From the newsroom of The Star, Malaysia, Asia, Monday, June 6, 2005 .....

Special signs

THE Federation School for the Deaf (FSD, now known as the Federation School for Special Education) in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, was established in 1954 by Lady Templer, the wife of the then British High Commissioner Sir Gerald Templer.

In 1952, the Federation of Malaya’s chief paediatrician Dr Elaine Field had encountered some deaf children who had not gone to school.

This was conveyed to Lady Templer during her first official visit to Penang in 1952. With the assistance of then Resident Commissioner of Penang R.P. Bingham, a meeting was held to discuss the setting up of a school for the deaf in Penang.

From six pupils in 1954, the school now has 50 students in the primary school and 170 in the secondary school.

Walking into the school premises, one is immediately struck by how quiet the place is. Located atop a small hill beside Jalan Lembah Permai, the lack of sound is by no means an indication of the students’ extreme discipline.

Classes are small, with an average of 10 students per class. The ages of students in each secondary school year can vary by a few years as pupils may be retained for an extra year or two in primary school to ensure they get the basics properly.

Use of overhead projectors in classrooms is extensive as students depend very much on visual aid to help them.

“Web cameras are used in class so students can watch video clips of what they are learning,” said the secondary school’s principal Teoh Sian Kin.

Using a simple lesson as an example, she showed how students could take pictures of their own tongue, which would then be displayed on the screen for a lesson on the different areas of taste on a tongue.

Teaching deaf students is a totally different experience, head of language department Samsoon Ali Akbar, 46, said.

During a tour of the school, Samsoon who acted as a guide explained how she had to get into her students’ way of thinking when she first started teaching at FSD in 1987.

“Because of their inability to hear, the deaf form misconceptions about a lot of things.

“Simple things like ‘Petronas’ would be meaningless to them. That’s why it is good for them to know the spelt word. When they understand what the word stands for, they will create their own signs to represent it,” she said.

Copyright © 1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd.

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