Deaf Education in Africa and America

Differences in the education of deaf individuals in America and Africa are astounding. I first realized this upon visiting a school for the deaf in Musanze, Rwanda. Seeing the school and speaking with the director made it very clear that education for the deaf in Rwanda is far behind that in America. My senior project is designed to note the causes for the differences between deaf education in Ameri ca and Africa as a whole, and what more can be done on both continents to advance deaf education. Differences in etiology of deafness in Africa and America were looked at as well as the history of deafness in society and education. America and Africa hav e many of the same causes of deafness; however Africa has slightly more due to fewer medical advances, lack of education, and general awareness of the impact of illness. Deaf education in America is far more advanced than that in Africa. Although solutio ns for the improvement of Deaf education are much more apparent in Africa than America there are still ways to improve upon education programs in both places to better serve deaf individuals in the future