Collaboration, Hearing Aids and Assistive Devices as Means of Transforming the Education of the Hearing Impaired Persons in Nigeria’s Inclusive Educational Programmes

Abstract

It is a right and mandatory that all school age children should be included in the UBE Universal Basic Education programme. The implementation remains problematic, especially for the hearing impaired learners, who have language, hearing and communication problems. More so, classrooms teachers in regular schools cannot adequately meet up with the needs, challenges and demands of the hearing impaired learners with diversified needs ad goals. To overcome these problems in the successful implementation of an inclusive programme for hearing impaired person, there is a need for collaboration by teams of stake-holders including experts, parents, teachers, diagnosticians, special educators, consultants, psychological, otologists, audiologists, and others. There is a need to accept challenges, change our notions about school structures and services, that are meant to host the hearing impaired learners. There should be alternative resources, positive attitudes to teaching and methodology. To overcomes some of these problems in the inclusive education for the hearing impaired, in the regular schools system. There is a need for amplification devices like cochlear implants and the hearing aids for the learners, as well as other assistive devices like loop induction, group trainers, FM radio and other multi channel programmes, and aids in the classroom. All these are necessary, for transforming the education of the hearing impaired in Nigeria in the UBE programme implementation.