General Information about Deafness And Hearing Loss

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Educational Implications

Hearing loss or deafness does not affect a person's intellectual capacity or ability to learn. However, children who are either hard of hearing or deaf generally require some form of special education services in order to receive an adequate education. Such services may include:

• regular speech, language, and auditory training from a specialist;
  
  
• amplification systems;
  
  
• services of an interpreter for those students who use manual communication;
  
  
• favorable seating in the class to facilitate speechreading;
  
  
• captioned films/videos;
  
  
• assistance of a notetaker, who takes notes for the student with a hearing loss, so that the student can fully attend to instruction;
  
  
• instruction for the teacher and peers in alternate communication methods, such as sign language; and
  
  
• counseling.
  
  

Children who are hard of hearing will find it much more difficult than children who have normal hearing to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of verbal communication. For children who are deaf or have severe hearing losses, early, consistent, and conscious use of visible communication modes (such as sign language, fingerspelling, and Cued Speech) and/or amplification and aural/oral training can help reduce this language delay. By age four or five, most children who are deaf are enrolled in school on a full-day basis and do special work on communication and language development. It is important for teachers and audiologists to work together to teach the child to use his or her residual hearing to the maximum extent possible, even if the preferred means of communication is manual. Since the great majority of deaf children (over 90%) are born to hearing parents, programs should provide instruction for parents on implications of deafness within the family.

People with hearing loss use oral or manual means of communication or a combination of the two. Oral communication includes speech, speechreading and the use of residual hearing. Manual communication involves signs and fingerspelling. Total Communication, as a method of instruction, is a combination of the oral method plus signs and fingerspelling.

Individuals with hearing loss, including those who are deaf, now have many helpful devices available to them. Text telephones (known as TTs, TTYs, orTDDs) enable persons to type phone messages over the telephone network. The Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), now required by law, makes it possible for TT users to communicate with virtually anyone (and vice versa) via telephone. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Information Clearinghouse (telephone: [phone], voice; 1-800-241-1055, TT) makes available lists of TRS numbers by state.

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Resources

Adams, J.W. (1988). "You and your hearing-impaired child: A self-instructional guide for parents." Washington, DC: Gallaudet University. (Available from Galludet University Bookstore, Mail Order Dept., 800 Florida Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20002. Telephone: [phone].)

Luterman, D.M. (1991). "When your child is deaf: A guide for parents." Parkton, MD: York Press. (Available from York Press, P.O. Box 504, Timonium, MD 21094. Telephone: [phone].)

Ross, Mark (ed.) (1990) "Hearing-impaired children in the mainstream." Parkton, MD: York Press. (See above for ordering information .)

Schwartz, S. (Ed.). (1996). "Choices in deafness: A parents' guide to communication options. Rockville, MD: Woodbine House." [Available in August 1996 from Woodbine House, 6510 Bells Mill Road, Bethesda, MD 20817. Telephone: [phone] (outside DC area); [phone] (in DC area).]

Shhh Journal. Published bimonthly by Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH). See "Organizations" for SHHH's address and telephone number.

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Organizations

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, Inc.

3417 Volta Place, NW
Washington, DC 20007
[phone] (Voice/TT)
E-mail: [e-mail]

American Society for Deaf Children

2848 Arden Way, Suite 210
Sacramento, CA 95825-1373
1-800-942-2723 (Voice/TT)
E-mail: [e-mail]

American Speech-Language Hearing Association

10801 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
[phone] (Voice/TT)
1-800-638-8255 (Helpline)

National Information Center on Deafness

Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue N.E.
Washington, DC 20002-3695
[phone] (Voice)
[phone] (TT)
E-mail: [e-mail]
URL: http://www.gallaudet.edu/~nicd

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Clearinghouse

One Communication Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20892-3456
1-800-241-1044 (Voice)
1-800-241-1055 (TT)
E-mail: [e-mail]

Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH)

7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200
Bethesda, MD 20814
[phone] (Voice)
[phone] (TT)
E-mail: [e-mail]

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