This topic is especially important to me since my younger brother is deaf. I watched my parents struggle as they sent him "away" to a deaf school all week long from the ages of 3 to 7. I watched them stand at the end of the driveway on Sunday evenings while he boarded the bus to go back to school for the week. When the had finally had enough, he was enrolled in a "regular" school at the age of 8, however, the struggles did not stop there. Learning to communicate with teachers and peers who were unable to communicate with him was extremely difficult. It was 15 years ago when he was first enrolled in a regular school so there have been many advances today and teachers are more educated about students with special needs so they are better equipped and more confident (which is so important) to deal with such challenges. There are, however, simple things that teachers can do when there is a deaf or hearing impaired student in their classroom. Such things include but are not limited to:
- speaking slowly and clearly
- male teachers trimming facial hair (it obstructs mouth movements)
- do not shout (it also obstructs mouth movements and a shouted word does not look the same as it would if it were said in a normal tone)
- ensure the classroom is well lit
- ensure the student is sitting close to the teacher where he/she can easily see the teachers mouth (even if there is an interpreter)
- try to limit background noise (ie. overhead projector, squeaky chairs) because these can be very distracting and interfere with what is trying to be heard if the student is wearing hearing aids.
These are just some of the many things that we as teachers can try to do. Other strategies can be found at some of the following sites:
http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?Article=3207
http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/hearing.html
http://www.shef.ac.uk/disability/teaching/hearing/5_strategies.html
http://www.shef.ac.uk/disability/teaching/hearing/6_teaching.html
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