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5 Case Study)

Students with Deafness and Hearing Loss

AJ is a second-grade student who is deaf in his right ear (sensorineural hearing loss) and due to a physical deformity (conductive hearing loss) is hard of hearing in the left ear. However, he is scheduled for surgery on his left ear because doctors are hopeful that once the physical problem is corrected, he may have partial hearing in that ear. He uses sign language to communicate, but neither his mother nor his siblings know or use sign language. He attended preschool, kindergarten, and first grade at a residential school for the deaf, but he is being transferred to a public school due to the closing of the residential school. Mr. Hanks is the second-grade teacher who will have AJ in his class. This school has never had a student with hearing loss as significant as AJs. Prior to AJs arrival, a team of professionals met in order to make his transition as smooth as possible. The following questions were the topic of the meeting:

1. How has AJs hearing loss affected his communication and experiential learning? His hearing loss has made it much more difficult for him to communicate with others, especially his own family, because he communicates with sign language which is something his family has not learned. Children with hearing loss also do not bring to their educational experience the same extensive language, conceptual, and experiential knowledge that their hearing peers do. 2. What are some of the social, emotional, behavioral, and academic characteristics of students with hearing loss? How do these characteristics affect the interactions between students with deafness and their peers? Social and Emotional: Tend to have fewer friends, parents who have more restrictive rules for behavior and parents who are unable to communicate expectations about social interactions. Behavioral: May not understand why people act or react the way that they do, they may also struggle to understand the subtle differences between our emotions (anger, frustration, disappointment, etc.) Academic: These children may have trouble in school as a result of communication problems. Reading and writing proves to be more difficult for deaf students than math. These characteristics can make it difficult for deaf children to interact with their peers, and can keep them from socializing well, if someone doesnt step in to assist the child.

3. What are some recommended educational practices for students who are deaf or hard of hearing? Some recommended educational practices for deaf or hard of hearing students would include integrated vocabulary and concept development, experiential ladder of learning, and visual teaching strategies.

4. How might AJs hearing loss affect his reading ability? His hearing loss would negatively impact his reading ability, primarily because of the communication and language development connection.