16 Hearing Impairment
This section includes the IDEA definition of the disability from federal law, along with specific information about eligibility criteria in Virginia. In addition, there is information about the prevalence, causes, and characteristics of this disability, along with specific strategies and accommodations that can meet the needs of students with this disability.
IDEA Definition
Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.
Eligibility Criteria
VDOE Supplemental Guidance for Evaluation and Eligibility (PDF) Virginia-specific guidance document that includes sample eligibility checklist (Refer to Table of Contents pages 2-4 and click on page number for disability category)
Advocacy organizations
- VDOE Deaf and Hard of Hearing – VDOE lists a wide range of organizations for supporting children, youth, and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing based on communication preferences.
- Hearing Loss Organizations and Associations
- a.g.bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- National Association for the Deaf
- National Cued Speech Association
ABOUT hearing impairment
Prevalence
Visit the US Department of Education’s Open Data Platform to access IDEA Child Count Data by disability category, age, and other demographic and special education variables.
CDC Data & Statistics about Hearing Loss in Children
By 2050 nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss (WHO, 2023); 14.9% of children ages 6 – 19 (Niskar et al., 1998); 5 per 1000 children (Boulet et al., 2009).
Causes
Deafness — A Range of Causes from the Better Health Channel of the Department of Health, State Government of Victoria, Australia provides Summary information about various causes of hearing loss
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a great deal of information on hearing loss including state-level data on Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs in each state. Additionally, they present general information on what is hearing loss, screening/diagnosis, types of hearing loss, and treatment. Several free materials are available including a Decision Guide for Communication Choices (PDF; also available in Spanish from CDC website).
Characteristics
Hearing loss can have a significant impact on speech and language development. ASHA presents information on the impact on overall development as well as the development of words, sentences, speech, social skills, and academic success.
instructional strategies
The Supporting Success for Children with Hearing Loss website is an extensive resource for teachers on how to support children with hearing loss in the classroom. Sections include Assessment, Planning to Meet Student Needs, Legal Issues, and Speech and Language Development Issues as well as Teacher Tools Takeout. Supporting Success also offers professional development on-demand webinars for a small fee.
For younger children who use a listening and spoken language approach, the Hearing First site has a professional learning community with resources.
Each of the three cochlear implant companies[1] has a section of their website devoted to resources for professionals as well as a troubleshooting guide on their site for parents and professionals in the schools.
The Clerc Center also has information for professionals on how to support students that use ASL.
accommodations / modifications
resources
- Hearing Impairment – This PowerPoint slide deck provides a basic overview of hearing impairment including student characteristics and instructional strategies.
- CDC podcast on early hearing detection and intervention
- Hearing Loss Simulator
- How Do Cochlear Implants Work Visuals and Video
- How Do Hearing Aids Work (YouTube video)
- Using FM system with hearing impaired students (YouTube video)
- Hearing Loss Lab and other resources
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- We are not promoting any of these companies, just sharing their resources. ↵
