Hearing Impaired
This is taken directly from Queens University Special Education course. I quoted this because I liked how concise the information is:
Speech and Language Pathologist:This topic will examine other communication exceptionalities: deaf and hard of hearing, language impairment, and speech impairment. All of these exceptionalities require the professional advice and assessment of a speech and language pathologist. When a student is identified with one of these communication exceptionalities, a speech and language pathologists will consult with the program team, including the classroom teacher, and provide programming suggestions. This specialized programming may be delivered by a special education teacher, the classroom teacher, or an educational assistant, depending on the severity of the disability.
Teachers need to be aware of the characteristics associated with each these exceptionalities and of the key teaching strategies. The information presented through this section will provide you with an opportunity to begin to examine these areas more closely.
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing: Students identified with this exceptionality have impairment in speech and language development as a result of hearing loss or absence. Hearing loss can be bilateral (both ears) or unilateral (one ear) and can be mild (loss range 27–40 dB), moderate (loss range 41–55 dB), moderate/severe (loss range 56–70 dB), severe (loss range 71–90 dB), or profound (loss range is 91 dB+).
Students who are hard of hearing may have difficulty articulating sounds, especially consonants, speak loudly when it is not required, have difficulty following directions or answering simple questions, ask many times for people to repeat what they have said, or be inattentive. These characteristics are related to hearing loss, not to intelligence. Intellectual ability is distributed across the population in the same way as it is for those who can hear.
Severe to Profound Hearing Loss:Students who have severe or profound hearing loss need to work with a specialist teacher, either in a special school or class or in the regular classroom, to address their impairment in speech and language. They need a specialized program to help them learn to read and write, and to learn how to communicate with others orally (i.e., speaking, speech reading), using a manual approach (i.e., American Sign Language, finger spelling), or a combination of the two (i.e., total communication).
Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss:Students who have mild or moderate hearing loss may not need to work with a specialist teacher, but may benefit from the following: sitting near the speaker, seeing the speaker’s lips, having the teacher repeat instructions, reduced noise in the classroom, or an FM system. These students typically require visual aids, a clear view of the speaker’s lips, clarification of understanding, graphic organizers, advanced lesson preparation, a peer helper, and an environment that improves the signal to sound ratio. Technological needs may also include hearing aids, cochlear implants, assisted learning devices, and interpreters.
The BC Ministry of Education has produced a useful document, Hard of Hearing and Deaf Students: A Resource Guide to Support Classroom Teachers that serves as a great starting point to further develop your understanding of this exceptionality.
Speech and Language Pathologist:This topic will examine other communication exceptionalities: deaf and hard of hearing, language impairment, and speech impairment. All of these exceptionalities require the professional advice and assessment of a speech and language pathologist. When a student is identified with one of these communication exceptionalities, a speech and language pathologists will consult with the program team, including the classroom teacher, and provide programming suggestions. This specialized programming may be delivered by a special education teacher, the classroom teacher, or an educational assistant, depending on the severity of the disability.
Teachers need to be aware of the characteristics associated with each these exceptionalities and of the key teaching strategies. The information presented through this section will provide you with an opportunity to begin to examine these areas more closely.
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing: Students identified with this exceptionality have impairment in speech and language development as a result of hearing loss or absence. Hearing loss can be bilateral (both ears) or unilateral (one ear) and can be mild (loss range 27–40 dB), moderate (loss range 41–55 dB), moderate/severe (loss range 56–70 dB), severe (loss range 71–90 dB), or profound (loss range is 91 dB+).
Students who are hard of hearing may have difficulty articulating sounds, especially consonants, speak loudly when it is not required, have difficulty following directions or answering simple questions, ask many times for people to repeat what they have said, or be inattentive. These characteristics are related to hearing loss, not to intelligence. Intellectual ability is distributed across the population in the same way as it is for those who can hear.
Severe to Profound Hearing Loss:Students who have severe or profound hearing loss need to work with a specialist teacher, either in a special school or class or in the regular classroom, to address their impairment in speech and language. They need a specialized program to help them learn to read and write, and to learn how to communicate with others orally (i.e., speaking, speech reading), using a manual approach (i.e., American Sign Language, finger spelling), or a combination of the two (i.e., total communication).
Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss:Students who have mild or moderate hearing loss may not need to work with a specialist teacher, but may benefit from the following: sitting near the speaker, seeing the speaker’s lips, having the teacher repeat instructions, reduced noise in the classroom, or an FM system. These students typically require visual aids, a clear view of the speaker’s lips, clarification of understanding, graphic organizers, advanced lesson preparation, a peer helper, and an environment that improves the signal to sound ratio. Technological needs may also include hearing aids, cochlear implants, assisted learning devices, and interpreters.
The BC Ministry of Education has produced a useful document, Hard of Hearing and Deaf Students: A Resource Guide to Support Classroom Teachers that serves as a great starting point to further develop your understanding of this exceptionality.
Here is my assignment for this section. The assignment asked to respond to a case study from "Teaching Exceptional Children and Adolescents" Nancy L Hutchinson
The case study is about a student with moderate hearing impairments who is struggling to her new classroom environment. The case
study focuses on the necessary changes the teachers needs to make to ensure an inclusive environment for the student.
I have never taught a student with hearing exceptionalities and so this case study and assignment is a good opportunity for me to learn and reflect on accommodations/modifications that I could make. I broke down the strategies I would use into 3 categories
Communication strategies:
For effective communication between Marla, myself and the class. I would make sure she was able to see my and the students’ mouths clearly. Perhaps a circular seating arrangement would be most conducive. I would be conscious of my speed of speech and teaching students to be conscious of their speed as well. I would also use body language to communicate meaning. Further I would be aware of. I would use these resources to help Marla and other exceptional students reaffirm lessons tasks/activities. I would also employ the suggestion made my BC Education and hold periodic interviews with Marla to help assess her comfort with class communications, learning and social interactions.
Learning strategies:
Marla’s learning issues seem to be focused on text-comprehension and self-confidence; frequently she made statements like I can’t do this. This is too hard. To combat Marla’s issues with reading and comprehension I would pre-teach both vocabulary, themes and provide text background information. I also like the idea presented by Ms. Grande of having pre-teach seminars where 5 students work more closely with her to develop necessary skills. During the reading phase I would consider using differentiations such as creating vocabulary definition boxes and simplified text versions. I would also emphasize the importance of the production phase. In this phase I would work hard to address any issues with understanding. I also feel that if Marla was my student, I would want to develop her confidence and address her anxiety. Some steps that I would implement are creating teaching situations where she can recognize her strengths, developing a sense of competence through creating activities that she can succeed at and introducing long-term and short term goals with her that are focused on confidence and coping skills in academics.
Social Inclusion Strategies:
I think social inclusion in this situation and for many exceptional students is paramount. As a teacher, I would want a community of people who are aware of each other’s uniqueness’s. As such I would address this through classroom/community awareness learning. The type of awareness would be very dependent on the role that Marla wanted to play in it, Marla’s parents input, school input and resources available. Another gap I noticed, was the weak relationship between parents and teacher. I would try very hard to create a more integrated relationship with the mother and offer her assistance in the way of home resources. I would also focus group work activities on small group work and pair Marla with students who are empathetic and caring.
As in many adaption strategies, these ideas would have a positive effect on many students learning outcomes!
One of my classmates posted this. It really opened my eyes to alternative strategies:
T. Rainville.
Case Study #10: Adaptations for Marla
Speaking with my hearing impaired student and his or her parents would be my first strategy in dealing with this type of situation. They will be in tune with what the student's needs are and how she works best. I feel that the following adaptations would help to meet the needs of a student like Marla:
The case study is about a student with moderate hearing impairments who is struggling to her new classroom environment. The case
study focuses on the necessary changes the teachers needs to make to ensure an inclusive environment for the student.
I have never taught a student with hearing exceptionalities and so this case study and assignment is a good opportunity for me to learn and reflect on accommodations/modifications that I could make. I broke down the strategies I would use into 3 categories
Communication strategies:
For effective communication between Marla, myself and the class. I would make sure she was able to see my and the students’ mouths clearly. Perhaps a circular seating arrangement would be most conducive. I would be conscious of my speed of speech and teaching students to be conscious of their speed as well. I would also use body language to communicate meaning. Further I would be aware of. I would use these resources to help Marla and other exceptional students reaffirm lessons tasks/activities. I would also employ the suggestion made my BC Education and hold periodic interviews with Marla to help assess her comfort with class communications, learning and social interactions.
Learning strategies:
Marla’s learning issues seem to be focused on text-comprehension and self-confidence; frequently she made statements like I can’t do this. This is too hard. To combat Marla’s issues with reading and comprehension I would pre-teach both vocabulary, themes and provide text background information. I also like the idea presented by Ms. Grande of having pre-teach seminars where 5 students work more closely with her to develop necessary skills. During the reading phase I would consider using differentiations such as creating vocabulary definition boxes and simplified text versions. I would also emphasize the importance of the production phase. In this phase I would work hard to address any issues with understanding. I also feel that if Marla was my student, I would want to develop her confidence and address her anxiety. Some steps that I would implement are creating teaching situations where she can recognize her strengths, developing a sense of competence through creating activities that she can succeed at and introducing long-term and short term goals with her that are focused on confidence and coping skills in academics.
Social Inclusion Strategies:
I think social inclusion in this situation and for many exceptional students is paramount. As a teacher, I would want a community of people who are aware of each other’s uniqueness’s. As such I would address this through classroom/community awareness learning. The type of awareness would be very dependent on the role that Marla wanted to play in it, Marla’s parents input, school input and resources available. Another gap I noticed, was the weak relationship between parents and teacher. I would try very hard to create a more integrated relationship with the mother and offer her assistance in the way of home resources. I would also focus group work activities on small group work and pair Marla with students who are empathetic and caring.
As in many adaption strategies, these ideas would have a positive effect on many students learning outcomes!
One of my classmates posted this. It really opened my eyes to alternative strategies:
T. Rainville.
Case Study #10: Adaptations for Marla
Speaking with my hearing impaired student and his or her parents would be my first strategy in dealing with this type of situation. They will be in tune with what the student's needs are and how she works best. I feel that the following adaptations would help to meet the needs of a student like Marla:
- I would have preferential seating for Marla. I currently have a student with a mild hearing disability. In order to meet the needs of my student, I have had to ensure that I am constantly facing the class when I’m talking so that she can read my lips. I tend to pace/walk back and forth as I teach, so that was an adjustment for me. Also, her mother suggested that she be seated close to the front, left side, of the class so she can hear better. Strategically placing my student in an area where they can hear will ensure a better learning environment.
- In Marla’s case, the learning environment she is in is not beneficial to her learning. She’s in a portable, with no carpeting, which creates echoes and excess noise (moving chairs, desks, etc.). I would ask the administration if I could possibly change classrooms with another teacher, as it would help minimize the noise.
- Using visual aids to reinforce verbal instructions would be essential. I already use my Smartboard for all of my lessons to make the concepts concrete and interactive and every student gets a copy of each assignment we do. This would benefit Marla and the rest of the class as well. Most students will benefit from having the visual component to any oral instruction and having an assignment that can be referred back to is an important component for all students.
- Like Marla’s Grade 4 teacher, I would try to create a “quiet zone” within the classroom. I think that teaching elementary students when you have a classroom to yourself lends itself a little better to a “quiet zone”. As I teach high school science and have pretty packed science labs I think this involves a little more creativity and I’d love some strategies. I do allow students that need a quiet place to work to sit out in the hall or go to the library to do their work. I believe it is an effective strategy and my students don’t take advantage of it as they know they will lose that privilege if they abuse it.
- I would check in with my hard of hearing student to ensure that he/she understood the lesson and clarify any questions or concerns he/she may have. This strategy is one I use with all of my students though as everyone can benefit. I walk around the room once they have begun working on a task to ensure comprehension. I know which students need a little more guidance and tend to focus on them but do my best to check in with everyone.
- In class discussions, I would use student’s names instead of pointing, to call upon them when they want to contribute to the discussion. Knowing who the speaker is and being able to look at the speaker, will allow Marla or any student with a hearing impairment to easily follow the discussion and that may encourage them to participate. Again, I feel that most students would benefit from this strategy as it allows a student who may have a difficult time following the discussion to get back on track.
Think About It
Read Chapter 5, pp. 132–137, in Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools, and consider reviewing the information found on the following websites:
To help address this concern, CAPELL has published an English Language Learners and Special Education Handbook. This may prove a useful guide for you in your practice when working with English language learners.
Consider including some of this information in your Portfolio.
Read Chapter 5, pp. 132–137, in Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools, and consider reviewing the information found on the following websites:
- Stages of Language Development: First Words, Multiple Word Utterances, Grammatical Morphemes
- Delayed Speech or Language Development
To help address this concern, CAPELL has published an English Language Learners and Special Education Handbook. This may prove a useful guide for you in your practice when working with English language learners.
Consider including some of this information in your Portfolio.
Resources related to language and speech impairments
https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/hearimpair/toc.htm
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