Welcome to this narrated PowerPoint presentation. It's designed for parents or primary carers of high school students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Transitioning from school to post-school life can be difficult for all young people, but especially challenging when they have a hearing loss, even if mild or moderate, and certainly if it's severe or profound. It can be worrying for parents, and difficult to know how best to support and help them at this time. As a parent myself of an adult daughter born with a severe hearing loss, I'm well aware of that. I'm also an academic who has conducted a lot of research into young people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and I'll be including some of these research findings in this presentation.
The presentation is divided into four parts, in four separate PowerPoints, with each one about ten minutes long. First, we'll look at the transition needs that are specific to students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and what some of the particular challenges are for these young people as they go through adolescence. In the second part, I'll talk about some of the skills and knowledge, such as self-advocacy skills, that are important for adolescents to develop, and a little about what we know of the experiences of students with hearing loss in their transition preparation and planning, and what needs might remain for these school leavers. Part 3 will focus on employment, and part 4 on post-school education.
Transition can be seen as a bridge between the security and structure offered by the school and the opportunities and risks of adult life. And while it can seem daunting and scary to cross that bridge, in many ways the opportunities for young people who are deaf or hard of hearing have never been better. In recent years, especially the last two decades, there have been major social, technological and legislative changes that have improved their opportunities. We can see the benefits of improved digital hearing aids and cochlear implants, and the visual access to information and communication through the internet and mobile phones to people with hearing loss. As well, equal opportunity legislation addresses some of the educational and employment barriers for people with disabilities of all kinds.
The labour market and the world of work have changed enormously in recent times, and the effect of the IT revolution will continue to change the world of work in all sorts of ways and create new careers and jobs that currently don't exist. There's greater mobility in the workforce, and more casual, freelance and contract work. This means that people need a range of skills to manage their work life, to seek new work and to promote themselves. It also means it's important to make informed decisions about post-school pathways.
But this can be daunting and confusing, and it is okay to be uncertain. This is a journey for your adolescent, and they don't have to know from the outset exactly where they're going. How many of us knew that at 15, 16 or 17? But they need to have some goals to work towards and the skills to manage the journey.
The first thing in making informed decisions, of course, is knowledge: both of careers and the job market, and of the individual's interests, skills and abilities. There are some excellent transition resources and programs available, so make the most of them and work with your child's school careers advisors and their teachers of the Deaf. You may be familiar with MIPs, standing for Managed Individual Pathways, that all students aged 15 and over in Victorian government schools work with, on an individual career action plan. My Future is a useful Australian online career exploration and information service that students and their parents can use. The site contains details of hundreds of jobs available in Australia and the education and training options that lead to them, and students can answer questions about their interests, skills, knowledge, education and work experience. The information gathered builds a personal profile that can be used to identify possible career options. The website also has videos of many occupations, most with captions or transcripts. These are really helpful resources, and can be a good basis for a conversation between parents and their adolescents.
Leaving school, transitioning to post-school life, finding a path and succeeding in further study or the workplace: all this can be difficult for any teenager, but for young people who are deaf or hard of hearing it can be more complicated and challenging. A big change for these young people when they leave school is that the supports provided to them throughout their primary and secondary schooling will stop. As young adults, they'll need to take the initiative and an active role in obtaining any supports and accommodations that they need in further education and in the workplace. They'll need to advocate on their own behalf, and it's important that they have well-developed self-advocacy skills.
Most people with hearing loss will encounter daily challenges and barriers. Mostly these are not insurmountable, but they can cause some young people to disengage, to chop and change trying to find the right environment. I've seen this in some of the young people I've counselled a few years after they left school. We can help them to be prepared for these challenges and develop the skills to deal with them. So, for all these reasons, it's important that transition and career planning include issues related to hearing loss, and parents, teachers of the Deaf and schools' careers personnel need to be talking about this and working together to help the young person be as well prepared as possible for the transition.
Despite the challenges, there are many successful adults who are deaf or hard of hearing in all sorts of occupations and careers. Studies into deaf or hard of hearing young people who are successful find that contributing factors include personal characteristics such as persistence, resilience and willingness to work hard, which of course apply to all young people. Certain skills are also important in the success of people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Self-determination covers a range of skills and knowledge that I'll be talking about in part two of the presentation. Good language, communication and social skills play a part, and helping children to develop these skills and improve them throughout their high school years is really valuable. The support and influence of good deaf education teachers is often cited as important to these young people's success. And last but by no means least, involved and supportive parents and families are an enormously important factor.
Parents have a crucial role to play, as they do all through their child's schooling, and these are just some of the ways. You know your child better than anyone, and may know more about their interests, strengths and concerns than the school, and can share this knowledge with the school. You can encourage your adolescent into developing independence by letting them assume more responsibility for their own life and decisions, as is appropriate with their age. And family and local networks are often a great source of work experiences for teenagers. Don't think that because they're older and more independent, your input isn't needed as much as in the earlier years. It may be even more crucial during their final few years of high school, when transition and career planning assume a bigger role.
It can be hard, though, to be so involved and encouraging at a time when it's a natural developmental stage for teens to distance themselves from their parents and to place less importance on their opinions and on those of their friends. Adolescence can be a particularly tricky time for young people with hearing loss. At a stage when it's incredibly important to feel accepted by your peers, to feel part of a group, teens with hearing loss often become more self-conscious about their difference, and about the hearing aids or cochlear implants, and perhaps their voice or their speech. They become more aware of these things than when they were younger.
The typical settings in which teens tend to socialise can present communication challenges too, such as parties, or anywhere with loud music, and being in a large group. Particularly in the case of students in schools where there are no other students with hearing loss, there's that fear of appearing different from peers, of not being cool, and their hearing aids or cochlear implants can seem to them like the visible sign of their uncoolness. They can become reluctant to wear them. They can also be reluctant to talk about these things with anyone.
And yet a collaborative conversation with an adult who's prepared to listen and understand can really make a difference. When trying to talk about things that are sensitive, we often need to make sure we're listening more than we're talking. Don't feel that you have to come up with solutions to problems or give advice straight away; your adolescent may not be open to that. But when you're prepared to listen and to try to understand their feelings and perspective, they'll be more inclined to listen to you. And listen for the feelings that might be underlying what they're saying, and acknowledge them.
When talking about what they might want to do after leaving school, ask questions that will help them to clarify their interests, their preferences, their skills, their abilities. Help them to see the link between their skills and interests and occupations or career paths. Remind them that it's okay to be unsure of exactly what they want to do, but that it's important to explore options, plan, and have some goals to work towards.
This is the end of part 1. The next part of the presentation looks at some of the skills that school leavers who are deaf or hard of hearing will need, and how we can help them to develop them.
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