Rosie is a Year 10 student who is profoundly deaf. She attends a mainstream school full time and is an Auslan user. She has the support of school-based teacher of the deaf, a system school psychologist and audiologist, and signing interpreters to support access to the curriculum. This team also meets regularly with the mainstream teachers and Rosie’s family. System staff provide at least monthly support with Rosie’s wellbeing as she comes to terms with her identity of being deaf in a hearing world. The Deaf Centre staff and Rosie’s parents communicate with each other in writing on a weekly basis. Rosie receives a mainstream school report and it is accompanied by a report from the Deaf Centre. She has regular auditory and psychological assessments that teachers of the deaf use to fine-tune their individual lessons.
Rosie requires a signing Interpreter at all times when she is in classes with mainstream staff, and also with deaf education staff (psychologists, audiologists, speech teachers) who don’t use Auslan, and to access the curriculum. This also extends to her after-hours sport as well as socials and concerts. She tires in the afternoon, as her visual concentration requires more muscles than using the auditory channels. Rosie requires support with the vocabulary of her mainstream classes. She has to learn new words as well as the new concepts being taught in the class. The level of concentration Rosie requires is both intense and concentrated, but Rosie is capable of this with appropriate assistance. She receives additional time and support for the core subjects. As Rosie cannot take notes and watch the interpreter at the same time, she requires a note-taker for her core subjects.
Rosie has an individual social skills program and is working with the Principal of the Deaf Centre once a week for individual support targeted towards appropriate and subtle social commentary, which is a linguistic issue. Role play, social stories and analysis of behaviour in the home and at school need to be reviewed and practised each week. Mainstream staff have attended regular professional learning regarding working with deaf students so that they too can remediate clumsy linguistic responses from Rosie.
Rosie does not require any assistance with personal care and travels to and from school independently. She will require surgery in the near future, which may interrupt her school program significantly. In the past, Rosie has self-harmed, so all staff have received training in four mental health programs. The school has an emphasis on teaching resilience and positive thinking. These programs are ongoing.