Faculty Guide
Hearing Impairments
Hearing disabilities may range in severity from a mild hearing loss to total deafness. Communication is the major challenge for people with hearing impairments, and students with hearing impairments vary widely in their communication skills. Factors that affect one's development of communication skills include the nature and degree of the hearing loss, age at onset, degree of benefit derived from amplification and communication aids, and individual personality. By definition, a deaf person is one whose sense of hearing is nonfunctional for understanding normal conversation. Someone who is hard of hearing, on the other hand, has residual hearing that may be augmented with hearing aids, assistive listening devices and/or speech-reading (lip-reading).
Classroom Accommodations
- A sign-language interpreter is an appropriate academic accommodation for some deaf students. An interpreter uses a mode of communication designated by the deaf individual such as American Sign Language (ASL). The interpreter conveys the dialog and is not a contributor to it.
- Students who use an interpreter need preferential seating so that both interpreter and lecturer are within his or her field of vision. Hard-of-hearing students also require preferential seating to eliminate as many distractions as possible and to provide an unobstructed view of the instructor.
- Sign language may not precisely coincide with the lecturer's words. Technical terms, colloquial expressions, slang and idioms may be difficult to interpret; try to limit their usage. If possible, provide an outline or a copy of lecture notes to help the student follow the lecture.
- Establish a system to notify the deaf student if you have to cancel a class so that the interpreter's services can be canceled.
- Visual aids such as chalkboards, overhead projectors, films, diagrams and charts are helpful. Incorporate these aids whenever possible. Using an overhead projector is preferable to a chalkboard because it allows the instructor to face the class when making an illustration.
- When showing a film, it is helpful to provide written captions or closed captioning when available.
- Many students with hearing impairments require a note-taker so they can focus their attention on the instructor and the interpreter.
- Some students with a hearing loss use an audio enhancement system which requires the instructor to wear a lapel microphone attached to a small transmitter, and requires the student to wear an earpiece receiver.
Communication Tips
- Be aware that even a small hearing impairment can hinder a person's ability to understand what you say. Hearing aids do not correct the hearing loss; they merely amplify sound, including background noise. They in no way simulate normal hearing.
- The speech of some hearing-impaired students may be difficult to understand because they cannot control the tone and volume of their speech. Understanding usually improves as the listener becomes more familiar with the person's speech.
- Speak directly to the class. Pronounce words naturally; exaggerated pronunciations make lip-reading difficult. Avoid standing in front of a light source (a window, for example) because backlighting obscures the lips and facial expressions. To enhance a student's speech-reading ability, don't cover your mouth when you speak.
- In the presence of a sign-language interpreter, speak directly to the student, not the interpreter.
- Write technical or difficult words on the board the first time you present them.
- Accentuate body language, including facial expressions and gestures, to help communicate your message more effectively.
- When working with hard-of-hearing or deaf people, be aware of safety concerns - for example, in the case of fire alarms.
- If you need to telephone a student with a hearing impairment, DS can train you to use a TTY (teletypewriter).
- E-mail is often an effective way to communicate with deaf or hard-of-hearing students.
- Familiarize yourself with resources available on campus so that you can make referrals when appropriate.
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