Teaching Students Who Are Hard of Hearing
Hard of Hearing: Students who have residual hearing and use speech-reading. Typically, only 30% of spoken English is comprehended by reading lips. Students may use a variety of strategies such as sitting near the front of class, hearing aids, and assistive devices (FM systems).
Use Good Communication Techniques
- Repeat or rephrase questions/comments from the class before responding.
- Face the class and speak naturally at a moderate pace.
- Avoid the temptation to pick up the pace when time is short.
- Do not speak while writing on the board.
- Lecture from the front of the room—avoid pacing around.
- Point out who is speaking in group discussions
- Do not chew gum or drink while lecturing.
- Do not stand or sit in front of a window where shadows will impede speech-reading.
- Beards and mustaches make speech reading harder. Keep them trimmed.
- Avoid talking while students are focused and working on in-class written assignments. The student cannot read/write and read lips at the same time.
- Do not discuss concerns about the student’s ability to hear in front of the class, do this privately with the student.
- Encourage open communication from a student with hearing loss about your teaching style.
Provide Classroom Services
- Provide handouts such as syllabus, lesson plans, and assignments.
- Write announcements on the board.
- Write proper names, technical vocabulary, formulas, equations, and foreign terms on the board.
- Always use captioned films/videos or provide a written manuscript. (By leaving the caption feature ON, you may be surprised to see which media is captioned.)
- If the student selects a seat, please respect their choice and be sure it is kept available for the student.
- In some cases it might be needed to arrange a written test instead of an oral test.
- Be aware of and know how to use assistive listening devices. (see “assistive listening devices”)
- Support the student in advocating for communication accuracy