The retarded child learns best

BY SPECIAL METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

Educators are generally agreed that the most characteris­tic educational disability of the retarded is difficulty in learning. This difficulty shows up in mаnу different ways. Retarded children are older than other children before they learn those things which they will be able to learn. While growth is slow for a number of years they are able to master mоrе and more difficult skills, especially if they are placed in a good learning situation. But there are some things they will never bе able to master.

He will not reach the average level in learning, no matter how 1ong one waits.

When a retarded child appears to have difficulty in memorizing, it is often because the materials being presented are too difficult for him to understand, or his interest has not been aroused. Mechanical repetition, or rot learning, without interest or motivation sееms to be ineffective with the retarded. Reading and other subjects using symbols seem to be especially difficult for most of the mentally retarded. This means that the teacher most frequently uses special teaching methods.

The methods of instruction for mentally defectives are based on the fact that they can learn something every year but slower than other children. Such children need additional coaching as well as remedial help in specific subjects.

The mentally retarded child differs frоm the normal in that he learns more slowly, needs more repetition of material, needs a great variety of presentations (approaches). It is recommended to introduce few new words at a time and to re­peat more after the child has acquired sight vocabulary. Тhе instruction of mental defectives must be oral, visual and at the sаmе time correlated with the child's interests. Such children must make use of illustrated elementary readers and story books with a very limited vocabulary in clear print and well illustrated.

However oral expression is the chief aim of language in­struction. The speaking vocabulary should increase gradually and the child should learn to express complete thoughts be­fore he learns to read sentences. Written language grows out of the use of oral language. The pupil must be able to say first the things which he wishes to write. Yet, if carefully guided retarded children read for pleasure.

Т E R M S

to show up проявляться

to master овладевать, осваивать

to memorize запоминать

rote learning механическое заучивание

additional coaching дополнительная помощь в обучении

remedial help лечебная помощь

variety of presentations разнообразие подхода /методов/

sight vocabulary конкретней /видимый вокабуляр/

illustrated elementary readers иллюстрированные облегченные книги для чтения

CEREBRAL PALSIED CHILDREN

Cerebral palsy is a general term which covers a variety of conditions caused by damage to certain areas in the brain. The most common forms are the spastic, the athetotic, and the ataxic. Speech is disturbed in about 70%of cases of cerebral palsy.

Their speech is labored, slow, the voice is often mono­tonous and relatively uncontrolled, and the articulation suf­fers because of the impaired muscular coordination. Cerebral palsied speech is a problem for the professional speech correctionist, but the classroom teacher plays a vital role in giving him opportunities of the training recommended by the speech correctionist and by other specialists. The treatment of cerebral palsy is a complex problem and the cooperation of a number of specialists is needed: the therapist, the neuro­logist, the pediatrician, the orthopedist, the speech correctionist and others. The majority of cerebral palsied children have several handicaps and therefore they need many kinds of help. They have the motor handicap by which their condition is defined and diagnosed, but they also have sensory difficulties and perceptual impairments. It is difficult for them to adjust to their handicaps and get through school and find a place in the life. Sometimes the child is emotionally unst­able; sometimes he is mentally retarded.

Cerebral palsied children attend a special school or a regular school. Sometimes they require permanent clinic care, some get education at home.

For many cerebral palsied children in overall programme would include the following.

1) Relaxation and voluntary control of the speech muscu­lature.

2) The establishment of breath control for vocalization and articulation.

Such children breathe too deeply or too shallowly for purposes of speech.

For most cerebral palsied children a normal length of phrase is not to be expected. Short, uninterrupted phrasing is a more modest and more possible achievement. For breath control blowing through a straw is helpful.

3) Control of the organs of articulation.

Considerable exercises are needed to establish directed and independent action of the tongue and to overcome the fre­quently present tendency of such a child to move his jaw аs he attempts to move his tongue and lift his tongue independently of his jaw.

Children enjoy such exercises as licking honey from their lips, or reaching for a bit of honey placed on the upper gum ridge.

The child should be shown what he does by observing himself in a mirror.

This muscle training may be carried out by incorporating it into functional work or it may be accomplished in isolation from any useful or meaningful activity.

The speech therapist emphasizes muscle training for ce­rebral palsied person.

4) Work on individual speech sounds.

The sounds most frequently defective are those that re­quire precise tip of the tongue action.

These include: t, d, n, 1, r, s, z. Sound play calling for repetition of the sounds the child can produce, may give the child a feeling of accomplishment. For many children nor­mal articulation may not be expected.

5) Incorporation of sounds in words and phrases.

Many cerebral palsied children have considerable diffi­culty in making the translation from the production individual sounds to connected speech.

Articulation must be coordinated with breathing and vocalization, then children speak better. The speech of the celebral palsied children may be normal when the muscles of the articulatory and respiratory organs are not affected but in general the speech is slow, jerky and laboured.

The rhythm is faulty with unnatural breaks. The consonants, particularly those which require precise articulation are apt to be inaccurate.Language development may be retard­ed.

T E R M S

cerebral palsy церебральный паралич

condition зд. состояние

damage повреждение

brain мозг

the spastic спастический паралич

the athetotic атетоз /небольшие подёргивания/

the ataxic атаксия /нарушение координации/

impaired coordination нарушенная координация

speech correctionist логопед

neurologist невропатолог

pediatrician педиатр

orthopedist ортопед

sensory difficulties сенсорные нарушения

perceptual impairments нарушения восприятия

emotionally unstable эмоционально неустойчивые

relaxation расслабление, отдых

voluntary control произвольное управление

tongue язык

jaw челюсть

upper gum ridge верхний край десны

translation зд. переход

ТУРЕSOF SPEECH DEFECTS

A speech defect may be defined as any acoustic variation from an accepted speech standard.

Speech defects are the most prevalent of all the handi­caps of childhood. These defects are most numerous in the primary grades and decrease steadily in the senior grades. Boys have speech defects much more frequently than girls.

Speech defects include 1) functional articulatory de­fects; 2) stuttering; 3)voice defects; 4) cleft palate speech; 5) cerebral palsy speech; 6) retarded speech develop­ment and 7) speech defects due to impaired hearing.

Articulatory Defects include 1) the omission of sounds; 2) the substitution of one sound for another; 3) the distortion of sounds; 4) general indistinctness.

Articulatory defects present one of the most important problems of the speech correction programme, for most speech defects are of articulatory type. About three fourth of the speech defects are of articulatory type. About three fourth of the speech defects in a school population are articulatory. But many parents do not feel that articulatory defects are se­rious. Some parents have become so accustomed to their child­ren’s articulatory errors that they do not even hear them. Other parents think that their children will outgrow their articulatory difficulties.

Most children who make articulatory errors make more than one and usually are not consistent in their errors. Thеу maу make a sound correctly in one word and incorrectly in another. Or they may even substitute a sound that they do not ordinari­ly make correctly in one word for another sound. For example, they may say “thun” for “sun”.

This category includes many terms. Perhaps the one which parents use more frequently is “bаbу talk”. When the child omits substitutes or distorts his speech sounds as does a younger child, this term is applicable. In fact, some writers now include articulatory defects under the term “delayed speech” or “retarded speech development”. They indicate that the child reaches a certain level of development but does not progress beyond that certain point.

Other terms commonly included in this category are lisping and lalling. Lisping refers to аny defect of any or all of the four sibilant sounds: s, sh, z, zh. Lalling means difficulty with the “1” and “r” sounds.

T E R M S

speech defect речевой дефект

speech correction (rehabilitation, improvement, reeducation) логопедия

stuttering заикание

cleft palate расщелина твердого нёба

cerebral palsy церебральный паралич

articulatory errors артикуляторные ошибки

the substitution of one sound for another замена одного зву­ка другим

the omission of sounds пропуск звуков

the distortion of sounds искажение звуков

to become accustomed to привыкать к ….

Lisping сигматизм /шепелявость/

retarded speech development задержка речевого развития

delayed speech задержка речи

lalling ламбдацизм

sibilant sounds свистящие и шипящие звуки

general indistinctness общая нечёткость речи

STUTTERING

Stuttering is a disorder of childhood. The incidence of stuttering is highest from the age of six to ten; as the age of puberty is approached, the number of cases of stutter­ing decreases markedly.

More boys than girls stutter.

This fact is certainly significant. This is because boys learn speech more slowly and are more apt to have speech de­fects of all kinds than girls.

Stuttering has certain hereditary aspects. The persistant recurrence of this disorder in certain families is dif­ficult to explain merely on the basis of imitation. The fact that many of the stutterers in those families had little or no contact with stuttering relatives indicated the presence of some biological transmittable factor. Twinning, left-handedness and stuttering are often associated as hereditary factors.

The so-called speech organs of stutterers are structu­rally normal as in non-stutterers.

The stutterer’s articulatory muscles show some slowness. He cannot move his muscles as fast, as continuously, or as independently as a non-stutterer can.

During a stuttering block, a serious disorganization of the integrating centers of the central nervous system takes place. An asymmetrical action of paired muscles оn the two sides of the face appears. Lack of co-ordination of the limbs or eyes осcurs…

It is necessary for parents and teachers to cо-oреrаte with the specialist (speech therapist) in the treatment of stuttering. Irritating factors in the environment should be removed. We have a problem ofpreventing the development of fears and anxiety. The stuttering sраsms usually produce fear and anxiety; they, in turn, result in more serious and complex speech blocks, which ofthemselves create fеаrs. Тhe speech-therapist who examines the cases of stuttering will indicate, of course, the specific mеаsures for the treatment of each case. These specific mеаsures are different. There is no sudden cure, but there is every reason to hope for improvement.

But first of all the specialist should persuade the pa­tient that the first thing which he must understand is he must learn to live with the stuttering. Of course he does not want to stutter, he would prefer not to stutter. How­ever the more he tries to avoid stuttering the more he stutters. When he acquires the objective attitude to his stuttering, the second phase oftherapy maybe begun, name­ly, the process of eliminating the habit of substituting other words for words upon which the stutterer fears he will block. As the speech of the stutterer is rapid, stir­red, indistinct, it is desirable to give the stutterer the opportunity to participate in choral reading and singing. A very important aspect in speech training for the stutte­rer is the acquisition of slow speech of a normal rhythm.

The general principle for speech therapy is this:

a) seek to discover and remove all the possible irritating factors in the child’s environment, b) prevent the develop­ment of fear and anxiety about his speech, c) promote the growth of personality and social adjustment. Since stutter­ing is a disorder of childhood, it is more than probable that as the processes of normal maturation take рlace the symptoms of stuttering will gradually disappear, if a good therapy is applied in treatment of such stuttering children. There is not one simple procedure for treatment, they are many. The speech therapist must have some information about the child: 1) Does he stutter every time he talks or is it spasmodic? 2) Is it getting worse? 3) Does it appear in his speech when he is on the playground, as well as in the classroom? 4) Is there any relationship between appearance of the stuttering and his apparent physical condition, emo­tional state, persons with whom he talks, topics of conver­sation, time of day, attitude of the teacher?

This information is important to choose the most effective procedures for the treatment of stuttering …..

T E R M S

eliminate устранять

stirred возбужденная

stuttering заикание

puberty половая зрелость

hereditary наследственный

recurrence возвращение, повторение

twinning рождение близнецов

left handedness леворукость

stuttering block спазм заикания

integrating centers центры обобщения

paired muscles парные мышцы

cure, treatment лечение

irritating factors раздражающие факторы

to prolong vowels растягивать гласные

spasmodic судорожный

physical condition физическое состояние

emotional state эмоциональное состояние

CLEFT LIP AND CLEFT PALATE

Cleft lip should be repaired as soon as possible after birth. As to cleft palate repair, opinion is different. Some specialists prefer to operate when the child is eight or ten months old; others prefer to wait until the child is eighteen or twenty-four months of age. As a rule, more than one operation is required to close the cleft completely. Real speech re-education cannot begin until surgical repair has been completed. In cases where surgical repair must be delayed it is desirable, that the child receive phonetic instruction. But first of all the teacher must consult the clinical center regarding the patient.

The child must, first of all, learn to direct the air stream through the mouth, instead of through the nose as hаs been his habit. This ability is a prerequisite to nor­mal sound production. Teaching the consonant sounds to cleft palate children is often more difficult than teaching them to children with articulatory defects, resulting from other causes. Cleft-palate children frequently have little con­ception of how to use the tongue. In as much as the consonant sounds are essential to the intelligibility of speech it is usually wise to teach consonants first even though the vowels are still nasalized.

T E R M S

cleft lip расщелина губы /заячья губа/

cleft palate расщелина нёба /волчья пасть/

speech reeducation речевая коррекционно-восстановительная работа

surgical repair хирургическое восстановление

air stream поток воздуха

intelligibility of speech осмысление речи

consonants согласные

vowels гласные

SPEECH THERAPY

Speech correction or improvement or therapy are terms used to define the specific instruction which should be pro­vided for the deaf and h.o.h. who have developed basic speech and language patterns but have not perfected the best speech they are capable of producing.

The speech therapist tries to locate the error within the word in: 1) initial, 2) medial or 3) final (terminal) positions.

Tiger kitten net

He must find the error in terms of substitution, omission, distortion.

The рroblem of enunciation involves the good usage of sounds that go to make up words and continue to keep their ringing qualities. The vowels must be full and clear.

Sentences should be made up largely of visible articulatory movements. Sentences should be of moderate length.

The speech correctionist must have a knowledge and understanding of classroom teaching methods and correlate it with the total рrogramme.

It is well known that children vary in their manner of learning. One child lеаrns more еasily through auditory stimulation, while another mау respond better to visual and still another to kinesthetic stimulation.

Children learn to correct speech errors through anyone or combination of these types of learning.

Some children, particularly the deaf and the hard of hearing need to watch the mоvеments involved in the production ofa sound and at the same time get the “feel” of it, the vibration, and pressure felt bythe hand when it is placed upon the jaw, the throat, or thelips of the teacher.

The kinesthetic methods of speech correction are used bу sоmе teachers for all kinds of articulatory disorders.

The basic principle of the “moto-kinesthetic” method is the use of pressure, striking, touching and manual manipulation of speech organs.

The “moto-kinesthetic” method involves such technique by which оne learns to guide the muscles of the speech ap­paratus into accurate movements for the production of cor­rect sound. Each sound has its own characteristic movements which the teacher shows through the manipulation of the pupil’s speech mechanism.

A significant number of the school population should have speech correction services.

Each speech correctionist devises his own procedure for giving articulatory examination.

For the child, listening to the particular sound he is to correct is a part of the therapy technique. The child needs to be bombarded with the sound to hear it in as many different words and situations as possible. For example, if a child makes “k, g” incorrectly, pictures of “candy”, “gun”, “pig”, “gate”, “garden” may be shown.

With older children, the procedure is less of a game. If the older child makes “s” incorrectly, he may underline all the words containing “s” in a given paragraph.

In working with the schoolchild, the speech patholo­gist combines the more visible of the consonants p, b, m, s, r, f, v, sh, ch, th, w, and blend them with vowels.

T E R M S

speech therapy (correction, improvement) логопедия

h.o.h. сокр. от hard of hearing - слабослышащие

speech therapist (speech pathologist, speech correctionist) логопед

substitution замена

omission пропуск

distortion искажение

enunciation чёткое произношение

auditory stimulation слуховой стимулятор

visual stimulation зрительный стимулятор

kinesthetic stimulation кинестетический стимулятор

jaw челюсть .

throat горло

lips губы

articulatory disorders артикуляционные дефекты

to devise изобретать, придумывать

articulatory examination артикуляторное обследование

CLASSIFICATION OF THE DEAF

The pedagogic classification of the deaf and hard hearing child and his educational development is of even more vital importance than his consideration as a clinical entity.

This classification is dependent on:

a) the age of the child,

b) degree of defective hearing,

c) acquired fluency of speech.

There are several types of deaf children.

One type is a congenially deaf child who has never heard speech.

The other type is one who has acquired a hearing defect after the establishment of speech. There are two types of acquired deafness in children.

First, the child who has acquired deafness before he has sensed fluent speech.

The other, the child who has acquired deafness after fluency of speech has been established.

The first type of children with total deafness which has come in before speech has been developed is to follow the same course of training as the congenitally deaf who has never heard speech.

The child who has acquired deafness before the age of 3 years may be placed in the same class for training as the child who has never heard speech.

It is interesting to note that a large percentage (30%) of children with biological congenital deafness also exhibit sufficient residual hearing, that way be used as a nucleus for reeducation.

The other type of child who hаs acquired deafness after development of speech is one who has suffered from infectious diseases such as meningitis, influenza etc.

Let us consider more in detail children with defective hearing.

They are:

1) Children congenitally deaf who were born with a total loss of hearing, or who through disease or accident lost their hearing before they had learned to talk.

2) Children who have lost all or almost all their hearing after speech and language patterns have been established, and they have educational treatment as though they were only hard of hearing (h.o.h).

3) Children who, while having a significant hearing loss, are, not profoundly deaf and whose varying degrees of resi­dual hearing can be utilized to a great advantage in their education.

Children in the first of these groups present the most serious educational problems due to their total lack of experience with natural speech or language. Children in the second group have a foundation of language usage and of natural speech upon which education must be helpful to them.

Children in the third group can with the use of mecha­nical hearing aids conserve or develop much of the natural quality of speaking voice and the ability to use oral language.

Т E R M S

clinical entity пациент, рассмотрение ребенка как клиниче­ского больного

degree of defective hearing степень недостатка слуха

acquired fluency of speech приобретенная беглость речи

congenitally deaf child глухой от рождения

the establishment of speech patterns овладение речевыми на­выками

to acquire deafness оглохнуть

total deafness полная глухота

to exhibit выявлять, проявлять

residual hearing остаточный слух

re-education переобучение

to suffer from страдать от

infectious diseases инфекционные заболевания

total loss of hearing полная потеря олуха

accident несчастный случай

significant hearing loss значительная потеря слуха

profoundly deaf совершенно глухой

varying degrees разные степени /глухоты/

to a great advantage с большой пользой

total lack of experience полное отсутствие опыта

educational treatment медико-педагогическое воздействие

hearing aid слуховой прибор для глухих и слабослышащих;

слуховой протез

ability способность

to conserve сохранить

LIPREADING

The deaf child aswell as the hard of hearing repre­sent an educational problem involving the teaching of speech, language, and lipreading (it is sometimes called speech-reading).

The most important elements involved in the education of deaf persons is lipreading, since they cannot hear the spoken words with their ears as an oral then as written.

Lipreading is preparatory to all language work and it is quite independent of speech development.

The words learned in speech-reading must be associated with printed and written words and thus reading and writing is developed.

Lipreading is the ability to understand spoken words and sentences by watching the movements of the lips and other facial muscles without hearing the speaker’s voice.

It is important to speak naturally and with careful enunciation. Lipreading is made evident not only by the ar­ticulation of sounds, but also by the movements of the lips, tongue, muscles of the face, by the positions of the teeth and jaw.

Speechreading is dependent upon vision. Reception of speech can take place only when speaker and listener are quite close to each other so that the eyes may focus upon the speaker’s face and the lipreader is required to derive meaning from the partial clues he observes. The stream of speech is made up of a series of consonants and vowels placed in well coordinated syllables.

Some of the consonant sounds such ask, g, and ng are not visible on the lips because they are produced within the mouth cavity.

There is a kinesthetic method of teaching lipreading which consists in the following: the child must not only imitate the lip movement of the teacher but must use the sense of touch as well as that of sight.

The pupil places his hand on the teacher’s throat as a word is pronounced, then places it upon his own as he at­tempts to say the required word. The child must get the “feel” of the vibration and pressure felt by the hand when it is placed upon the jaw, the throat or the lips of the teacher.

He is made to realize that the movements he feels must be reproduced, as well as the lip movements that he sees, it demands consistent and continuous repetition.

Lipreading is recommended to all school children whose hearing loss averages 20 db or more in the better ear.

Lipreading is possibly a sixth sense and it can be looked upon as a substitute for hearing only in the case of the totally deaf.

For all partially deaf, it can and should act as sup­port to hearing and is universally helpful to those handi­capped in hearing and its systematic teaching is a legiti­mate part of the special educational curriculum of all ages. A few can learn to lipread in a year or two but for the majority a longer period of practice is needed and practice day in and day out, on every type of mouth.

Success in learning lipreading varies. Children learn more readily than grown ups. Women acquire morе skill and learn more quickly than men.

Methods used in lipreading changed in the past 50 years. It has started from the alphabet system and has gone through syllables and words to the “whole thought” method. The wider use of hearing aids has not changed the need of lipreading.

Lipreading remains a basic tool in the communicative process for all deaf and hard of hearing persons.

T E R M S

db = decibel децибел

lipreading or speechreading чтение с губ

by watching the movements наблюдая движения

facial muscles мускулы лица

careful enunciation правильное и тщательное произношение

teeth and jaw зубы и челюсть

vision зрение

sight зрение

reception of speech восприятие речи

to be visible on быть заметным

kinesthetic method кинестетический метод

to imitate подражать

sense of touch чувство осязания

to reproduce воспроизводить

continuous repetition постоянное повторение

to average доходить в среднем

hearing in the better ear лучшая слышимость в одном ухе

a sixth sense шестое чувство

asubstitute for hearing замена олуха

hearing handicapped с недостатком слуха

a legitimate part of основная часть

grown ups взрослые

readily охотно

to acquire more skill получать бoльшие навыки

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

There are several patterns of methods used in teaching deaf children.

Manual method

This method comprises the use of the hand gesture and signs, manual alphabet and writing. The deaf learn the system of signs consisting of gestures, bodily movements and mimic actions. The deaf learn this form of communication readily and prefer it to any other.

It represents today their principal means of non-written communication and is employed almost everywhere.

A serious disadvantage of education by the manual method is the inability for direct contact with persons unfamiliar with the sign method, unless by using pad and pencil.

Finger spelling method

Annual alphabet or finger spelling is the chief means used in the instruction of the deaf. More exactly, finger spelling is a means by which the fingers of the hand are fashioned into forms to represent the letters of the alpha­bet.

The deaf of most nations employ single-handed manual alphabet. In the British Isles, except Ireland, a double handed alphabet is used. The two-handed system is said to be a slower method.

The sign language

The sign language is a system of gestures and movements of body, face, head, arms and hands and postures of the whole body to convey meanings.

This method has the disadvantage of contact only with those familiar with it.

Oral method

The oral method has for its aim the training of the deaf child in oral speech and in written speech. It serves to accomplish the mechanics of articulation, the production of voice differentiation in pitch and rhythm, the control of breath, and efficiently instructed by this method can acquire fluency of oral speech, and efficiency in lip-reading.

This method undertakes to train the pupil to “hear” or­dinary speech by means of lip-reading and to communicate by speech.

The pupil being taught to form words consciously, attempt is made too, to improve the voice quality which is not pleasing.

Simultaneous method.

“The simultaneous method” is called because the class room teacher speaks while he uses the language of signs and manual alphabet, so the pupils who have lipreading ability and wish to follow the lesson in that way can do so.

Thus he always has language of signs and the manual al­phabet to fall back if he misses a word on the lips.

A hearing person can follow the work in the classroom as well as a deaf person because the teacher is speaking orally while he is using the language of signs.

T E R M S

patterns of methods образцы методов

manual method ручной комбинированный метод

to comprise охватывать

hand gesture and signs жестикуляторная-мимическая речь

manual alphabet ручной алфавит, дактилология

bodily movement движение тела

mimic actions мимические выражения

form of communication форма общения

principal means главные средства

non-written communication общение без помощи письменной речи

to be employed применяться

inability невозможность

unfamiliar незнакомый

disadvantage недостаток

pad and pencil блокнот и карандаш

Finger Spelling method or manual alphabet метод ручной аз­буки

chief means главное средство

to fashion ставить, ставиться / о пальцах/

single handed manual alphabet ручная азбука одной рукой

double handed спомощью обеих рук

gesture жест

posture положение тела

to accomplish достигать совершенства

oral method устный, оральный метод

pitch of voice высота голоса

control of breath контроль дыхания

by means of при помощи

simultaneous method симультанный метод

a language of signs язык жестов

consciously сознательно

THE HARD OF НЕАRING

Until the early 1900’s everybody with a hearing loss was classified as “deaf”.

The term “hard of hearing” has been adopted from the German expression “Schwerhorigkeit”.

The hard of hearing (h.o.h.) is sometimes called “the partially deaf”, “deafened”, or “partially hearing”.

In school practice the fundamental difference between “the deaf” and the “hard of hearing” is established by the amount of speech and language they possessed, established be­fore the onset of the hearing handicap.

The hard of hearing child has a distinct advantage over the deaf child in having some experience with speech and language.

Regardless of the type and degree of his impairment, the h.o.h. (hard of hearing) person must learn to listen attenti­vely if he wishes to learn to hear properly again. The use of a hearing aid is fundamental to any programme of re-educating residual hearing.

The hard of hearing are provided with a rehabilitation programme including auditory training, lipreading.

The hard of hearing children are expected to use the combined sense of hearing and sight in the perception of speech as they are instructed in lipreading and auditory training.

In almost all classes for h.o.h. children there are pupils of varying degrees of intelligence and language back­grounds. The academic group is composed of those who wish to continue through high school. The vocational group is for those who wish to go to work soon after they have reached the limit of the compulsory school law.

Т E R M S

hearing loss потеря слуха

hearing aid слуховой аппарат

auditory training тренировка слуха

lipreading считывание с губ

background зд. подготовка

THE HEARING MECHANISM

The hearing mechanism consists of 3 parts: 1) the outer, 2) middle and 3) inner ear chambers.

Deafness is typed by the doctors according to the part of the mechanism involved.

Air conduction deafness means that the outer and middle earchambers are not functioning normally, whereas perceptive or nerve deafness indicates that the cochlear section (inner ear) is at fault.

There are two mechanisms to be considered in the physiology of hearing:

a) the sound conducting mechanism;

b) the sound perceiving mechanism.

The outer ear mechanism consists of the auricle, and the canal leading to the membrane called the ear drum. The collec­tion and concentration of sound waves is performed by the auricle and the external auditory canal. The auricle reflects the sound waves into the auditory canal.

One of the most difficult problems is that of abnormali­ty of development of the auricle and the external ear canal. In complete absence of the ear canal there is about 50 db hearing loss.

The middle ear is air filled, and connected with the throat by the Eustachian tube. Its purpose is to provide ventilations and drainage for the middle ear and to equalize air pressure on both sides of the drum.

When we yawn or swallow, the Eustachian tube opens and the air pressure on both sides of the drum is equalized again.

There are 3 bones in the middle ear: the hammer, the anvil, the stirrup. They serve as a protection against damage to the ear from very loud sounds.

The inner ear is the vital organ of hearing. It consists of 2 sections: the cochlea which looks like a snail and the system of semicircular canals. Unlike the air-filled middle ear, the inner ear is filled with fluid. The motion of the fluid in the cochlea agitates the nerve endings in the mem­brane dividing the inner ear cavern. The stimulation of these nerves is then transmitted to the brain.

So, the action of the middle ear is mechanical. Its function is to conduct sound vibrations.

The action of the inner ear is to transfоrm mechanical energy into the electrical energy of nerve impulses and its function is to perceive sound. Loss of hearing is most com­monly caused by the acute infections of nose and throat usual­ly described as “colds”, “catarrh” and “sinus trouble”.

The nose, throat, sinuses and ears are all connecting cavities in the bony structure of the head. A certain number of germs exist in them all the time and they may produce inflammation, which may damage the ear.

T E R M S

the hearing mechanism слуховой аппарат, орган

outer ear chamber внешняя полость уха

middle ear chamber средняя полость уха, среднеe ухо

inner ear chamber внутренняя полость yxa, внутреннее ухо

air conduction deafness глyxoта вследствие воздушной непроводимости

perceptive deafness восприимчивая глухота

cochlear улитка /уха/

to be at fault быть в затруднении

auricle наружное ухо

ear drum барабанная перепонка

sound waves звуковые волны

throat горло

Eustachian tube евстахиева труба

bone кость

the hammer молоточек

the anvil наковальня

the stirrup стремя

the cochlea улитка /уха/

snail улитка

fluid жидкость, жидкая среда

acute infections острые инфекционные заболевания

colds простуда

sinus trouble болезнь пазух

germ микроб