1. By Group 3: Sarah Casey Jennifer Foret Delise McCoy Kasey Ostrosky
Hearing Impairments
Definitions as defined by IDEA:
Hearing impairment is "an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.“
Deafness is defined as "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification."
By Group 3:
Sarah Casey
Jennifer Foret
Delise McCoy
Kasey Ostrosky

2. When in doubt, ask the person how they identify themselves…
What is the difference, which one is correct? Deaf, Hard of Hearing, deaf or Hearing Impaired?
Deaf
Please note the capital “D”
Members of the deaf community and deaf culture
Most recognize ASL as their primary language
Most feel common bond based on shared language and feelings of oppression
deaf
Please note the lowercase “d”
Includes many groups of people, most of whom do not identify with being part of the deaf culture
Typically “oral deaf people” ; use speech and residual hearing to communicate instead of sign language
Most have profound or severe hearing loss and choose to associate with primarily hearing people
Hard of Hearing
Term used for mild, moderate or severe hearing loss
Speech is primary mode of communication, but may be involved in the deaf community
Transitions easily between Deaf and hearing cultures
Hearing Impaired
Considered a highly offensive and inappropriate label because it does not account for cultural identity
The term is considered negative and focuses on what a person can’t do
When in doubt, ask the person how they identify themselves…

3. Characteristics Social/Emotional/Behavioral:
Found not paying attention to what is being said
Gestures to communicate instead of speaking when spoken to
Tends to imitate others
Reluctant to engage in an oral conversation
Works best only when in a group
Can be more occupied with things rather than people
Tends to respond to noises rather than words
Can become easily frustrated if their needs are not met which can lead to some behavioral difficulties
Sometimes the use of hearing aids may cause embarrassment and fear of rejection from peers
Motor/Physical:
Problems with balancing that can lead to delayed motor skills
Unable to process and complete motor acts in an appropriate amount of time
Frequently turns/cocks head
Thinking/Cognition/Communication:
Difficulty with speech, reading and writing due to the close relationship of language development and hearing
Has difficulty following directions
Tends to speak in a monotone voice

4. The Impact on Speech and Language Development
Habilitation and Rehabilitation:
Children who have experienced prelingual hearing loss need individualized habilitation services while children who have postlingual hearing loss receive rehabilitation services (Lue, 2001).
Effects of Hearing Loss on Speech and Language Development:
Receptive and expressive language can be delayed. Children may struggle obtaining new vocabulary words, understanding words with multiple meanings, identifying correct sentence structure, and hearing word endings. Children with hearing loss may also leave out certain sounds when speaking or use inappropriate volume. Hearing loss can also effect inflection of rate of speech ("Effects of hearing”, 2009).
Development of Oral Language Skills:
Children with hearing loss can often develop good oral language skills. Some key factors in oral language development are early diagnosis (ideally before six months), early intervention, assistance of professionals such as audiologists and speech and language pathologists, and any necessary assistive technology ("Hearing impairment and language development”, 2005)
Factors that Impact Speech and Language Development (Quigley & Kretschmer, 1982):
Degree of hearing loss
Age when loss began
Slope of hearing loss
Age loss is identified
Age, amount, and type of habilitation
Degree of hearing loss:
Hearing loss can be in one ear, unilateral, or in both ears, bilateral. If the child experiences unilateral loss and receives early intervention then age-appropriate communication skills can be achieved (Lue, 2001).
Age of loss:
If hearing loss occurs before speech and language development it is referred to as prelingual. If it occurs after speech and language development it is referred to as postlingual. If a child is congenitally deaf the hearing loss occurred at or before birth (Lue, 2001).

5. Impact on second language acquisition…
Second language instruction in a classroom is by nature primarily visual and auditory. One language is used to teach another language, either through use of the first language or by simplified explanations of concepts in the second language. Because children are expected to use and understand abstract academic concepts in English almost immediately, they often don't have time to develop complex language gradually. They can quickly and easily miss or misunderstand the concepts being taught.
Language
Delayed language development with
unclear speech and incorrect pronunciation.
Emotion and behavior
Easy to have emotional and behavioral
problems as a result of difficulties in verbally
expressing himself/ herself.
Self-confidence
Lack of self-confidence with poor self-image
for being always mistaken to be slow in response.
Social interaction
Socially excluded by peers due to poor comprehension and expression, or actively avoid social contact and communication.
Academic performance
Academic performance being affected due to difficulty in receiving the correct messages.
Poor grades.

6. Interventions and Strategies
For ALL students with hearing impairments:
VISUALS! VISUALS! VISUALS!
speak directly to the student
speak naturally
check hearing aides and technology daily
encourage speech use as much as possible
facilitate interaction with peers
smart board
visual phonics
FairView – Bridges
FairView – Dolch Words
interactive and hands on activities
itinerate teacher for mainstreamed students

7. FREE Resources! www.bionicear.com/listeningroom
(login as guest)

8. References
Lue, M.S. (2001). A survey of communication disorders for the classroom teacher. Neeham Heights, MA: Pearson.
Miller, Kevin J. (2008, August). Closing a Resource Room for Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Communication Disorders Quarterly (29.4), Retrieved October 5th, 2009 from EBSCOhost.
Paul, Peter V. (1996 Spring). First and Second Language English Literacy. Volta Review (2), Retrieved October 5th, 2009, from EBSCOhost.
(2009). Effects of hearing loss on development. Retrieved from
(2005). Hearing impairment and language development. Retrieved from