Learning Support: Hard of Hearing Class

In January of 2017, a Learning Support Head of Department was approached by 3 individuals she had not met before and was made aware of the plight of a few hearing impaired children who desperately needed an Islamic Education.

The childrens’ exposure to Islam was practically non-existent and simply amounted to ‘I don’t eat pork’. This was through no fault of their own or of the families. In some cases the parents themselves were hearing impaired or they were still coming to terms with the reality that their child(ren) had lost their hearing as toddlers.

With great support from the Administration at the Madressa and the Guidance of Allah (swt), within 72 hours we had 5 British Sign Language (BSL) volunteers committed to begin conducting a class to cater to these children. These volunteers are teachers who lead the class and teach the children reading and reciting Qur’an. Assistants are also available to giving one-on-one support if needed and to sign in BSL.

How are topics introduced?

Active/Interactive learning is key in introducing new topics and making the lessons interesting and come alive. Especially for these children. The parents say that their children love coming to Madressa and actually get quite upset when we have breaks!

Through interactive learning and with many resources we have been able to teach Awareness of Allah (Swt) and His Creation, Stories of the Prophets and Imams (a), Islamic History, basic principles such as Salah and Sadaqa/charity. In some of the photos you’ll see that the children made Ka’ba Sadaqa boxes to take home and prepared care packages to give charities for ‘Sadaqa Day’.