities. This right is outlined in several international declarations, conventions, and charters:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989, published 1991)

Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (1975)

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008)

Deaf and hard-of-hearing children need a tailored educational approach that adapts the curriculum to their hearing and speech-language abilities. Without such adaptations, these children may experience isolation and developmental delays in a mainstream school setting. Appropriate education will help them feel respected and included, build self-esteem and confidence, and achieve their full potential.

There are several approaches to educating deaf and hard-of-hearing children, depending on the chosen language modality as their primary communication method: bilingual-bicultural education, oralism, total communication, and manualism (sign language).

Bilingual-Bicultural Education

Bilingual education for deaf children involves learning sign language as their primary language. Just as hearing children effortlessly and spontaneously pick up the spoken language of their environment, deaf children should acquire sign language in the same way. If deaf children start learning sign language from an early age, they can achieve the same level of fluency in sign language as their hearing peers have in spoken language. Learning spoken language for deaf children is approached like learning a second or foreign language. Initially, new concepts are taught and learned in sign language, and then in the spoken language. This transfer from one language to another helps students understand that they are learning two distinct languages. Deaf students gain metalinguistic knowledge about sign language (such as its grammar) and learn about the Deaf community’s unique culture, including its history, artistic achievements, customs, and values. Similarly, in the spoken language, they learn about its metalinguistics and the cultural traits of the hearing community. This approach creates an inclusive environment where deaf students can equally engage in both linguistic and cultural communities.

This bilingual-bicultural approach is practiced in Scandinavian countries, increasingly adopted across Europe, and also used in the Americas and Australia.

Oralism

The main goal of oralism is to develop speech and hearing skills, making spoken language the primary method of communication. Oralism prohibits the use of sign language in the education of deaf individuals, focusing instead on lip-reading, speech, and listening, with the belief that this approach helps integrate them into the hearing community.

Before the rise of oralism, sign languages were used in the education of deaf individuals, leading to an increase in schools for the deaf and a growing number of deaf teachers and specialists. This contributed to the strengthening of the Deaf community and culture, with deaf individuals establishing their own organizations and developing a rich and recognized form of art. Oralism emerged in the 1880s, leading to the closure of many schools for the deaf and the marginalization of Deaf culture and sign language.

Total Communication

Total communication is a philosophical approach to educating deaf children that encompasses the use of all available communication tools. This approach includes elements of sign language and manual alphabets, spoken language, simultaneous communication, lip-reading, listening, reading, and writing. The goal is to promote the development of speech and language using the techniques that are most effective for each individual deaf child.

Manualism

Manualism is an educational approach for deaf individuals that relies on using sign language as the primary mode of communication. Deaf children learn the sign language of their community as their first and natural language.

Manualism was long the dominant approach in the education of deaf children. One of its proponents was Laurent Clerc, who, along with Thomas Gallaudet, founded the first school for the deaf in America.

The education of deaf children has evolved over time, with various approaches being applied today. However, one thing remains certain: the education of deaf children should not be a matter of compromise but rather a matter of empowerment and support that enables each deaf child to fully develop their potential.