Good teaching strategies for deaf and hearing impaired
students
Any good teaching strategy is good not only for deaf students but also
their hearing peers. The following is a guide only. For more detailed
information, see the resources listed below.
General suggestions
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Value every member of the class and make sure everyone in the
classroom has full access to all activities
Teachers may need to modify some teaching styles and the physical
environment to ensure full accessibility for deaf students
Encourage interactions between the deaf students and their hearing
classmates
Accept the deaf student for themselves. Teacher attitudes play a
very important part in the student's success in school
All students in the classroom, including the deaf student, need to
feel important. Emphasis things they can do
Deaf students should conform to the same standards of discipline
as other students the school
Never judge a deaf student's method of communication. If you have
concerns, speak to their teacher of the deaf or the student's family.
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The physical environment
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Provide regular breaks from having to listen or having to watch an
interpreter. Teachers can alternate class discussion times with
individual work so that the deaf student does not need to
concentrate for long periods
A deaf student may become more tired than the hearing students
due to the need to constantly concentrate in order to hear or watch
an interpreter
Deaf students are often visual learners, so an attractive classroom
with interesting notice boards and posters around the room assists
the student to learn. Visual teaching methods, using pictures,
diagrams and word maps, for example, also assist the deaf student
The deaf student should be seated so they can see both the teacher
and their peers if possible
If the classroom cannot be organised into a semicircle, consider
having the deaf student sit in the second or third row so they have
a comfortable view of the teacher. Any seating arrangement should
not isolate the student
Try and keep noise, including general student talking to a minimum
to reduce background noise. Avoid placing the student near fans or
air-conditioners if they are noisy. Shut the door if there is noise in
the corridor and window if there is noise outside
When showing a video, DVD or listening to a tape recoding, it is
possible the deaf student will not be able to understand the words.
Raising the volume may make no difference to the clarity of the
sound. Some DVDs are subtitled. Check on the back of the DVD to
see if it has English subtitles or subtitles for the deaf and hearing
impaired.
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Teacher Instructions
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Check that you have the deaf student's attention before you begin
to speak
Ensure you are not standing in front of a window or your face will
be in shadow and trim your beard or moustache so it is not
covering your lips
Try not to move around a lot when speaking
Try not to talk with your back is turned or when you are writing on
the blackboard
Speak naturally without exaggeration
A deaf student can't watch the teacher or interpreter and write
notes at the same time
If you can, repeat answers to questions given by the student's
peers
Try and use natural mime or gesture if need be
When explaining new terms or vocabulary, write them on the
blackboard and add synonyms and definitions to aid understanding
Never shout at the deaf student as the messages becomes distorted
through hearing aids or cochlear implants
A slower pace of the lesson may assist. Some deaf student may find
it difficult to keep up if the pace is too fast
Introduce new materials in small steps and give clear directions and
explanations
Don't assume that because the deaf student has a cochlear implant
or hearing aid they can hear. The student may be able to hear your
voice, but be unable to distinguish the words
A friend who sits beside the deaf student may help by explaining
instructions or work that has not been understood. However, be
careful the deaf student does not become dependent on the friend,
copy their work or take up too much of their time
When reading stories or articles, read at a regular pace
Never expect the student's peers to become their interpreters in the
classroom
Be aware that deaf students have varying degrees of understanding
of English. Some students may still be acquiring a full language
base and errors may occur in their written expression
If the student uses Auslan, they will not use English in their face-toface communication. Auslan has a different grammar to that of
English and has no written correlation
Group work may be difficult for the deaf student as the pace and
exchange of information may be too fast to follow. Arrange for the
student to work in a very small group and/or ask the
teacher/integration aid to assist.
Completing Assignments
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Allow extra reading time if needed
If the student is writing any lengthy piece of work, ask the student
to regularly show you work in progress so you can assist on the
spot if necessary
If an activity is auditory in nature, you may need to give the deaf
student a different task
Always ensure any written directions for work to be completed is
typed, clearly laid out with appropriate spacing and states the work
to be undertaken with key terms underlined
Write due dates for assignments on the blackboard
Correct the student's work on the basis of the meaning of what they
have written, not on the English grammar or vocabulary used. The
exception is if you are teaching English itself. If you have concerns,
speak to the teacher of the deaf
If the class assignment is based on watching a video, you may need
to change the assignment for the deaf student as they may be
unable to understand what is said. If possible, use a DVD which has
captions.
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How to know if the deaf student is not following in the
classroom
A few clues that may tell teachers that the deaf student is having difficulty
in following the lesson are:
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The student may copy peers
Answers or responses are not correct
The student lacks concentration and may have difficulty
remembering instructions
The student becomes tired easily.
Teachers can assist by:
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Quietly asking the student questions to check they have
understood
Asking open ended questions rather than "yes" or "no" type
questions. Deaf students will often nod their heads to indicate they
have understood when in reality they haven't
Asking the student to repeat what others have said
Give the student extra time for a response
Using good teaching strategies outlined above.
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Preventing background noise
Background noise, reverberation and distance from the speaker can be
real issues for deaf children, even those with mild or unilateral hearing
losses, being able to hear in the classroom.
Background noise and reverberation can be minimised by installing carpet
on the floor, or a carpet mat. Make sure the windows have some covering
and the students keep noise at a minimum. Placing acoustic tiles on the
ceiling helps to absorb background noise. Don't forget about other noises,
such as noisy air conditioners, other machines, noise outside the
classroom or in the corridor. Distance can be overcome by the use of an
FM System but some deaf students dislike wearing these.
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Interpreters
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If a student has an interpreter in the classroom, be aware the
interpreter may be signing slightly behind the spoken message.
Allow for the time lag when asking questions
Speak to the student, not to the interpreter
Allow the interpreter rest breaks of five minutes for each twenty
minutes of interpreters to avoid Overuse Syndrome occurring. This
is chronic amongst interpreters and can easily avoided by
alternating written work with group discussions
Videos and television programs are very demanding to interpret
due to the speed and complexity of the message.
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Integration/teacher aides
Some schools employ integration/teacher aides to assist deaf students.
They can assist the student to understand teacher instructions and the
classroom content. However some guidelines need to be established in
order to ensure the integration aide is used wisely.
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Ensure the integration aide has professional development in the
impact of a hearing loss on learning and how to work with deaf
students. Working with deaf students may be different to working
with students with disabilities because deafness impacts on
language and communication. Deafness is also invisible and it is
difficult to imagine what it is like to be deaf
Different strategies may be needed in working with different
students, especially at the secondary school level. Sometimes at
this level it is inappropriate for the integration/teacher aide to sit
beside the student; the aide may be better employed to work as a
notetaker for the student
Be careful the student does not become dependent on the aide. It
may be better for the aide to move around the classroom and assist
only when needed
If the aide is providing individual tuition to the deaf student, ensure
they are provided with lessons to cover.
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Notetakers
A notetaker can assist the deaf student by writing down the content of the
lesson for the student to read, either at the same time the lesson is
occurring or afterwards
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If an integration/teacher aide is working as a notetaker, organise
some training or professional development in taking notes for deaf
students
Notes taken should be well laid out with clear handwriting and
correct spelling and punctuation.
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Social development
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Deaf students may feel they are not part of the group due to
communication difficulties. This may affect their social behaviour
and they may become withdrawn or overly assertive
Deaf children may not understand rules of group games, especially
when they change quickly. Encourage the other students to include
the deaf student
Deaf students may miss the subtleties of speech, such as the tone
and intonation which can lead to social issues
Hearing aids and cochlear implants should be worn in the yard to
assist with communication and understanding
Teach if necessary, appropriate social skills, eg, asking for help,
sharing, turn taking
Be flexible with your approach to discipline by ensuring the deaf
student understood the rules and expectations before you make
any judgement.
What is the difference between speech and language?
Language is the words, structures, thoughts and concepts we have in our
minds. Speech is one way in which we communicate our language to other
people. We can also convey our language through sign language or
through writing.
It is critical to recognise that any hearing loss a child has will impact on
both language and speech development, but language development is
much more important than speech development. This is because almost
all learning depends on language. The better language a child has, the
broader the range of their mental concepts and the more they will be able
to learn in school.
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How do children acquire language?
Children are born with an inner capacity for language development. Noone really knows how we learn language. Noam Chomsky studied
language development in children in the 1960's and he suggested that
children have a Language Acquisition Device, which he called LAD.
Children use LAD when they take in vast quantities language from birth,
process it in their minds and then produce sentences which they have not
heard before. They experiment with grammar by applying the rules of the
language they are learning. In general, children have developed all the
foundations of their future language by the time they are five years of
age.
As children get older, the LAD begins to close down. It is virtually not
operating by about puberty. After puberty a language cannot be as easily
acquired.
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What is needed for LAD to work?
For LAD to work properly children need:
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People to talk or sign to them constantly so they see or hear words
and sentences again and again
People around them to talk or sign conversations so they can see or
hear what others are saying or signing
People to interact with them in a meaningful way which is frequent
and consistent
People to extend the child's language by questioning, commenting
and modelling new words and phrases
People to use interactions that make sense to the child so they
learn how to use interactions themselves
People to reinforce the child's attempts at using language.
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What are some of the barriers deaf children may face in
learning language?
Deaf children cannot hear, or only hear parts of what people around them
are saying. Often the only input a deaf child can understand is when
people talk or sign to them directly, one-to-one.
Deaf children cannot usually overhear conversations between other people
or listen to the radio or television so they also miss out on lots of
incidental learning.
This means the input the deaf child receives will be much less than what a
hearing child will receive and this may lead to problems with
communication and learning in school, e.g. they may have heard a
particular word only once or twice and only in one context, while the
hearing child may have heard it hundreds of times in many contexts.
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What factors affect a deaf or hearing impaired child's
learning of language?
Deaf children vary widely in their acquisition of language. Some of the
factors include:
Age of onset of the hearing loss
Children who are deaf before language develops will experience much
more difficulty acquiring language than those whose hearing loss is
acquired later. Even if a hearing loss is acquired in early childhood, the
effects on language development will be much less than those who are
deaf from birth or just after. The child losing hearing later has had the
chance to begin to understand about language and communication.
Degree of hearing loss
The greater the hearing loss, the more effect it usually has on language
development (unless the child is given quality language input before they
are 6 months old).
The quality of the language input
The quality of input is very important for language development. The
better the quality (provided the child can hear or see it), the more
consistent is the information the child can absorb about language. This all
results in a greater opportunity for the child to develop good language
skills. Quantity of language input: The more communication the deaf child
is engaged in or observes or listens to, the more opportunity they will
have for developing language skills. The deaf child needs to engage with a
variety of speakers or signers, for a large part of each day for optimal
language development.
Parents' hearing status
Research has shown that deaf children of deaf parents perform better in
school than deaf children of hearing parents. Deaf parents know how to
naturally communicate with their deaf children and they often have a
positive attitude towards their child's hearing loss. Hearing parents need
to create opportunities for effective communication with their deaf
children, whether it be through English or Auslan, to make sure their
children are similarly advantaged.
Early intervention
Research has shown that enrolment in an effective early intervention
program is very important for a child's language development, providing
options, language models and communication skills. Ideally, access to
intervention by the age of six months gives deaf children the best
opportunities for learning.
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What happens if a deaf child does not acquire good language
before they enter school?
Many deaf children are still learning basic language skills when they arrive
at school. Hearing children arrive at school with a sophisticated language
base and they use this language as the springboard into literacy; they
have an internalised language system which is a foundation for the
development of literacy skills. Deaf children are therefore at a
disadvantage because they have to deal with learning both language and
literacy at the same time, eg, the child may not have in their vocabulary
many of the words they are trying to read so they will find it very difficult
to build an internal picture of what they are reading.
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What are some common language difficulties deaf and
hearing impaired children have?
Deaf children may have difficulties with:
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Limited vocabulary
Difficulties with English grammar
Grammatical markers such as "-ed", "-ing", or "-er"
The visual markers of language, such as turn taking, control, asking
for clarification, eye contact, greetings.
Deaf children may also misunderstand common expressions, such as
"you've got ants in your pants," idioms, such as "you let the cat out of the
bag" and they may understand only in a literal way, such expressiona as
"he fell on hard times" or "open your mind."
Deaf children may also have difficulty in requesting information, asking
and answering questions, seeking clarification, greetings and repairing
breakdowns in conversations. When questioned about their
understanding, they will often affirm that they have understood, as this is
easier than admitting they did not understand.
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Will deaf children catch up to hearing children in language?
Deaf children may eventually catch up to their hearing peers if they are
given fully accessible input, appropriate support and teaching. Other deaf
children may always experience difficulties with language and therefore
also with reading and writing. This is particularly the case for those who
are diagnosed at a later age and those for whom the quality and quantity
of the language input has been poor.
Some deaf children of deaf parents are an exception. This has been
attributed to these children's parents having all the strategies and
attitudes needed to successfully teach language to their children.
However, that is not always the case, and many of these children continue
to underachieve.
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How well do I need to sign to communicate with a deaf
child?
Even the use of key word signing can aid communication. However, if the
deaf child does not understand spoken language, key word signing is not
an appropriate alternative. Children need rich and complex language input
in order to develop in age appropriate ways. They need to be exposed to
more than just a simple learner's language. Therefore, accessing Auslan
classes on a regular basis must be a priority.
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Babyhood
1. Meet some deaf and hearing impaired people
It is important for you to enrol with a reputable early intervention
centre for deaf children as soon as you know your baby has a
hearing loss. Skills and strategies will be modelled for you by the
experienced deaf parents or by the professionals.
These will show you:
• how to catch the baby's eye gaze
• how to indicate visually (in the absence of language) what's going
to happen
• how to provide all the "data" which begins the baby's process of
learning the rules about the language being used. This is important
in every language, including sign language.
2. Homework
It is important to carry out any exercises that the early intervention
people suggest. These may be to do with:
• listening, if the baby has some hearing, a hearing aid or implant
• watching
• both listening and watching
• speech activities to encourage babbling and voice use
• games to help the baby follow hand movements, and to make
them.
It is not enough for such activities to be carried out at the centre,
or once a week. Intense early input will make all the difference in
the baby's language acquisition, and through that, his or her
cognitive development.
3. Understanding baby's communication
The centre will help you learn to see the baby's intentions, whether
in sign or voice. They will help you to:
• recognise the baby's attempts to imitate words, even though
these attempts will be only approximate, and not in any way
accurate.
• begin to understand what the baby is trying to say, so they will be
encouraged by this success to try even harder to pronounce spoken
or signed words and to communicate through language.
4. Being responsive
If your baby makes happy vocal sounds of any sort, make sure that
you interact with them immediately. It has been shown that babies
initiate "conversations" with the people around them by making
experimental noises. People immediately respond to this by giving
them attention and by making the same sort of noises back. In this
way, the baby explores their voice, and learns to use it to attract
attention. It is a positive feedback loop. If, however, the adults
don't respond and give their deaf baby their attention, and copy the
noises and facial expressions, then the baby gradually gives up
making the effort.
This means that
• the baby's voice is not getting practice
• the turn taking skill of conversation isn't being established.
The same must be done when the baby tries out hand shapes and
hand movements in early sign development. Quickly give your
attention, and try to do the signs or movements back.
Talk to your baby at every waking moment you are together. This
includes sign language, if that is a language you use. Never think
"because he can't hear me, it's not worth while", or "because he
doesn't know any signs yet, it seem pointless".
The baby will learn so much from the experience:• that people interact in this way all the time
• that it is pleasurable
• that information is transferred in this way.
It also helps the baby to learn to watch the face of the person they
are with, and to seek the information being made available.
5. Models of communication
Make sure that your baby has opportunity to observe other family
members and other people talking together, in speech or sign.
Over-hearing in this way is vital to the development of an
understanding about the act of communicating, and to learning
about the family and the world.
In summary, put simply, take every available opportunity to
interact with your baby: hands, eyes, face and voice.
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Toddler age
1. Building on the foundation you started in the babyhood
stage
It is important for everyone who interacts with your toddler to be
aware of their communication development.
• Tell people who will look after the child how to communicate
effectively with your child
• Show them how you do it.
• Provide lists of the new words that the toddler is beginning to
understand or beginning to use.
• Make sure that your deaf child spends time with other deaf
children, as well as with regular hearing children.
• Join a playgroup so you as parents will have opportunity to swap
stories and share ideas with other parents, while the child can
explore relationships with deaf children
It can help if you put labels with the names of household objects on
the objects themselves: a word and/or a symbol for a child learning
spoken language, or a picture of the sign if the child is starting to
sign.
2. Storytime
It is really important to have a regular story time with your deaf or
hearing impaired youngster.
• Let the child see that the members of their family enjoy and value
reading
• Develop the habit of taking pleasure in books together, starting
with simple picture books
• Keep the books within the child's current language and interest
range, so they feel successful in their interaction with books
• Use drama: act out the story together and draw pictures to make
the stories come to life
• The time taken will be very brief at first, especially if you begin
during infancy, but if it has always been pleasurable, it can
gradually be extended to allow for more complex stories and can
even involve an exploration of language.
3. Communicating to manage behaviour
As with any child, a deaf child needs to learn the rules of the
household and be expected to follow them.
• Don't vary the rules for the "poor little deaf child" unless there are
physical reasons for doing so, if, for example, he or she has other
disabilities. This avoidance of making exception benefits both the
deaf child and the other children in the family or other group.
It is vital to show your pleasure when your deaf child starts to show
signs of understanding a particular rule and of wanting to please
you by trying to follow it. As with language development, behaviour
development is strongly influenced by knowing that parents are
pleased.
It is also important to continue to show your pleasure when your
deaf child becomes able to follow a rule completely.
• Be consistent. Always use the same language to convey that
some action is unacceptable. Don't vary the boundaries. If you
don't want that behaviour, then always say "no!" If you let it
happen just once, you have lost the battle. The child will know that
your "no!" doesn't always mean "no!" and they will start trying to
modify rules to suit themselves. A simple but firm "no!" together
with moving the child to a new location is one way to convey this.
Give the child something new to do to distract them from returning.
• As language competence develops, your deaf child may be able to
explore with you why that behaviour is unacceptable. At first, it is
enough that they receive the constant message that it is
unacceptable.
• Make sure that grandparents and all other carers do their best to
follow the same pattern. A child feels much more secure if he
knows the boundaries, even if they don't particularly like them.
4. Conversations
Depending on your deaf child's stage of language development,
make it possible for them to be involved in family discussions and
decision making. It is quite empowering to a child when the rest of
the family follows their suggestion, so sometimes allow the deaf
child to choose a family activity or the menu for a meal.
• Always be ready to draw or act out what you are trying to say.
• Be ready to take your deaf child to the thing you are talking
about, even if it's in another part of the house.
Try not to let your deaf child develop the feeling that they don't
need to understand everything, or you will risk them losing that
sense of wanting to know, of natural curiosity.
Try not to give your deaf child the idea that it's too much trouble to
help them understand, or that it doesn't matter. Natural curiosity is
important to any child, but particularly to a deaf child as it helps
them to find out how things work. It helps their concept
development.
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Early school years
1. Discussion and conversation
It will always be important to discuss things with your deaf child, no
matter whether they use speech or sign.
The children with the best general knowledge are the ones whose
parents and other relatives and friends take the time to answer
their questions and discuss their ideas and everyone else's ideas,
whose parents take the time to discuss current affairs at
appropriate levels with their children.
Through discussion, children gain both the language skills and the
knowledge and information to generate fresh ideas and to express
their ideas with their peers.
Through such discussion they gain verbal knowledge and develop
interests which are age appropriate.
It is important for all teachers involved with the child to do likewise.
2. Keeping written records
• Make scrap-book story books, if you can, about family adventures
and events of interest.
• Take lots of photos to illustrate these scrapbook stories, to help
stir up memories for your deaf child. These can provide a topic of
conversation when you can't think what to talk about. Each time
you revisit such a resource, you will discover new expressions and
new vocabulary.
• You might like to keep a diary or journal of the things that you
family does. Use this with a calendar. This will not only record the
memories, but will also help your child to gain an understanding of
time past and time to come. Ask "What did they do next?", and
"What did they do before that?" and so forth, to stimulate
imaginative thinking and to strengthen the your deaf child's
understanding of time.
• A journal or communication book can help the young deaf child's
carer's and teachers to understand what they are talking about,
before they have the skills to make it clear verbally.
• Ask the child what they would like you to write in the books.
When they become more able, allow and encourage them to add
their own notes to the stories.
• For signing children, a comparison of the Auslan way of saying it
and the English way of writing it is always helpful.
3. Literacy
Continue to show your deaf child that you value reading.
Support them in their efforts to decode text.
Help them to strengthen their imagination, because this will help
them to draw meaning out of text by visualising the story being
told. "What do you think happened next?" "Why?" "What should
have happened?" "What's a different thing that could have
happened? Suppose that the boy didn't know ......?"
For the signing children, there are now resources with both a story
book and a video of the story in Auslan. Share these, discuss them,
enjoy them together. They are all ways to increase your child's
language, and with that, their literacy skill.
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Teenagers
1. Conversation and debate
It is during secondary school that the good family conversation
habits which fully included the deaf child begin to show their
effectiveness.
Students who have been included in discussions about anything and
everything at home and throughout primary school will have gained
a strong general knowledge base which will enable them to
participate with understanding in the secondary school education
process. The need for such conversations and discussions will not
lessen.
These students will always need to be included in accessible
discussions, debates, arguments and conversations, as often as
time and access to the appropriate people at home and at school
will allow.
Remember that most deaf children do not over-hear well, if at all,
and without some actively planned opportunities for discussion,
they gradually slip behind in their world knowledge and in their
ability to argue about it.
2. Essays and vocabulary
• Deaf children may need lots of experience in putting their side of
an argument if they are going to be able to write about their point
of view.
• Deaf children will need the broadened vocabulary that comes with
such wide-ranging discussions if they are going to be able to write
well, and at their age level.
• Deaf children need wide vocabularies if they are to be able to
carry out their own research in books or on the Internet
successfully.
• With limited vocabularies, deaf students are inclined to copy the
text they discover without considering its implications. Good
reading skills are essential to research.
• If they would like you to, ask to see the young person's efforts in
essay writing.
• Offer constructive suggestions, but don't change the piece. After
all, the child has ownership.
• Be prepared to talk about ways the essay might continue,
alternative outcomes and so forth.
• Respect the child's feelings if they would like the essay to be a
communication between themselves and their teacher.
Is it possible for a deaf child to say words, but not to know
what they mean?
It is possible that a deaf child has learnt to articulate sounds, but has not
learnt to understand language. This means the deaf child may have good
speech but doesn't understand what he or she is saying. Their speech
comes from training and is not an expression of naturally acquired
language. Such a child will need a program developed to improve
vocabulary and sentence construction.
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Why do some deaf children not watch properly when people
are signing or speaking to them?
This may be because they have not learnt that communicating with other
people is fun and for a purpose. Their experiences with communication
may have been difficult and they have not learnt how to interact with
other people through conversation. Another reason may be the child has
not learnt the turn taking rules of conversation. A teacher of the deaf or a
speech pathologist may be able to help with strategies to assist in this
area.
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What are some strategies to use when talking or signing
with deaf children?
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Ensure the child is watching you before you speak. You can get
their attention by either touching them lightly or moving your hand
or some other object within their visual field, but not too close to
them.
Keep eye contact with the child when talking.
Hearing aids do not work well over a distance, so keep about one
metre between yourself and the child.
Don't eat, drink or smoke when talking and keep your hands away
from your face.
Background noise can create difficulties for deaf children and for
those with a hearing loss in one ear. Also remember reverberation
is also a problem for hearing aid users. Be aware of the difficulties
of listening in rooms where there is nothing to absorb the sound,
such as in bathrooms or gyms.
Don't shout. Speak naturally and if the child does not understand,
say the same thing in a different way which may be easier to
lipread.
Facial expressions and natural gestures will aid understanding, but
don't exaggerate expressions. When experiencing difficulties in
communicating remember that patience will be rewarded.
Don't try and communicate in the dark and don't stand with your
back to a window as shadows on your face can make it difficult to
communicate.
If you use a new word or sign, be aware that the child may not
understand and you may need to provide additional explanations.
But never avoid using new words or signs.
Use open ended questions to make sure the child has understood,
such as "how will you get to the shop?" Many deaf children will nod
their head regardless of whether or not they have understood when
they are asked if they understand.
Group conversations, such as at the family dinner table, are
particularly hard for deaf people. Try and make sure only one
person speaks at a time and cue the deaf child into the changing
topics of conversation. Don't try to solve this by stopping meal time
conversations.
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