Late April 2018 The U.S. Department of Education gives each State the right to determine what constitutes adequate yearly progress (AYP) based on that State’s final assessment system. Instruction must be rigorous enough to demonstrate “continuous and substantial”...

Early April 2018 The ‘bread and butter’ of itinerant support to students with hearing loss is often considered to be ensuring communication access, supporting language development, and self-advocacy skills training. While access relates to ADA requirements, and...

Late March 2018 Transition services are required for students who are receiving specialized services under IEPs, starting no later than age 14. Unfortunately, Transition is often thought to be satisfied by a check off form with little true instruction. Effective and...

Early March 2018 Hearing loss is a barrier that limits access to ongoing communication in the environment. For students who are hard of hearing this means that they do not perceive 90% or more of speech, especially if it occurs beyond the 3-6 foot range. Decreased...

Late February 2018 Schools and teachers have recently been held accountable for the progress made by each and every student. Many state departments of education and districts have defined the accommodations that can be provided to students with special needs so that...

Early February 2018 Providing communication access to students often includes auxiliary aids and services, like hearing aids, FM/DM hearing assistance technology, and/or sign language interpreters. Yet we cannot assume that students are using these accommodations as...

Late January 2018 Reading is foundational to school success. It takes approximately 20,000 hours of listening to speech before a child’s brain has clear mental referents for each of the speech sounds1. This ability is necessary to enjoy rhyming and to develop...

Early January 2018 Regardless of the move to full inclusion and the shortage of teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing, school teams remain obligated to student identify areas of educational need, appropriate IEP goals, amount of service time needed, by whom, and in...

Early December 2017 Increasingly, students with hearing loss are educated in their neighborhood schools and often the only student in their grade or school to use hearing devices or sign language. They are at higher risk than peers for teasing, and often have...