Regardless of whether you define hard-of-hearing based on decibel level hearing loss or take the functional definition of hard-of-hearing, a hard-of-hearing child has different needs and warrants different approaches than are used for a child who is deaf. A hard-of-hearing child has enough residual hearing that with the use of hearing aids or other amplification devices, they can use their hearing as the primary method for learning language.
Sometimes hard-of-hearing children are lumped together with deaf children and put into an educational environment that is more attuned to the deaf child's needs. When this occurs, the hard-of-hearing child can end up functionally deaf.
The organization Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH) takes the position that most hard-of-hearing children can, and should be, educated in regular, as opposed to special, educational settings.
To allow hard-of-hearing children to develop to their potential, services and devices such as the following may be appropriate:
Most hard-of-hearing children can be mainstreamed in regular classrooms using one or more of the above approaches.
Unilateral Hearing Loss
Unilateral hearing loss also can require remediation. Techniques and approaches for the hard-of-hearing child can also be used for the child with a unilateral hearing loss. In addition, such obvious things as seating the student so that their functioning ear is closest to the teacher are advisable.
Here are some web sites that provide additional information about unilateral hearing loss:
Technologies for assisting hard-of-hearing students
Hearing aids, personal FM systems, and sound-field systems are described elsewhere in this booklet. Described below are some other technical devices that can be used to assist hard-of-hearing (and deaf) students.
Computer-assisted Real-time Transcription (CART)
CART uses a person specially trained to transcribe speech into viewable text, using a computer and an input device especially designed for this purpose. With CART, a hard-of-hearing (or deaf) student can follow the text of what teachers or classmates are saying within a second or two of them speaking. CART also allows saving the transcribed text as computer files, which can be provided to the student for additional review.
I-Communicator
The I-Communicator provides transcription of spoken language into text and/or into sign language, using software speech recognition.
See: teachthedeaf
Ultratec Instant Captioning
Ultratec has announced the availability of a device which can transcribe spoken language into text. While the device currently does this through a dial-up link to a real person who listens to the person speaking through a microphone on the device and transcribes the resulting speech into text on the computer screen.
See: Ultratec
Classroom Acoustics
Improving classroom acoustics is critical to the success of hard-of-hearing students (also to deaf students who rely on their hearing). The best way to ensure proper acoustics is for the school to use an acoustical engineer to help in the design of new school classrooms or the retrofitting of old classrooms to enhance the acoustics.
There are many things that can be done to improve the acoustics of the classroom, including such things as:
To see an example of what can be done to improve acoustics, a visit to the school at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis is well worth-while.
The Architectural Compliance Board for ADA has considered making regulations regarding classroom acoustics, but has not done so yet.
Pre-school services for hard-of-hearing children
Preschool age hard-of-hearing children need special services, too. Extra time spent on listening and speech skills is certainly appropriate. Placement of the hard-of-hearing child in a non-categorical early childhood special education classroom may not be appropriate.
An excellent book for parents of hard-of-hearing children is "Not Deaf Enough: Raising a Child Who is Hard of Hearing with Hugs, Humor, and Imagination" by Patricia Candlish.
A video about hard-of-hearing children is Families with Hard-of-Hearing Children available from Boys Town Press at 800-282-6657