Deafness

According to the Texas Education Agency (2019) Deafness is a "hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance" 

Common traits/characteristics as indicated by the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities (2013) :

• Sensorineural Hearing Loss is when damage has been caused to the cochlea nerve. This can be severe, and typically affects oral development.

• "Mixed Hearing Loss is a combination of both a conductive and a sensorineural hearing loss." (Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, 2013)

• Central hearing disorders can be a result from a dysfunction in the central auditory system.  

• Hearing disorders can be caused by a variety of factors. For example, they can be, genetic, hereditary. They may also be due to infections, developmental abnormalities, or environmental/traumatic factors.

Educational challenges:

• Some students have a challenging time with communicating with others.

• Depending on the classroom set up, the students may have trouble following directions because they cannot see the teacher or the board.

Tips/ recommendations for teachers:

• Help provide support through note-taking in advance for the student.

• Support in sign language communication.

• Teachers can make sure that any media displayed during class has captions.

• Give students priority seating so they have easy access to the board and the teacher.