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: Teachers should provide seating with an unobstructed view of the instructor and lesson materials. They may also need to become more linear in their activities to increase the student’s understanding. For example, they should write on the board, then turn around and give instructions, rather than teaching with their back to students. This may take practice, since teachers tend to be natural multi-taskers. Regular education teachers and peers should strive to maintain eye contact when instructing or conversing with a hearing impaired student, even if an interpreter is needed to communicate information through sign language. It is important for everyone to wait until the student with hearing loss knows who to turn their attention to, before beginning to speak. Embracing Acceptance
One way to encourage feelings of inclusion and confidence when teaching children with hearing impairments in the regular classroom, is for teachers to familiarize themselves with fingerspelling or basic sign language. School districts that have the means to offer hearing children an extracurricular course in sign language can help to foster communication and friendships for students with hearing difficulties. Peers and school staff can access online simulators to gain an understanding of what it might be like to have a hearing loss. It would be helpful if they learned that hearing aids amplify every noise in the classroom, not just the teacher’s voice.