Download So You have a Hard of Hearing Student…

Teacher Inservice
Presented by Diana Bratlien
Fall 2002 and beyond…
About the Inservice
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Project title
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Intended Audience
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So you have a Hard of Hearing Student in Your
Class…Now What?
General education teachers who currently have hard of
hearing students in their classrooms.
Goals and Objectives
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Understand Social-Emotional Impact of Hearing Loss
Understand Hearing Loss Levels
Develop an Empathy towards those with a hearing loss
Understand Academic implications
Abstract
This presentation was designed to ease general
education teachers’ fears over working with students’
who have a hearing loss. In addition, it was designed to
help teachers develop an empathy towards working
with hard of hearing students.
As any inservice, this is a work in progress. It is
meant to be presented repeatedly to schools each
year as more teachers have mainstreamed students
who are hard of hearing. The notes on the bottom of
the slides are functional notes and meant to be
guidelines for you as you present. Some notes may be
altered depending on the age levels the general
education teachers work with.
Currently, the notes are divided for two individuals
since it has been presented by a partnership of
Teachers for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
My Hearing Loss
by a former student of Bemidji Area Schools
I feel, I wish, I could hear everyday.
I feel that I could hear more,
Including sounds I have never heard.
I feel lonely,
I wish I could have more friends.
I wish I wouldn’t be picked on.
I want to be treated like everyone else.
You can’t change it,
And you sit there waiting for a possible
Miracle, breakthrough.
My life is full of sadness.
So You have a Hard of
Hearing Student in class…
Now…what?
Our Goals today…
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Understand Social-Emotional Impact of
Hearing Loss
Understand Hearing Loss Levels
Develop an Empathy towards those with a
hearing loss
Understand Academic implications
Are You Lucky Enough to
Need Glasses?
Lens Crafters ad 2002
Are You Lucky Enough to
Wear Hearing Aids?
It just doesn’t have the same
ring to it…
Social Stigmas
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Weight, attractiveness, etc.
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Race
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Gender
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Vision Loss
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Hearing Loss
VISION PROBLEMS?
AIRPLANE
HERE ARE SOME GLASSES…
AIRPLANE
HEARING PROBLEMS?
Here is a Hearing aid…
Understanding Hearing Loss
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Conductive Hearing Loss
vs.
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Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Conductive Loss
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Hearing loss would
show a flat line
Hearing aid turns all
sounds up the same
degree (like a
radio)
Sensorineural Loss
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Loss shown all over
audiogram (may be
sloping, rising, or
curved)
Hearing aid
amplifies sounds we
need and sounds
we don’t need.
Sensorineural Loss
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Loss shown all over
audiogram (may be
sloping, rising, or
curved)
Hearing aid
amplifies sounds we
need and sounds
we don’t need.
Sensorineural Loss
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Loss shown all over
audiogram (may be
sloping, rising, or
curved)
Hearing aid
amplifies sounds we
need and sounds
we don’t need.
Sensorineural Loss
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Loss shown all over
audiogram (may be
sloping, rising, or
curved)
Hearing aid
amplifies sounds we
need and sounds
we don’t need.
Special education Criteria
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First and foremost…an audiologist has
tested the child and found a hearing
loss that verifies one of the following…
Special education Criteria
Continued
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A 20 decibel or greater loss in both
ears
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Or…..
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A 45 decibel or greater loss in one ear.
Levels of Hearing Loss
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Mild
Moderate
Moderate to Severe
Severe
Profound
What is normal hearing
defined as?
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Students can detect all speech sounds
(whispering, etc.)
On your sample handout… they would
have a -10 decibel (dB) to +15 dB
hearing range.
How is a minimal hearing loss
defined?
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Students may have difficulty hearing faint or
distant speech.
Peer conversation and teacher instructions
presented too rapidly, particularly in noisy
classrooms, are likely to result in missed
information.
Loss is between 16 to 25 decibels.
What is mild hearing loss?
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mild = small…so it doesn’t affect them right?
Student may miss up to 50% of class
discussions.
Students will require the use of a hearing aid
or personal FM system.
Loss is between 26 to 40 decibels on your
handout.
What is a moderate hearing
loss like?
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Classroom conversation from 3 to 5 ft. away
can be understood if they know the
context.
Hearing aids and/or personal FM systems
are essential.
Specific attention directed at language
development, reading and written
language.
Loss is between 41 to 55 decibels.
What is a moderate-severe
loss?
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Without amplification students can miss up
to 100% of speech information.
Full time use of amplification is essential.
They will probably require additional help in
all language based academic subjects.
Loss is between 56 to 70 decibels.
What is does it mean to have
a severe hearing loss?
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Students can only hear loud noises at close
distances.
They require individual hearing aids,
intensive auditory training and specialized
instructional techniques in reading,
language, and speech development.
Loss is between 71 to 90 decibels.
So what’s a profound loss
then?
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These students rely on their eyes and not
their ears!
Usually a candidate for signing systems and
specialized instructional techniques in
reading, speech, and language
development
A loss of 91 decibels or more is described as
profound. They are Deaf.
How about some
empathy?
Insight to some of the
questions you’re dying to ask.
The Why’s
The Why’s
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Why isn’t speech/lipreading enough?
What we really said…
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Zoo
Fondue
Six
Nest
Car
The Why’s
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Why can’t I just talk louder?
It seems like talking louder would
help…however, studies show that talking
louder only increases vowel energy and not
consonant energy.
Ironically, yelling increases audibility but not
intelligibility.
The Why’s
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Why do I have to wear a microphone
if I have them sitting in front?
Children who are hard of hearing
internally distort sounds.
They need speech 10 times louder
than the background noise.
Answers to your test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Bath
Pearl
Sour
Mouse
Learn
Wheat
Vine
Tape
Hedge
mood
Actual Spelling test of Hard
of Hearing Student
Classroom Teacher Study
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Study says…half of teachers thought
hearing loss and academic problems
were not linked.
Teachers accused students of
daydreaming because they
participated most of the time.
Study by Ross, Brackett, and Maxon 1991
Facts on the impact of hearing
loss on Education
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Students with a hearing loss are
generally 2 grade levels behind in their
reading comprehension.
Language delays based on
levels of hearing loss
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15-26 dB loss
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1.2 year delay
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27- 40 dB loss
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2.0 year delay
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41-55 dB loss
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2.9 year delay
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56-70 dB loss
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3.5 + year delay
Unilateral losses
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Almost 50% of children with at least a
30 dB hearing loss in one ear, have
failed one or more grades…or are
receiving support services.
Classroom noises
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In a typical
classroom…the
noise levels can
reduce the
student’s ability to
understand to 60%
or as low as 27%
without appropriate
acoustics (ex.
carpet, etc.)
Won’t a student tell the teacher if
they’re not hearing everything?
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The problem with “not hearing so good”
is that you don’t hear what you don’t
hear and you don’t know that you didn’t
hear because you didn’t hear it!
So even if a teacher asks, “Are you
hearing me?” They will almost always say
“yes!”
Comments made by Local
Teachers…
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“I don’t think she needs the
speakers, she hears me fine.”
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“I have a loud voice…I don’t need the
microphone.”
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“She just has selective hearing and
hears when she wants to.”
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“He hears me all the time when I call
his name and I don’t have a
microphone on.”
Some points to ponder…
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Would you take away a person’s
wheelchair if you knew that they could
crawl without it?
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With a hearing loss, the question
should never be if the person can hear
you.
The question should be if the person
can understand what you are saying.
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Would you take away amplification
from a hard of hearing person if they
could hear you talking but not
understand all the words without it?
Ok…Ok…I get it…So what
can I do?
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Receive training (you’re here!!!)
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Gain understanding and empathy
(we’re trying)
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Respect student and don’t question
the severity of the loss and it’s social,
emotional, and academic impact.
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Follow LEGAL IEP modifications and
adaptations.
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If you have questions please…ask us, the
student or their family.
Bibliography
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Collins, S.H. (1989). Sound Hearing, or…Hearing What you Miss.
Eugene, OR: Garlic Press.
Flexer, Carol. (September 1995). Classroom Management of
Children with Minimal Hearing Loss. The Hearing Journal, 48(9), 53-56.
Nussbaum, D. (1988). There’s a Hearing Impaired Child in My Class.
Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Bernard, Susan. (2002). Various handouts and quote collections.
Microsoft Office XP
 Clip Art
 Powerpoint Presentation