Tailored Assessment for Students with Hearing Loss: Identifying Needs to Support Eligibility for Specialized Instruction A recent US court case1 made it clear that students with hearing loss must receive an eligibility assessment that identifies areas of suspected...
Eligibility – Even with Good Grades
Pre-teaching Vocabulary and Vocabulary Instruction
Many students who are hard of hearing or deaf enter school with limited vocabularies and language experience, whether their communication modality is spoken or signed. Given these constraints, vocabulary instruction is an essential and ongoing component of our work...
Auditory Skill Practice – a MUST for Hard of Hearing Students
Despite the technological leaps made in Hearing Assistive Technology Systems (HATS), devices like hearing aids and cochlear implants do not “fix’ the listening challenges of students with hearing loss. Incomplete auditory access usually interferes with auditory skill...
The Necessity of Classroom Observation
Classroom observation is a critical part of assessment and performance monitoring. It provides the opportunity to collect data on how the student with hearing loss is functioning in the classroom in comparison to typical peers. Specifically, we need to observe...
Bullying / Teasing Happens!
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Gallaudet researchers found that 812 deaf and hard of hearing students in eleven U.S. schools reported instances of bullying at rates 2-3 times higher than reported by hearing students. It is obvious that bullying is a...
Determining Listening Challenges
Speech perception and listening accuracy cannot be assumed by looking at the audiogram – it must be assessed. Teacher’s voices, room acoustics, and classroom management vary so identifying listening challenges – and specific accommodations – needs to be done for...
Surface Learning is Not Enough – the Need for Deeper Understanding
In most classrooms, new information is presented in a lecture format supplemented by reading material, until students build surface knowledge of the topic. Interaction activities such as classroom discussion, small group work, and partner problem-solving are...
Preparing for Success: What Classroom Teachers Need to Know About Students with Hearing Loss
At the start of each school year, thousands of students enter classrooms with teachers who have never encountered a child with hearing loss. The following list summarizes key needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and the critical role of teachers to set...
Too Many Students to Serve?
The majority of itinerant teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing have caseloads of 10-25 students in 10 different buildings, with 85% of students being served 1:1 or in small groups, and about 30% of caseloads being students who are ‘deaf-plus’. Fewer new educators of...
Learning Progress Equal to Peers?
Students with hearing loss have less access to communication. This will result in a slower pace of learning and fewer gains in academic knowledge unless appropriate services and supports are provided. At the end of the school year it is important to ask whether your...
