Discussing German hard of hearing and deaf communities can be time-consuming, as the situation varies in different cities and lands of Germany. I have, by now, spent some time staying in Germany, but the abundance of disability-related laws, variety of situations and different accommodations for hard of hearing and deaf Germans still leave me a bit baffled.
When I asked my German friend Ulli about HoH people in Germany, she suggested an in-depth discussion of her hometown, Berlin, first.
Berlin is a very specific case study because of its history of being divided into Western and Eastern sections. The Berlin Wall stood for three decades, keeping Western and Eastern Berliners apart until it was breached in 1989. Even now, there are two deaf organizations in each part of the city, and, surprisingly enough, it is still difficult for them to join together, due to their different approaches in organizing their work.
In any country, when it comes to relationships between groups of hard of hearing people and deaf citizens, there is a tendency to segregate deaf and hard of hearing people in separate groups, while on an informal level both the deaf and hard of hearing mingle together and make long-lasting friendships.
Since Ulli and I are both long-time students, our conversation naturally moved to school and university issues. In the Eastern part of Germany, most hard of hearing pupils went to specialized schools for the hard of hearing, while in the Western part, most of those pupils went to regular schools. Ulli told me that when she was a pupil herself, "there was no sign language used in schools; now they have schools for both deaf and hard of hearing students, and they can use sign language." Ulli admitted that "it is still difficult, because not all teachers can sign. In the past, it was not possible to take an Abitur test in special schools." The Abitur test is an equivalent of the exit exam that school students take at the end of their secondary education, which also serves as a University entrance exam. Ulli explained that it is possible now to take the test in the joint school for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The Abitur test is taken by all school students in Germany, but hard of hearing students are given a special accommodation- they can take 30 minutes longer to complete it. In schools for the deaf and hard of hearing, they have small classrooms of 10 people who follow lessons facing each other in a horseshoe layout, as commonly practiced in many countries.
Another innovation is that some schools for the deaf and hard of hearing have introduced lessons on how to cope with hearing loss or how to apply for aid from the government. As a general practice, when a hard of hearing or deaf student attends regular school, there is an assistant available who explains the specificity of hearing loss to teachers and discusses the best approaches on how to make the student's learning process smoother. "We call them ambulant teachers," Ulli explained. "The ambulant teachers are always from a special school, in our case from a hard of hearing or deaf school. The ambulant teacher has experience in dealing with hard of hearing people and speaks with the teacher from a regular school about difficulties they might have, how teachers can improve communication and so on. They also speak with the student and give some tips as to what he or she can do in various situations."
I wondered how Ulli learned sign language if she had no access to it at school. "Simple," she smiled, "I was in a basketball team with deaf youth." She went on to say, "Hearing people here are fascinated with sign language. The media played a big role in this - when the general public saw the movie about the life of a daughter of deaf parents, Jenseits der Stille (Beyond Silence), everyone wanted to learn sign language!"
"What does social welfare offer to students with hearing loss in Germany?" I asked Ulli. "Under the age of 18 you can apply for a FM system, induction loop system and sign language interpreter from your health insurance," explained Ulli. "After the age of 18 - not anymore. If you study at a big university, you can ask the council responsible for people with disabilities and they can help you to get such assistive listening devices, such as the Phonak Smart Link, or to rent it. For nearly two years now, and for the first time in Germany, a deaf or hard of hearing person can apply for a personal assistant, paid for by the state body responsible for integration in work environments." Unfortunately, the personal assistant is only provided for job purposes, like making work-related phone calls, not personal calls.
Ulli and I went on to discuss accessibility issues, welfare benefits, and workplace accommodations in Germany. Want to know more about the lives of hard of hearing and deaf Germans?
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