What kinds of obstacles do students who are hard of hearing face in a typical classroom?

We have done an overview of UDL and how it can be used in designing a curriculum which is accessible to all students. Let’s take a look at some of the challenges students might have in the classroom and how teachers might address them. Students who are hard of hearing come to school with their own set of challenges. In a class with poor acoustics or too much background noise, students may have difficulty with lectures and video presentations. Students relying on lipreading might also find it hard when the teacher moves around the room, or has to look down or away from the class. Socially, students who are hard of hearing might have trouble when engaging in conversation in a loud environment or when more than one person is speaking. Fortunately there is a wide range of technology to help these students, which we will take a look at in my next post.

Resources:

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities (2nd ed., pp. 139-160). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.