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2 Special Education 24 WHEN A DEAF person is considered an “Eternal Child,” there is no expectation that the individual will ever become an adult, in the sense of changing from a dependent member of a family to an independent actor in society at large. Because the deaf child’s access to the majority language is blocked, so too is the child’s access to education and training in the skills necessary to support oneself as an adult. But if some means of communicating with the child can be found, this opens the possibility of education. If the deaf person could be trained in skills or literacy, in time, he or she should be able to assume an adult role in society. Thus, insofar as remediation is an option , an adult position in society becomes a possibility. Prior to 1946, there were no educational options for children with mental retardation, deafness, blindness, or motor problems in Nicaragua. Wealthy families might hire private tutors in their homes, or send their children to boarding schools in other countries, but no formal education was available within the country. On February 4, 1946, Presidential Decree No. 11, signed by Anastasio Somoza (senior), authorized the creation of Special Education School No. 1 in the capital, Managua, for children “who have problems with vocalization, hearing and other [disabilities]” (La Gaceta 1946). Thus, from some point before 1946, an alternative to the model of deaf persons as “Eternal Children” began to form. Deaf persons began to be seen as potentially “Remediable Subjects.” The establishment of educational institutions for the deaf is a sign of a transformation and paradigm shift. The decision to form schools is evidence of a change from a view of deaf people as incapable of agency to deaf people as possible social actors. The most important work for the later formation of such an institution is not done at the moment of school establishment , but beforehand when the possibility is debated of whether deaf children (or children with other disabilities) could profit from education and an affirmative conclusion is drawn. The decision to provide Special Education 25 Figure 1. Important Dates in Education for Deaf Children in Nicaragua 1946 Special Education School No. 1 is founded in Managua with Dr. Emilio Lacayo as director. 1952 Dr.Apolonio Berríos is named director of Special Education School No. 1. 1962 Special Education School No. 1 is moved to a new site in Managua—on land owned by the Mántica family.The school is by now commonly referred to as the “Berríos School.” There is one class for deaf children taught by Soledad Escobar de Flores. 1974 Dr.Apolonio Berríos dies. Olga Tenorio Hernández becomes director of Special Education School No. 1.The deaf pupils are split into two classes (older vs. younger) with twelve students in each class. 1974 Special education schools are opened in León and Chinandega. 1977 The National Center for Special Education (CNEE) opens in Managua at a site in Barrio San Judas.Twenty-four deaf children previously enrolled at the Berríos School constitute half of the new school’s deaf enrollment, along with twenty-five deaf children new to schooling. (The Berríos School ceases to exist.) 1978 The Boarding School for Disabled Children (Escuela Hogar para Nin̄os Minusuálidos) opened in Ciudad Darío. 1979 The school year starts in March, but is interrupted from May to August by a national revolution, culminating in a change of government on July 19, 1979.The postrevolutionary Ministry of Education (MED) makes special education a department within the Ministry. Existing special education schools are subsumed into the national educational system. 1980 Negotiations between MED and the National Welfare Institute (INSSBI) conclude that MED will be responsible for providing education to disabled children ages five to fourteen, and INSSBI will educate those fifteen to twenty-five years of age. A location for the vocational school is identified in the Villa Libertad suburb. Classes at CNEE are intermittent due to the need to train new special education teachers. Regular classes resume around October at CNEE with ten classes of deaf children with twelve students per class. Plans are made to widen the network of special education schools across the country to twenty-two. 1981 The vocational school, Centro Ocupacional para los Discapacitados (COD), opens at the new site in Villa Libertad. 1982 The emphasis of the boarding school at Ciudad Darío is changed from accommodating children needing...

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