Thursday, October 15, 2015

How can we help students who are hard of hearing?

What obstacles do students who are hard of hearing face in a typical classroom? 
Students who are hard of hearing are typically students who do not use Sign Language, but often have hearing aids. These students can usually understand speech with the use of the hearing aids as well as their well developed lip reading skills. Students who are hard of hearing often cannot hear if a teacher asks a question in a classroom, and therefore cannot respond appropriately to the question. This will then create a barrier for the child because they cannot communicate their level of understanding of the subject matter. The students can also often miss other peer comments during lunch. The lunch room is a noisy place and students with hearing aids hear so many things at once while in this type of environment. This will then cause the student to not be able to carry out social conversations with other students. All of these issues relate to one word…ISOLATION. Students who are hard of hearing often feel isolated.


Think about a time you had an ear infection or ear ache…how did it feel? Could you hear everything correctly and clearly? IT’S FRUSTRATING!! Remember that whenever you are working with a student who is hard of hearing.

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