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 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. [top] The physical environment 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. [top] Teacher Instructions [top] 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 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. [top] 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: 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: 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. [top] 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. [top] Interpreters 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. [top] 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. 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. [top] 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 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. [top] Social development 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. [top] 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. [top] What is needed for LAD to work? For LAD to work properly children need: 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] What are some common language difficulties deaf and hearing impaired children have? Deaf children may have difficulties with: 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] 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. [top] What are some strategies to use when talking or signing with deaf children? 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. [top]