Veronica Diana Asmarawardani, M.A.
Family Tree’s Research and Development
asmarawardani@gmail.com
Abstract
Born deaf is never been anyone choice. Numbers of deaf children tend to increase annually. Early intervention for deaf children is important. Parent play major role in the early stage. The decision to kind of intervention influences the following program. Yet, the limitation access to information causes late intervention. The dispersion of intervention across the department contributes to unclear information on choosing the intervention.
The development of hearing aids technology giving more opportunity for deaf in achieving better future. In the last decade, hearing aids become part of deaf children’s life in Yogyakarta. Parents start to maximize their children residual hearing by wearing hearing aids. The habilitation process would be the following process in assisting children with hearing aids. Education is part of habilitation.
Early childhood plays the important role for children to learn. For deaf children with hearing aids, the education gives them better opportunity to learn more and develop better. Language become main issue of deaf children, which others development aspects such as physic, motoric, cognitive, social and emotional, are important to stimulate before language. Thus, for children with hearing aids need inclusive environment to stimulate their potential.
As inclusive province, Yogyakarta struggles to be inclusive in any aspect of development. However, the effort is still in the level of policy, including education. Sustainable Development Goal number 4; ensure that all children have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education, a private preschool and daycare dare to develop inclusive education model in early childhood for deaf children with hearing aids. Taking action research as the approach, the study conducted for three years in seeking appropriate model. The reformation of internal policy and organization structure go along with building capacity for internal team and parents’ education to support the program. The paper would like to reflect the experience in conducting how policy is translated into implementation. Changing is not about making policy and task force but also how to develop implementative guideline, build team capacity, raise society awareness and develop monitoring system which is sustainability become the spirit of the program.