Hearing

In-service Course For Teachers of Mainstreamed Hearing Impaired Students  27.02.18

Resources – downloadable; also books to borrow etc

www.vanasch.school.nz

library@vanasch.school.nz

PART 1: Audiology & Hearing

The ear is made up of the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. The inner ear has the hearing nerve to the brain Vestibular/ balance system, and the cochlea hair cells. The cochlear hair cells can become damaged by noise. The ear drum sits in the middle ear. Glue ear and sinus occurs mainly in the middle ear.

Audiogram

NOTE: there is a difference between audibility and intelligibility, i.e. background noise and/or limitations in hearing may mean the student  hears the sound/instruction but can’t interpret or understand it. In the classroom, the signal (i.e. instructing voice) must be greater than the background noise. Young children need at least 30dB more signal than background noise before they can process speech. 

Assistive Devices

•     Hearing aids (includes a bone conduction hearing aid)
•     RM systems (for auditory processing or hearing loss)
•     Cochlear implants

Cochlear Implants

These directly stimulate the auditory nerve, and take time to adjust to sound. The implants are bilateral and can be individually programmed.

Check that a child hears sounds, i.e. check hearing aides by holding in your hand (they will buzz), ask child to repeat the instructions back to you.

 PART 2: Learning & Theory of Mind and Literacy for Deaf Students

There are significant cognitive differences (not deficiencies) between deaf and hearing children. These include:

• Executive function: includes managing time, paying attention, plan, problem solve, multitask, monitor their actions, organise self etc.
• Metacognition: deaf children often think they understand more than they actually do. They generally also ask less questions. They don’t know what you don’t know.
• Memory: concept learning and knowledge organization. Hearing people remember more in working memory, while deaf people recall more in the long term memory.
• Visual information processing. 
• Concept learning and knowledge organisation : deaf students may have the concept knowledge (i.e. they understand the word ‘train’ in a text) but may not pick up the context (i.e. they don’t as readily activate prior knowledge and sentence/story context).
• Visual attention in deaf children is generally worse than sustained hearing; they need to be taught to use the pictures to help their understanding.
• Theory of Mind (ToM) : this includes understanding that others have a different perspective from you; and understanding/being able to explain thoughts, emotions and beliefs, and the differences between these.

Implications for Teaching

• Pre-teach vocabulary: this could be done with a buddy (i.e. look at the guided text prior to reading and discuss pictures/story with a buddy).
• Explicitly teach reading & maths skills: using the picture and prior knowledge; interpreting symbols in maths. 
• Get students to restate problem in own words or retell instructions.
• Use PMP and Braingym 
• Explicitly link new experiences to known experiences e.g., “Remember handwriting from last year…we used hand exercises…can anyone remember any of those?”
• Use concept maps and diagrams to show relationships.
• Use thought bubbles to explain own/others’ feelings.
• Discuss, model and play games with mental state language (desire, upset, remember, imagine, surprised etc).
•  Use gestures and movement in teaching and giving instructions.
•  Discuss and practice perspective taking.
•  Give spelling words in a sentence.

PART 3: Classroom Strategies

The Physical Environment

• General seating arrangement so students can see your mouth and gestures, but also see and can hear peers. 

• Use a UDL approach: captioning, iPads to record notes from whiteboard; whiteboard/modelling book examples/instructions; provide multiple ways of presenting learning and for the students to present their learning.

• Integrate NZSL into the general learning programme (for all).

• Allow processing/think time.

• Encourage students to ask for appropriate clarification, perhaps using an agreed signal. Check-in that they (and others) understand.

• Allow for brain breaks…hearing impairment requires increased concentration and students can grow tired more readily.

• Make sure your/speaker’s face isn’t in direct light (obscures mouth).

• Try to stay still and keep hearing impaired students in the mid-front range of teacher.

• Give instructions 3 times: say, repeat, rephrase (with a visual or movement).