Special education teachers are charged with teaching a diverse group of learners. Some students come to the classroom with hearing impairments that impact not only the child’s developmental level, but his or her academic achievement.
A person with hearing loss or hearing impairment has insecurities in life or even more than that. Hearing impairment may start from infancy, childhood or maybe caused by any disease. Whatever be the cause, a hearing impairment has a big effect to ones personality.
Imagine a child who has a hearing loss. If the impairment is partial, sometimes he hears the voices of his playmates, sometimes he does not. It is because a certain section of his ears does not function very well. This child may sometimes lose his friends it is because he might not be understood by them. This will result
to the child's insecurities. This will probably lower his self esteem. He will also have a self pity. The end result of this is the child will feel indifferent to his playmates. He will not enjoy life as he expects. When this child goes to school, maybe he cannot make it to a regular class. Instead he will be enrolled to a school that caters those with impairment like his. If you notice your child to have a hearing impairment you can bring him to the doctor for a test.. The earlier the detection the better. The hearing impairment should not be the hindrance to the child’s bright future. It should not be the barrier for him to go to school and on his academic achievement.
Children who are deaf or hard of hearing are legally entitled to a free and appropriat
e education. Federal law requires a continuum of educational options, ranging from placement in a self-contained classroom with other children who are deaf to full-time placement in a regular education classroom with normally hearing peers. Most often, the placement involves a variation or a combination of the two extremes. An alternative placement is attendance at a residential school, in which the child can participate fully in the deaf culture.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), 250 million people in the world have disabling hearing impairment (moderate or worse hearing impairment in the better ear. Two-thirds of these people live in developing countries.
In the Philippine setting, the most recent nationwide survey on hearing disability and ear disorders conducted by Better Hearing Philippines, Inc., (2005 Martinez et.al.) the prevalence of hearing disability was established at 8.8% of the general population with wax problem, otitis media and no
n-infectious conditions as the leading cause. Further, hearing impairment, including mild forms of hearing loss was at 28%.Prior to the national survey cited earlier, the Department of Health and the University of the Philippines conducted, in 2003, a general survey on disability which sought to identify the problems in relation to disability in the country. The study categorized disabilities into moving, speaking, hearing, mental and seeing. Percent distributions of the types of disability are as follows: movement disability (39%), speaking (10%), hearing (33%), mental (10%) and vision (8%). Prevalence of different types of disability by age groups showed that disability was most prevalent among the following age groups: 70 and above (16.18%), 60-69 (3.66%) and 50-59 (1.45%). As part of the disability being assessed by the study, it was found that the prevalence of hearing impairment nationwide using the screening and functional assessment tools developed by the study
was 2.04% while for hearing disability, results showed a 1.10% prevalence rate. Furthermore, hearing disability was found to be the 2nd highest form of disability next to moving disability.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) uses the category label hearing impairment to indicate a hearing loss adversely affects the academic achievement and thereby makes the child eligible for special education.(Heward 2003)
It is well recognized that hearing is critical to speech and language development, communication, and learning. Children with listening difficulties due to hearing loss or auditory processing problems continue to be an underidentified and underserved population.
The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child's life, the more serious the effects on the child's develo
pment. Similarly, the earlier the problem is identified and intervention begun, the less serious the ultimate impact.
There are four major ways in which hearing loss affects children--
1. It causes delay in the development of receptive and expressive communication skills (speech and language).
2. The language deficit causes learning problems that result in reduced academic achievement.
3. Communication difficulties often lead to social isolation and poor self-concept.
4. It may have an impact on vocational choices
.
Children with hearing loss have difficulty with all areas of academic achievement, especially reading and mathematical concepts. Reading ability, which relies on English language skills and is the most important area of academic achievement, is most affected. Numerous studies paint a bleak picture the academic achievement of students with hearing loss have routinely found them to for the reading achievement of students with hearing impairment. (Smith, 2003)
Studies assessing the academic achievement of students with hearing loss have routinely found them to lag far behind their hearing peers, and the gap between children with normal hearing and those with hearing loss usually widens as they get older. Those with mild to moderate hearing losses, on average, achieve one to four grade levels lower than their peers with normal hearing, unless appropriate management occurs. Children with severe to profound hearing loss usually achieve skills no higher than the third- or fourth-grade level, unless appropriate educational intervention occurs early. The gap in academic achievement between children with normal hearing and those with hearing loss usually widens as they progress through school. The level of achievement is related to parental involvement and the quantity, quality, and timing of the support services children receive.
Blackorby and Knokey (2006) said that effective communication is critical for both academic success and positive social interactions for all children. For hearing students, hearing and speech are the primary mechanisms used for communicating with and understanding others. Because hearing loss relates directly and indirectly to these two functions, it can affect a student's ability to function in these areas. Further, depending on the level of loss, students with hearing impairments may use fundamentally different modes of communication than their hearing peers. Exhibit 4 depicts parents' ratings of the speech, communication, and understanding abilities of students with hearing impairments in light of their reported level of hearing loss. Students with hearing impairments exhibit a range of communication skills.
In each dimension of communication, a substantial number of students perform as well as hearing peers of the same age. However, SEELS data also suggest that significant numbers of students with hearing impairments do not communicate as effectively as other students of the same age. For example, 43% to 80% of students with hearing impairments, depending on level of loss, have at least a little trouble speaking clearly. These rates of speaking difficulty are comparable to those of other students with disabilities who have identified speech difficulties (e.g., students with speech/language impairments) but lower than those of others whose disabilities do not specifically imply difficulties in speaking (e.g., students with learning disabilities). Students' abilities to communicate "by any means" (i.e., speech, sign, etc.) also illustrate a range of functioning. Depending on level of hearing loss, between 31% and 68% of students with hearing impairments were reported by their parents to be able to carry on conversations as well as same-age peers.
According to parents, students with hearing impairments are reported to have trouble "understanding what others say." Depending on the level of hearing loss, fewer than one-quarter to nearly one-half of students with hearing loss understand others as well as their same-age peers do. Not surprisingly, the level of hearing loss among students with hearing impairments is related to all three communication measures. In each of these areas, students with parent-reported severe/profound hearing loss are more likely to have difficulties than are their peers with mild hearing loss. Level of hearing loss is noticeably more influential upon students' ability to 'speak clearly' than it is upon students' ability to 'understand the speech of others,' as demonstrated by the relatively high proportions of students with mild versus severe/profound hearing impairments whose respective communication abilities are up to that of their hearing peers. Note also that very little increase in proportion of students able to 'understand others' is realized when the level of hearing loss is reduced from severe/profound to moderate. In both instances, more than three-fourths of the students are reported to have difficulty understanding the speech of others.
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Last June 2010 when I started my practice teaching in Rosario Elementary School and I handle students with hearing impairment at first I had a hard time dealing or communicating with them because I don't have any knowledge on sign language yet. But as time goes by, when I learn some words in sign language it was easier for me to communicate with them.
During the days of my stay, as a student teacher, in Rosario, I notice that the performance of my students in Math and English are the most affected areas. as said in the article above Children with hearing impairment have difficulty with all areas of academic achievement, especially in reading and mathematics. and i found out that it is true. They had difficulties in analytical and logical concepts. they can not analyze things logically.
As a teacher, we should develop and give them more activities that would enhance their performance in the said ares. Schools should develop a better curriculum for them.
http://www.healthofchildren.com/L/Language-Delay.html
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