Type of Hard of Hearing Class to promote Integration of the Children into Regular School

Abstract

The hard of hearing class has been established at many areas in Japan since 1960, but the types of hearing-hard class is different in each area because of different circumstance. In order to know what type of the class is desirables to integrate hearing impaired children into regular school, the authors investigated 147 children in 31 schools who entered the hard of hearing classes on April in 1972, and 107 children in 9 schools who graduate from the hard of hearing classes on March in 1972, and their auditory sensity, mental abilities and preschool history were studied.
The results were as follows:
1) Hearing loss more than 80dB, were found in 42 out of 147 children who entered the hard of hearing class, and hearing loss less than 60dB were found in half of 107 children who graduated from the class.
2) On mental abilities, both of graduates and new-comers had I. Q. between 90 and 109.
3) About preschool history, most of the children who had a heavy handicap more than 80dB were educated at the school for the deaf and they showed I. Q. more than 110. Most of the children who had hearing handicap less than 60dB were educated at regular school, and they had I. Q. less than 90. This fact showed than in the hard of hearing class the children who had a higher learning ability in spite of heavy hearing hardicapwere competed with the children who had a lower learning ability in spite of mild hearing handicap.
4) From the above mentioned results, the authors think that the special class closely connected with regular class in a same school may be the most disirable style for education of the hearing impaired children. They can be classified in regular class as handicaped and, on the other hand, their learningdelay due to the handicap will be caught up in special class. It is enhanced that the special class has to be established in the same school so as to have smooth co-operation between the special and the regular class.