Over the years, I have worked with several students who have mild-severe hearing loss and attend public school rather than the school for the deaf. Hearing aides and cochlear implants are incredible but these kids usually need some extra support to make sure they are getting a teachers entire message. Some things we consider are extra amplification (FM system, tower), seating arrangements, and copies of class notes.
Talking with teachers, I feel like often they want to help but don't understand just how the child's hearing loss impacts them. This youtube video using the Flintstones is an awesome reference for just how hearing loss effects listening to speech:
I have had kids with moderate loss come to school without hearing aides because they have broken or been forgotten. How important is it to adjust your teaching those days! Otherwise, the kid hears very little all day long.
Almost all my kids with hearing loss use an FM system in the classroom. It is an amplification system that hooks on to the actual hearing aide and the teacher wears a microphone to amplify their voice. It helps to fade out the background noise and make the teachers voice more prominent. This youtube demonstrates how much the FM system helps in a noisy classroom for a hearing impaired child. It is kind of dry and slow but definitely worth the watch and an email out to teachers!
I made a companion with 10 tips for teachers of students with hearing loss. It is available in my TPT store Here. It also contains a data sheet to track self advocacy skills. I always want to know how independent the kids are in taking care of their FM and letting their teacher know they can't hear something. Hope you find it helpful and useful!
No comments:
Post a Comment