Folder for the Swedish Organisation Hard of Hearing Young People.

1. Why bilingualism is important
All hard of hearing
children must early
!
in their life be given
the opportunity to
learn both a national
Sign Language and
their native spoken
language so that they,
later on in life, can
choose what type of
communication they
want to use.
That is real freedom
of choice.

2. The language equation
Who are you without a language? It is a breath-
taking question. Accessibility to language is
fundamental for social interaction, personal
development and abstract thinking. Developing a
language during childhood occurs unconsciously
and automatically. But everyone who has been
struggling with vocabulary, late night classes and
” phrase-books, knows that it becomes harder to
learn a language later on in life. Nor is it necessarily the
case that the language one develops as a teenager
or adult, can be maintained at the same level as the
one that develops from an earlier age.
Bilingualism, for a person with reduced hearing,
Native spoken means that she or he can master – and need – both
a national Sign Language and a native spoken
language language. To be bilingual increases an individuals
+ ability to participate in society by being able to
switch between the two languages.
National Sign
Language Bilingualism enables for children and young people
with reduced hearing to participate in everyday
= life, to be independent and also gives them the
”
opportunity to develop on their own terms. We
Participation believe that all hard of hearing children should be
given an opportunity to learn both a national Sign
Language and a native spoken language early on
in their lives.

3. My bilingualism makes it possible for
me to use Swedish Sign Language
interpreters during classes. It gives
me a sense of security, because I can
easily follow what is being said and
”
I don’t have to be afraid of missing
out on information.
– Heléne, 23, hard of hearing since childhood, social studies-student

4. Why bilingualism?
Sometimes it is hard for me to It is important to have a life long perspective when
hear everything that is being it comes to people with reduced hearing. It is
said, and then it’s good to impossible to predict what good technical hearing
know Sign Language. I always aids can do for a particular child in the future, or
use Sign Language on the in which situations his/her hearing ability isn’t
subway for example because
enough. For instance, what works in the classroom
of the noise. At home and at
school I speak Swedish, but I may not necessarily work during recess, in the
use Sign Language with my woodwork room or at a café.
”
deaf and hard of hearing
friends. It is perhaps first at the transition point from
upper secondary school to university or further
- Emma, age 13, uses cochlear into working life, that technical hearing aids are
implants and goes to a class for no longer sufficient to allow meaningful participa-
children with reduced hearing
tion in a discussion, a group project or a meeting.
Having to learn a national Sign Language at that
stage in order to be able to use an interpreter is for
a majority of individuals not an easy option. The
right to a bilingual upbringing is essential in order
to guarantee participation and access in a wide
range of situations, both in the present and in the
future.
We advocate that all hard of hearing children are
given the opportunity to learn both a national Sign
Language and a native spoken language in order
that they can at a later stage in life themselves make
appropriate choices about what language to use.

5. Bilingualism and education
At the playground, the dress-up box or during hide
and seek, is not always oral communication that
matters. But when a child starts school, conversations
with classmates start to play a more central role. When
a child has reduced hearing a lot of his/her energy
is spent on reading lips and trying to hear what is
being said. Today’s modern teaching that emphasizes
group projects and discussions, unwittingly leads to
less participation for hard of hearing students and
not surprisingly many of them complain of head ache
and tiredness after a school day.
In the special schools for deaf or hard of hearing
students education is provided in Swedish Sign
Language and with the help of hearing technical
”
aids. Today the student groups in these settings are
quite different compared to earlier on since many
deaf children are operated with cochlear implants. A lot of hard of hearing stu-
As a result there is a decrease in the number of deaf dents complain of headache
children in the special schools. and tiredness after a day in
school. Swedish Sign Language
It is important that the special schools continue to is a much more intelligent
”
provide education in a bilingual environment that solution compared to pain-
meets the children’s needs. Those students who are killers.
integrated in a class with hearing students should
have the opportunity to regularly visit the special
schools in order to keep in touch with Swedish
Sign Language.

6. Bilingualism after school
Striking numbers In the classroom it is usually possible for a person
It is only about 10 percent of with reduced hearing to participate, with the help
hard of hearing high school of technical hearing aids. But the situation is quite
students who go on into college different when one is hanging out with friends in
and university, compared to a café or at the swimming pool. To be able to go
45 percent of the hearing to a noisy café, and communicate in Swedish Sign
high school students. One Language with your friends is a major advantage
in five students with redu- - it makes it possible to concentrate on communi-
ced hearing does not have cating instead of hearing. Hearing aids and water
a passing grade in the core is not a good combination! It is really hard to hear
”
subjects Swedish, mathe-
matics or English.
at an indoor swimming pool where the acoustics
are generally poor. To be able to use Swedish Sign
- Information from the 2007 Language there, or to engage a Swedish Sign
annual report from the Language interpreter to be able to take part in a
Swedish Association of Hard
of Hearing People swimming class enables participation.
To know Swedish Sign Language is also an advan-
tage at the workplace, even if ones’ colleagues can
hear. It does not matter how accommodating ones’
fellow workers are, it can be hard to get a technical
solution that functions well during, for example,
meetings. To know Swedish Sign Language and be
able to use a Swedish Sign Language interpreter
during such occasions is an effective solution for
hard of hearing people.

7. We have never seen any opposition
between Swedish and Swedish Sign
Language, we feel quite the opposite
since the languages help each other
to develop. Emma’s first language is
Swedish but we are convinced that
she speaks as well as she does thanks
”
to her early access to Swedish Sign
Language.
– Ulf, dad to Emma who has cochlear implants

8. Problems and solutions
Double use Option to choose
For children who have a Problem: One sometimes hears that it is possible
severe hearing reduction it to learn a national Sign Language if one wants to,
can be difficult to start spea- and that it is freedom of choice that determines the
king a native language. Sign learning. But in reality it is the hard of hearing child’s
Language can step in and be parents who decide if their child should have access to
a launching pad to help get a Sign Language or not. What happens if the parents
the native spoken language lack commitment – or the knowledge – to take up the
going. A native spoken langu- fight for their child’s right to bilingualism?
age and a national Sign Lang-
uage therefore benefit one Solution: Stop the option! A national Sign Lang-
another in a linguistic com- uage is a must alongside the native spoken language.
”
municative development. All hard of hearing children should be given the
opportunity to learn both a national Sign Language
and a native spoken language.
TUFF
Problem: In Sweden we have an ordinance called
TUFF that gives parents and siblings of hard of
hearing children the right to government funded
Swedish Sign Language education. But TUFF does
not include the hard of hearing child itself; para-
doxically this child has no legal right to learn Swedish
Sign Language.
Solution: Toughen the law! Make an amendment
that will give all hard of hearing children and adults
the legal right to Swedish Sign Language education.
Such a law must also be much more encompassing
then the one we have today.

9. Problems and solutions
Sign language environments
Problem: Today there is no clear organisation for
how hard of hearing children and young people
should have access to Swedish Sign Language
environments. That is the case especially for
children attending mainstreamed classes with
hearing children.
Solution: The National Agency for Special Needs
Education and Schools in Sweden should have
”
the responsibility for Swedish Sign Language
education and make sure that there is a possibility
to have access to Sign Language environments. How does it sound?
Resource centers should be created where students Every hard of hearing person is
who attend mainstreamed classes should be able unique and it can be difficult
to meet other hard of hearing children not least to explain how one perceives
in order to have access to Swedish Sign Language. sound. Hearing aids do not
The responsibility for the development of Swedish only help you with hearing
Sign Language should fall on the Swedish audi- what you want to hear, but
tory rehabilitation, where Swedish Sign Language rather also enhance back-
should be an integrated natural part of the services. ground sounds.
As a result of that when you
are in a classroom for example,
you hear the noise from the
classmates chairs as clearly
”
as the teacher’s voice.

10. A new language law
On July 1st 2009, a new language law was adopted
in Sweden. The law states that Swedish is the main
language in Sweden. This means that Swedish is
the common language in our society and that all
residents in Sweden should have access to it and
that it will be used in all areas of society. Swedish
Sign Language is also included in the law together
with other national minority languages and the
state has a special responsibility to protect and
” promote this group of languages as well.
The state also has a responsibility for individuals’
access to language. Anyone who is in need of
Swedish Sign Language will have the opportunity
to learn, develop and use Swedish Sign Language.
Within the framework of the
new Swedish Language law, it The Swedish school system
is stated that the state has a The Swedish school system consists of kinder-
responsibility to protect and
garten, preschool, primary school, secondary school,
promote Swedish Sign Langu-
age. Anyone who is in need upper secondary school and university. Education
of Swedish Sign Language will is organized either in the public sphere (state,
have the opportunity to learn, municipality or county) or privately driven (so-
”
develop and use Swedish Sign called independent schools) or as a private school.
Language. The responsibility for the school system is divided
between the state and the municipality in Sweden.
The state decides on the overall legislation, the
curriculum, training teachers and supervises the
running of the schools.

11. The National Agency for Education is the agency
that regulates the educational system. The muni-
cipalities are responsible for the content of the
education and for ensuring that all residents have
the right to education.
Finally
This is a brochure about how bilingualism can enable
hard of hearing children and young people access
in schools and in society at large. The solutions we
”
present in this brochure are morally, socially and
economically justified. We advocate that all hard of
hearing children, will be given the opportunity to We advocate that all hard of
learn both a national Sign Language and a native hearing children, will be given
spoken language from an early age in life. the opportunity to learn both
a national Sign Language and
a native spoken language
”
It is important to create opportunities so that
from an early age in life.
individuals are equipped to meet lifes challenges
- bilingualism leads to access in the longer run.
To make this possible an amendment is required
in Sweden so that all hard of hearing people have
the right to Swedish Sign Language education. Questions and orders for the
This implies that society provides Sign Language brochure, please contact: Hard
environments during the children’s growing up and of Hearing Young People, www.
uh.se, kansli@uh.se
school years. Native spoken language + national
Sign Language = participation. That is what our Translation & layout: UH inhouse
language equation looks like. Printed: Ljungbergs, Klippan, 2009

12. Cooperation in Sweden
Since the 1970s, DHB, HRF and SDR have collaborated. In the mid-1980s
FSDB joined this collaboration. During the 2000s the group has expanded
to include the youth organisations: DBU, UH and SDU, and also the adult
organisations: VIS and Barnplantorna, the Swedish organisation for children
with cochlear implant.
Today there is close cooperation and consensus on most issues between our
organisations. We see this cooperation as a strength, with our diverse expe-
riences, to create a society that is accessible, offers participation and equality for
our common target audiences.
This brochure is a the result of a collaborative effort
between the following organisations:
The Swedish Association
of Hard of Hearing People
The Association The Swedish The Swedish The Swedish National
of Sweden’s Association of Hard National Association Association for Deaf,
Deaf-blind of Hearing People of the Deaf Hearing-Impaired and
Language-impaired
children
Deaf-blind Hard of Hearing Swedish Deaf The Swedish National
Young people Young People Youth Association Association of the
Late Deafened