My son is hearing impaired…?

You should contact your school district and tell them you want an educational evaluation for your child. He can start going to programs within the school district, and recieve AV therapy, teacher of the deaf services, and speech therapy, as well as any other related services he needs as suggested by the child study team. Also, visit these websites, they will give you information about what you can expect in the future, as well as get you in touch with other parents. Feel free to email me with any questions. Good luck!

www.deafed.net

www.oraldeafed.org

www.agbell.org

Since I am hearing impaired and started wearing hearing aids when I was your son’s age. Here is what my mom did and how I dealt with a lot of things in school.

When your child is ready for school, meet with the principal, teacher, etc and express your concerns. Have an IEP (individual education plan) set up so the teacher, principal, etc knows what to expect each year. Each year this document should be updated to reflect your child’s learning style, and where they should be at their age. Make sure you meet with a specialist at your school or have a liaison if your school does not provide a specialist (some of my schools didn’t have this so I had a liaison) to make sure your child will be getting a good eduation. Will your child be in an all deaf school where hearing impaired child is there too, or will they be mainstreamed completely (public school, regular classroom). Some public schools do have a special education classroom where he or she can get extra help with homework, or learn a subject that is hard for them in an easier way. Just to clarify (since I was both) mainstreamed is your child in a public school without the special education and sometimes is there. Non-mainstreamed school is the special schools for deaf and hard of hearing students where the teachers speak and sign as well as the students are either deaf or hearing impaired. Make sure you utilize any tools that can help your child like an FM system, etc. Make sure the hearing aids work! This is important :).

Overall, the best thing is to talk to the teachers, etc to figure out which is the best thing to do. The audiologist should also make suggestions if mainstreaming or a school for deaf and hard of hearing would be the best. It turned out mainstreaming was the best for me with a bit of special education.

I don’t have a child with a hearing impairment, but I am a teacher with lots of experience working with students with special needs. Chances are that once he begins school he will have an IEP (individualized education plan) stating all of the modifications he needs. They could be very simple things like sitting close to the teacher or making sure the teacher uses a lot of non verbal cues. My advice to you is just to be involved with the whole process. IEP’s and the process of developing, renewing, and implementing can be extensive. There is a lot of paperwork and meetings. Attend the meetings, ask questions, and read the paperwork. Follow up with the teacher and ask specific questions about the IEP such as “how has Johnny’s work improved since sitting next to you?” or “What kind of non-verbal gestures have you found helpful?” Don’t ask things like “How is Johnny doing?” because it doesn’t ensure that the teacher is actually following the IEP.

first choose a school of your choice. If you want your child to attend main stream school go and have a meeting with the head teacher and senco ( special educational needs coordinator) ask what they could offer your child. In schools we have a policy called every child matters, this means that even if your school is not geared for hearing impaired children they will HAVE to make sure they can accommodate him, by checking there acoustics in there classrooms and correcting it if need be. This would come out of the school budget. hiring a learning support assistant would come next and getting them training to provide support for your child this would all be funded by your child’s statement.

good luck to you both x

Hi my son is also in both ears. Books on tape can be very helpful. When he starts school make sure you talk with the teachers and inform them of his impairment. He will need to sit closer to the teacher and may need extra help i.e. LD program. Check with your school to see if they cater to your sons needs. Do not make a big deal out of it. treat him as you would if he did not have this problem. Be patient with him. Make sure his audiologist has all the latest State of the Art tools tools. Keep his hearing aids functioning properly. Make sure the batteries all always working and that you have spares on hand.

God Bless you Good luck