From Needs to Opportunities

Promoting the social inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing children)

Abstract

This research paper aims to reveal how to enhance social inclusion among deaf and hard of hearing children. The study provides a set of views and mechanisms that promote the social inclusion process among this group of children. The paper opens with an introduction to social inclusion and its urgent necessity that has been imposed by the successive cognitive, scientific, economic, social and technological developments that the world has recently witnessed. These developments have been reflected positively on directing attention to children with disabilities in order to enhance their abilities and provide them with a high-quality life. This is followed by a presentation of the concept of social inclusion for children with hearing disabilities, its importance, and its advantages. The researcher then discusses the necessity of the integration between the family and the school in the social inclusion process for deaf and hard of hearing children, indicating the role played by these two prime institutions in enhancing the social inclusion process. The study also addresses the basic axes on which the social inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing children is based. The researcher also poses the difficulties and challenges facing the social inclusion process for children with hearing disabilities. A detailed presentation of the methods and mechanisms through which social inclusion can be enhanced is also given. The researcher concludes her study by proposing a set of recommendations drawn from the study that would enhance the social inclusion process for deaf and hard of hearing children. Significantly, these recommendations address the challenges and difficulties facing the social inclusion process for these children in a way that ensures the provision of a high-quality life for them, in confirmation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision, which directly targeted the well-being of these children as a priority for both the government and society.