Helpful Hints for
Working with Students that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
1. Seat the student where he/she appears to hear best
Seat the student close to the teacher / speaker / presenter ... where the student can both hear and SEE (for picking up on lipreading cues, gestures, etc). This may be front and center ... but it may not. There may not even be a “front and center”.
If possible, present the main instruction from one place ... and then move around the class after that. It’s tough to lipread a moving target.
Class discussion times will likely be difficult. Other students often speak very softly. The D/HoH child may have his/her back to the speaker. Various students may be adding to the conversation in quick succession. All these things make following a group conversation difficult. It would be helpful if you the teacher could reiterate, rephrase, support the comments and questions made by peers
Different classroom situations may require a different “preferential seat”. Just be aware and be flexible. Encourage the student to let you know what works and what doesn’t. You may need to ask more than once, ... and in private, so that the student isn’t embarrassed to answer.
2. Consider classroom acoustics
Background noise is one of the hardest things for hard of hearing people to cope with. If there are options, the child would best be served in a carpeted classroom, with lowered ceilings, and a smaller number of classmates.
When those options aren’t available, consider that the more “stuff” you have in your classroom, the more sound absorption there is; the less reverberation. Books, bulletin boards, area rugs, drapery ... any soft-sided object will help deaden excess background noise.
Close windows and hallway doors whenever the climate will allow. The noise from the hallways and outdoors are picked up by hearing aids, and are even more distracting to the student than they are to you!
Do not seat the hard of hearing student right next to noisy objects. Pencil sharpeners, overhead projectors, film projectors, ventilating systems and fans add their own level of noise to the environment. The closest object wins as far as a hearing aid is concerned!
3. Help the student lipread
It bears repeating: If possible, present the main instruction from one place ... and then move around the class after that. It’s tough to lipread a moving target.
Make sure you have the student’s attention before you speak. It is usually appreciated if you can do this subtly; do not always call out the child’s name to get their attention. Walking towards their desk, touching the desktop, a touch on the shoulder, etc. will help the child feel less conspicuous... and will get them ready to use their ears and eyes to pay attention.
Have the lights on in the room, and have the light on your face. In other words, do not plan on doing much verbal instruction after the lights go off for the movie / video. Nor should you stand in front of windows when you are speaking; the source of light is then behind you, and darkens your face.
Face the class when you talk. Perhaps this sounds too simplistic, however, it’s harder than it sounds. It’s very easy to talk while you are writing on the chalkboard or overhead. However, it is very difficult to lipread the back or top of the teacher’s head.
Speak clearly at a moderate pace and moderate level. You do not need to over-exaggerate your lip movements, nor do you need to shout. Both of those things actually distort the communication. But fast-talking people are difficult to understand.
4. Help the student learn vocabulary
Give vocabulary lists ahead of time. This gives the student an opportunity to see, hear, and comprehend the word before it is used in class ... and then perhaps they can focus on the class lesson rather than worrying about what they heard, and if they heard it right.
Use the new vocabulary repeatedly. Enough said.
Rephrase, rather than restate, your question/comment if the student doesn’t seem to understand. It may be more of a concept and vocabulary issue than a hearing issue. It is sometimes amazing what vocabulary gaps hard of hearing students have. They may be doing great with your 10th grade science word list, but somewhere along the line they missed the concept of “luggage” (actual case).
Check for comprehension by asking open-ended questions which require a specific answer. Don’t bother with “yes or no” questions ... especially, “can you hear me?” or “do you understand?” I’ll bet the answer will be “yes”.