Learners With Difficulty in Hearing

B Learners with difficulty in hearing
1. Definition
About Hearing Loss
Hearing is one of our five senses. Hearing gives us access to sounds in the world around us—
people’s voices, their words, a car horn blown in warning or as hello!Humans can detect over
400,000 different sounds.As well as detecting sound,the ears play an important role in balance
and posture.
When a child has a hearing loss, it is cause for immediate attention. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention recommends that every newborn be screened for hearing loss as early
as possible. Hearing impairment is defined by IDEA as "an impairment in hearing, whether
permanent or fluctuating". Deafness is viewed as a condition that prevents an individual from
receiving sound in all or most of its forms.
Impairments in hearing can occur in either or both ears, and may exist in only one ear or in
both. Hearing loss is generally described as slight, mild, moderate, severe, or profound. Only
children whose hearing loss is greater than 90 decibels (dB) are considered deaf.
Hearing loss is defined as one of three types:
 Conductive (involves outer or middle ear)
*Allergies
*Fluid
*Foreign objects
*Ruptured eardrum
*Impacted earwax
 Sensorineural (involves inner ear)
*Aging
*Noise Damage
*Drug Side Effects
*Auditory tumors
*Blast explosion
 Mixed (combination of the two)
*Genetic disorder
*Infections
*Head Trauma
2. Identification
Signs of a Hearing Loss or Deafness
There will be signs that a child may not be hearing normally. Parents may notice that their
child:
 does not respond consistently to sounds or to his or her own name;

 asks for things to be repeated or often says “huh?”
 is delayed in developing speech or has unclear speech;
 turns the volume up loud on the TV and other electronic devices. (CDC, 2012)
Hearing loss and deafness can be either:
 acquired, meaning that the loss occurred after birth, due to illness or injury; or
 congenital, meaning that the hearing loss or deafness was present at birth.
Adults
 Inattentiveness
 Buzzing or ringing in their ears
 Failure to respond to spoken words
 Persistent ear discomfort after exposure to loud noise (regular and constant listening to
electronics at high volumes)
 Muffled hearing
 Constant frustration hearing speech and other sounds
 Avoids conversation
 Social isolation
 Depression
3.Learning of characteristics
Recognizing Characteristics of Deafness and Hearing Loss in Students
Teachers frequently seek further guidance and assistance in recognizing the characteristics of
deafness in their kids in order to better handle the child's individual requirements. This usually
occurs as a result of the instructor picking up on certain indicators about the student's language
development in class or as a result of a known hearing challenged youngster continuing to struggle
in their classroom.
Due to a reduced or absent auditory response to sound, a student or kid with deafness or hard-of-
hearing difficulties has delays in language and speech development. Students will have varied
degrees of hearing loss, which might make it challenging for them to learn spoken language. When
you have a child in your classroom who has hearing loss or deafness, you must be careful not to
infer that he or she has other developmental or intellectual problems. Many of these students are
intelligent, on par with or higher than average.
How to Recognize the Signs of Deafness
Some of the common characteristics of deafness commonly found in classrooms include the following:
 Difficulty following verbal directions

 Difficulty with oral expression
 Some difficulties with social/emotional or interpersonal skills
 Will often have a degree of language delay
 Often follows and rarely leads
 Will usually exhibit some form of articulation difficulty
 Can become easily frustrated if their needs are not met — which may lead to some behavioral
difficulties
 Sometimes the use of hearing aids leads to embarrassment and fear of rejection from peers
4.General education adaptation
What Can You Do to Help Students With Hearing Loss?
Language will be the priority area for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is the basic requirement for
success in all subject areas and will influence the student’s comprehension in your classroom. Language
development and its impact on the learning of students who are deaf or hard of hearing can be complex and
difficult to attain.
You may find that students will need interpreters, note-takers, or educational assistants to facilitate
communication. This process will usually require external personnel involvement. However, some of the basic
steps that you as a teacher can take to address the needs of a hearing impaired student include:
 Many students with hearing disabilities will have some form of specialized equipment recommended
by an audiologist. Help the child to feel comfortable with their hearing device and promote
understanding and acceptance with other children in the class.
 Remember that devices do not return the child's hearing to normal.
 Noisy environments will cause grief to the child with a hearing device and noise around the child
should be kept to a minimum.
 Check the device often to ensure it is working.
 When using videos, make sure you use the 'closed captioning' feature.
 Shut classroom doors/windows to help eliminate noise.
 Cushion chair bottoms.
 Use visual approaches whenever possible.
 Establish predictable routines for this child.
 Provide older students with visual outlines/graphic organizers and clarification.
 Use a home/school communication book.
 Enunciate words clearly using lip movement to assist the child to lip read.
 Keep close proximity to the student.
 Provide small group work when possible.
 Make assessment accommodations to enable a clear picture of demonstrated academic growth.
 Provide visual materials and demos whenever possible.
Adaptations to the classroom environment need to be considered individually for each child. Adaptations
‘level the playing field’ for children with learning challenges. Every learner should be able to fully access
educational information in the classroom. Challenges and appropriate classroom adaptations will vary
depending on a child’s age.

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B Learners with difficulty in hearing

About Hearing Loss

 Conductive (involves outer or middle ear)

 Sensorineural (involves inner ear)

*Drug Side Effects

 Mixed (combination of the two)

Signs of a Hearing Loss or Deafness

 does not respond consistently to sounds or to his or her own name;

Hearing loss and deafness can be either:

 Difficulty following verbal directions

4.General education adaptation

What Can You Do to Help Students With Hearing Loss?

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