"They made it all the way here?" I asked my colleagues, looking at the two women in hijabs and exquisite Arabic dresses--
abayas, richly decorated with silk applications and oriental ornaments. It was a warm, September evening in Switzerland and the launch of the first international conference on induction loops for people with hearing loss.
"Yes," my colleague replied, "all the way from Kuwait."
Kuwait... Searing heat. Rich people. Desert land. The well-known Middle Eastern country, saturated with cultural mystery and its Persian Gulf War past, is one of the largest petroleum exporters in the world. The country is very popular with migrants, though less so with tourists. Oil seems to be in everything here. Contributing to 90% of the nation's income, oil is also in free education at all levels, and subsidized loans.
With Kuwait's nearly three-million people, about 40% are people with special needs. There is only one school for both deaf and hard of hearing people, and six more that are integrated schools. And, only the Al-Bustan pre-school is the only one special programs for hard of hearing children.
Al-Bustan Nursery: Play is our approach; Word is our objective The women who caught my attention, were Taghreed, a speech therapist, and Shadwa Allam, teacher for hard of hearing kids. Their work at Al-Bustan nursery not only cont
ributes to the needs of hard of hearing kids, but it's also an important part of the women's cultural and social association. Taghreed and Shadwa teach spoken language to hard of hearing kids, aged one to six, until they master spoken language and are ready to attend kindergarten with hearing peers. There are six classes for six qualified teachers, with seven kids in each class. Teachers work individually with the kids to enrich their linguistic skills, focusing on receptive and expressive language, and developing the kids' hearing ability. The staff carefully outlines a specific educational program for each child according to his or her needs. This includes short- and long-term goals for developing mental abilities as well as abstract thinking.
When they complete the program, all 45 of Al-Bustan's students graduate, usually by the age of six. The nursery staff receives continuous training by local and international experts in the field. Parents also play a big part in the success of the program. Shadwa, Taghreed, and their colleagues develop the parents' competence by giving them continuous feedback and offering workshops where parents learn how to cultivate their children's speech and social skills at home.
In the ten years since the Al-Bustan's started, about 150 children have graduated from its program and have joined integr
ated or special classes in public and private schools.
"Integrating these children into the community is one of the nursery's greatest accomplishments," say Shadwa and Taghreed. "Especially since many started the program without any noticeable speech skills."
Shadwa and Taghreed had a profound reason for choosing to teach kids with hearing loss.
"It's important for us to help them to become a part of and communicate with the society around them," they added. "Hard of hearing and deaf children are intelligent and can understand everything happening around them. But not everyone knows this."
Right. So, doesn't this awareness depend on the well-being of the country and its oil revenues?
State support for deaf people When a child is defined as a "person with special needs", the state provides monthly benefits for his parents and the child's needs, including medical, educational, and assistive technology. They also receive free access to public transportation and entertainment venues.
When modern hearing aids are available, the government provides them free of charge, and replaces them when they break. A new Kuwaiti law ensures sign language interpreter access for deaf people in education and employment. Job opportunities vary, from manual labor to secretarial positions based on education and communication ability.
Cochlear implant (CI) surgeries have become commonplace in Kuwait since 2002. Surgery costs are fully covered by the state, and specialized doctors from all over the world are brought to Kuwait to perform the surgeries. If parents do not want to have their kid undergo a CI surgery in Kuwait, they can pay for the surgery in another country, but Kuwaiti state provides them the implant free of charge. Kuwaiti experts on CI surgery are available, too, but they work mostly under supervision of the invited German professors.
Whether its surgeries, specialized teaching, assistive technology, or public assistance, Kuwait blends the best practices from all over the world for its deaf and hard of hearing citizens.
The Missing Pieces Yet, with all of these elements, important pieces are still missing.
"We need rehabilitation programs for parents and training for how to work with the special needs of hard of hearing children in order to ease their rehabilitation process," says Shadwa. "There should be more programs to make parents aware of the importance of speech training. They often believe, incorrectly, that a CI by itself will enable children to hear and talk without further help or intervention."
"And, there are few specialized centers for people with hearing loss or for post-surgery rehabilitation for CI users," she continues. "Integrated schools are sometimes unqualified or unfamiliar with the field of integration, or they use outdated or incorrect integration methods. Lastly, repair options are only available outside Kuwait, so a damaged implant means stopped or delayed rehabilitation."
A bit more awareness, wisely applied and timely training, combined with existing opportunities, would make the situation for hard of hearing and deaf children in Kuwait nearly ideal. For this to occur, it will require the concerted efforts of civil society, state and educational establishments, and shared information from researchers. Together, these will not only ensure that best practices are used nationwide, but will help to ingrain these practices throughout the Kuwaiti system.
SOME FACTS ABOUT KUWAIT Population: 2,692,526 (
Note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals as of July 2009)
Government type: Constitutional emirate
GDP per capita: $55,800 (2009 est.)
Education expenditure: 3.8% of GDP (2006)
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