Removing education barriers for deaf students at the era of Covid-19

摘要

Nowadays where Covid-19 threatens human lives, it is essential to adapt to this situation and try to continue our lives even though some activities are almost inevitable. Education system is one of the most affected daily activities. New technological means had to be adopted to overcome the distance and to continue education process. Although these new adopted means brought new perspectives, also many problems were arised. Deaf or hard hearing students, faced more difficulties than in ordinary situations. Deaf students in order to communicate are either using lip reading and must see their interlocutor’s whole body. In the not likely scenario that the schools are open, teachers and students must wear a face mask, while in distance learning only a small window of the participants is visible and most probably only their faces. Thus, communication at the era of Covid-19 for deaf and hard hearing students is almost inevitable. This paper makes a presentation of the special education system of deaf people in Greece, addresses the difficulties these students face and presents a novel educational tool that with the proper use should help them overcome this difficult situation.