4.4: Deaf and Hearing Impairment

Image Source: Bjorn Knetsch. Infant with cochlear implant . Wikimedia Commons.

Fig 4.4. Baby with cochlear implant.

Deaf or Hearing Impairment

Definitions of deaf and hard of hearing are based on the type and degree of hearing loss. Hearing depends on a series of steps that change sound waves in the air into electrical signals. Our auditory nerve then carries these signals to the brain.

Degree of hearing loss is described on a scale from slight to profound and is based on decibels (dB).

• mild hearing loss - can hear sounds only at 30 dB
• moderate hearing loss - can hear only sounds closer to 50 dB
• profound hearing loss - can hear sounds only at 90 dB

Age of onset is also used to describe hearing loss. Children's hearing loss may also be described based on age of onset.

• congenital hearing loss had hearing loss at birth
• adventitious hearing loss experienced hearing loss after birth
• prelingual hearing loss occurs before the development of speech and language
• postlingual hearing loss occurs after the development of speech and language

Defining Deaf and Hearing Impairment

The IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) uses the term hearing impairment. Some people in the Deaf community consider this term offensive because it focuses on what a student cannot do. This term should not be used to refer to a student who is deaf or hard of hearing.

The IDEA defines deafness and hearing impairment as the following

• deafness means a hearing impairment so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance
• hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section

Wisconsin State Law

Deaf and hard of hearing means a decreased ability to detect sound in one or both ears with or without amplification, whether permanent or chronically fluctuating, which adversely affects a child’s educational performance. This includes academic performance, speech perception, speech production, or communication including language acquisition or expression. A current evaluation by an audiologist licensed under state statutes shall be one of the components for an initial evaluation of a child with suspected hearing loss. A licensed teacher of the deaf or hard of hearing must be a member of the IEP team when determining eligibility for services.

The American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (ASHA)

A hearing disorder is the result of impaired auditory sensitivity of the physiological auditory system. A hearing disorder may limit the development, comprehension, production, and/or maintenance of speech and/or language. Hearing disorders are classified according to difficulties in detection, recognition, discrimination, comprehension, and perception of auditory information. Individuals with hearing impairment may be described as deaf or hard of hearing.

• Deaf is defined as a hearing disorder that limits a child's aural/oral communication performance to the extent that the primary sensory input for communication may be other than the auditory channel.
• Hard of hearing is defined as a hearing disorder, whether fluctuating or permanent, which adversely affects a child's ability to communicate. The child relies on the auditory channel as the primary sensory input for communication

Image Source: Learning Sign Language. Wikimedia Commons

4.4.1. Two young girls communicating via sign language.

Inclusion Strategies for the Classroom

Adjustments in teaching children with hearing loss are relatively easy to make but require deliberate actions or choices by the teacher and by classmates. Interestingly, many of the strategies make good advice for teaching all students!

• Take advantage of the student's residual hearing.
  • seat the child close to you or key classmates when children are working in a group.
  • keep competing noises (unnecessary talking or whispering) to a minimum to avoid distraction for the child with hearing loss
  • keep instructions concise and to-the-point
  • check in with the student child occasionally to see if they understand
• Use visual cues liberally.
  • use images, charts or diagrams wherever appropriate to illustrate what you are saying
  • look directly at the child when you are speaking tot hem to facilitate lip reading
  • gesture and point to key words or objects (within reason, not excessively)
• Include the student in the community of the classroom.
  • recruit one or more classmates to assist in "translating" verbal comments that the student may have missed.
  • if the child uses American Sign Language (ASL) at home or elsewhere, learn a few basics signs yourself -- "Hello" "thank you" "How are you?")
    • teach these basic signs to the class

Sources

• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Special Education Disability Categories. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
• Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairments. Educational Psychology (Seifert and Sutton). . Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairments is shared under a CC BY 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kelvin Seifert & Rosemary Sutton (Global Text Project) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.
• Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The Psychology of the Exceptional Child. LibreTexts, Social Sciences Library.