Title: Hearing Impairment: Teaching Strategies for an Inclusive Classroom - BrightHub Education
Headings: Hearing Impairment: Teaching Strategies for an Inclusive Classroom
Hearing Impairment: Teaching Strategies for an Inclusive Classroom
Page content
Considering Inclusion
Hearing Impaired Children In The Mainstream Classroom
Communication Strategies
Embracing Acceptance
Encouraging Self-Advocacy Skills
References
This post is part of the series: Inclusion and Disabilities

Content: Deaf and hard of hearing students can more efficiently learn to communicate with their hearing peers, they may feel less physically and socially isolated from other children, and they may have more access to certain academic or vocational opportunities. When determining whether inclusion is the ideal option for a hearing impaired student, parents, teachers, and school administrators need to consider factors such as the availability of trained support aides, the district’s access to assistive technological devices, the student’s linguistic and academic levels, and the potential for effective peer and teacher communication. Hearing Impaired Children In The Mainstream Classroom
A range of services are available to ease the adjustment of a deaf or hard of hearing student into an inclusive school environment. These services may consist of technological devices such as amplification systems and captioning services, or personal support through note takers and interpreters. Even without paraprofessionals, teachers can implement a few basic strategies to help hearing impaired students get the information they need, such as pre-teaching specialized vocabulary, writing readings and homework on the board, posting schedules and providing lesson outlines ahead of time. Arranging buddy systems can also be a benefit if students are missing information. Educators can usually access more information and training through itinerant staff in their school district, if they wish to learn more about classroom accommodations, teaching strategies or specialized equipment. Teaching children with hearing impairments can be challenging for mainstream educators, therefore some specific accommodations and inclusion strategies should be outlined by the IEP team prior to a student being placed in the regular classroom. Communication Strategies
Some individuals and families rely on American Sign Language for communication and education, and others, who have slight to moderate hearing impairment, wear hearing aids and rely on lip-reading in the classroom. Either way, when a classroom includes students with hearing impairment, teaching strategies will need to be a little different from the norm.