Still Hope for the Deaf and Mute

By Helena Selby

Physical disability in human beings is any disfigure on the body that prevent him or her from living a normal life or a limitation of function because of impairment. In normal sense, disability, either come through accidents, through birth or sometimes disease, whatever the case may be, what matters is that, they all end up not living a normal life. Disability could either be blindness, cripple, paralyzed or deaf. Among them all, deaf is the disability which cannot be noticed all of a sudden, it only takes the person’s attitude to notice that, he or she is deaf.

What Knowledge do People have about the Deaf and Mute
In Ghana, deaf and mute people do not get the chance to work as normal people, they are considered as less privilege due to their difficulty in speaking and hearing. Deaf and mute people are limited in some function because of an impairment they have. Though they are also useful, some people prefer people without arm or paralyzed. To them these people can express himself freely and easily than the deaf and mute. According to them, working with the cripple is quiet easier than the deaf and mute, due to this, they getting themselves an official position is very difficult. For instance, Franklin Delano Roosevelt the 32nd American president was the first physically challenged president. He was stricken with polio at the age of thirty nine; he was able to walk only with the use of leg braces and canes for the rest of his life. He did not allow the ailment to rob him of his enthusiasm and energy. He was the only president who was elected more than twice; he held office from 1933 until his death in 1945. The point is if he had being deaf and mute, he would not have been given the opportunity to even campaign, but since he could talk for every layman to understand, he was allowed to do the work, which a deaf and mute person can not do.

Being deaf and mute was in existence in the remote past and it is evident from the fact that, the causes of deafness, such as diseases were as prevalent then as at now. Even though a lot of people accepted this disability in the past, some religion considered them to be under a curse. The believe was that, this disability occurs when the gods of the land is not pleased with the child that is being born. They were called monsters and even put to death as soon as their deafness was satisfactorily ascertained. The people of the land found it difficult to believe the truth that some people are born without being able to hear or speak where as all of citizens could speak and hear.

What do Scientist and Medical Experts say
In general terms being deaf and mute means not being able to speak or hear. However in scientific and medical terms deafness refers to a physical condition characterized by lack of sensitivity to sounds be it through the mouth or the ear. In legal terms deafness is defined by the degree of hearing loss. That is, for one to be considered as deaf, it is measured by the amount of sounds he or she is able to take and bring out. It could be severe deafness, moderate deafness and mild deafness. Both severe and moderate deafness can be referred as mild deafness, whiles mild deafness is usually called hard of hearing.

According to scientists and medical experts, deafness and muteness is mostly caused by genetic disorder. Genetic disorder is caused by abnormalities in the genes. These defective genes may be inherited intact from the parent, when a parent or both parents have these genes in their blood then; there is a high possibility of the offspring also obtaining it. In this case, genetic disorder is known as hereditary disease. This process can happen unexpectedly when two healthy carriers of a defective recessive gene reproduce, but can also happen when the defective gene is prevailing.

It is important for one to know his or her genetic status before going in for the one he or she want to have children with. In so doing, it will avoid the possibility of bringing about genetic diseases in the children, putting the children into consideration before choosing a partner is very important since they are the ones who turn to suffer at the long run.

Deaf and mute comes in different forms; otoscelerosis is one form of it. It is a degenerative condition of the temperate born which can result in hearing loss. It can be considered as heritable. However it can be treated, treatment for otoscelerosis relies on two primary options, which are the hearing aids and a surgery called a stapedectomy. The hearing aid are usually very effective early in the cause of the disease, but eventually a stapedectomy may be required for definite treatment, it restores continuity of ossicular movement and allows transmission of sound from the eardrum to the inner ear.

Is it Necessary to Educate the Deaf and Mute?
It will be very unfair on our part to treat the deaf and mute people in isolation without giving them the necessary needs and want they require. It is very relevant to concentrate on these people since their situation is no fault of theirs and that by educating them, they can help build a better nation. Education in the broadest sense, include all those experiences by which intelligence is developed, knowledge acquired and character formed. It is a work done by certain agencies and institutions, the homes and schools for the express purpose of training the mind. The child is born with dormant capacities which must be developed so as to fight him for activities of life.

It is very kind hearted of people who can do something better with their lives to dedicate their lives to help the less privilege in order for them to have a better live someday. It is a blessing to show concern to those who are in need of help, it gives the person in need a purpose to live and make him or her aware that someone cares about him or her.

Mr. Michael Cudjoe is the principal of the State School for the Deaf built in 1965, at Adjei Kojo near Ashaiman. He hails from the Volta Region Tsame to be precise. He has four children, all female. According to him, his motivation to teach the deaf started when he was teaching a class at the Methodist Boys School in Dodowa. Though the school was not for the deaf, in the class was a student who was deaf but could speak. Unaware to him, he always teaches without the student hearing, all that the student could do was to read his mouth. He realizing that decided to enroll in the College of Special at Mampong to specialize in teaching the deaf in order to the deaf. He was then posted to the Demonstration School for the Deaf at Mampong-Akuapim after his studies. According to him some colleagues do mock him but has not regretted ever enrolling into the school.

He stressed on the fact that deafness and muteness can be hereditary and that in a village at Mampong called Adomanbre, majority of the people are deaf. A research by a Canadian researcher on the village indicates that, the native practice consanguineous marriage, (marriage through the same family blood group) which as a result ceases to break the genetic disorder. Deafness and muteness is also caused by the mother through abortion and sometimes the negligence of the some doctors and midwives.

Mr. Cudjoe disclosed the secret that, they dislike marrying normal people but rather their fellow deaf and mute. According to them, normal people are lairs. Apart from them marrying themselves, they are also very inquisitive and also get very irritated when they are trying to express something and one does not understand.

In their education system, they use the same syllabus of WAEC and write the same examination with order schools. He said their education does not end there, some of them continue to the university. Usually the tertiary education is normally with the postlingua students (those who cannot hear but can talk) but for those who are really deaf and mute, they are unable to continue to the university.

He noted that the government helps them in adverse ways and that through the government special initiative; they are building bungalows for teachers and dormitories for students. The government seeing their usefulness for society has pointed out that they are not deaf and mute but special needs people which society really needs to take care of them.

He noted that he and his staff always encourage them psychologically so that they would not feel like a nuisance to the society. He makes them aware that they being deaf and mute does not mean they are dumb or stupid and also their disability is not an inability.

.