A training cycle that began for deafblindness now covers minors with any communicative disability. In Málaga, only 13 people are deafblind, but thousands of children need support.
The integration of children with disabilities in schools in Málaga largely depends on a professional profile that is still not recognised in the Andalusian educational system: the communication mediator. This is reflected in a report published by Diario Sur, which highlights the work of these figures in centres like CEIP Revello de Toro.
Helena, a nine-year-old girl with an 87% disability due to a chromosomal alteration, receives six hours a week of communication mediation at her school and another three at home with a mediator from ONCE. Her mother recalls the before and after: "It must be very hard to have something in your head and not be able to express it. Not being understood by others and not understanding them. This is where communication mediators helped us."
The term "communication mediation" first appeared in the BOE in 2015, when the Sign Language Interpretation cycle was transformed into a university degree. Since then, the figure has expanded to include anyone with communication, language, and speech problems, explains Patricia Carratalá, head of the communication mediation department at Universidad Laboral: "Practically all disabilities involve a communicative component. We can cover any of these conditions."
In the province of Málaga, there are only 13 people with deafblindness, but the demand is much greater. Carratalá points out that "the communicative delay they accumulate is brutal" in secondary school, and that mediators are the tool to prevent it. However, their employment remains a challenge: "There is not a wide range of job opportunities associated with the cycle. Schools do not have the opportunity or option to hire us," says Carmen Porras, a trainee mediator at Revello de Toro.
At the school, Ana Pinilla, a teacher of Hearing and Language, denounces the lack of resources: "Here we are two hearing and language teachers. It is not enough to provide the attention they require." Each year, they attend to about 60 students with hearing and language problems, and they have five trainee mediators this year, although at least three permanent ones would be needed for the entire school.
The Education Department justifies that communication mediation "is not a professional profile that fits within the educational system," unlike sign language interpretation or therapeutic pedagogy. They maintain agreements with entities like ONCE, but do not plan to incorporate this profile into the Andalusian system, although "if they did, it would be through competitive exams."
Carratalá insists on the role of families: "After these years, I have quite a few contacts and we are doing a lot, but if they do not organise themselves, this will not move forward." And she defends the impact of their work: "There are children who progress more in three months with us than in their entire educational stage."
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