Instructional Implications

Because of the language difficulties that can accompany hearing loss, a hearing disability may affect how well a student is able to hear spoken language and other stimuli in the average classroom as well as influence performance in language related subjects such as reading and writing. Standardized achievement test scores reported for students with hearing impairment in the United States lagged significantly behind those of their hearing peers. The average level of literacy for individuals with hearing handicaps was reported to be between the third- and fifth-grade levels.

The impact of the language difficulties commonly experienced by children with hearing handicaps may extend beyond the expected subject areas of language arts and reading. Classes that rely heavily on students' reading and integrating printed material from texts and that require written products such as essays and reports can also be problematic for deaf children. Likewise, problem solving in so- called language-free subjects such as math and science depend on the use of language to manipulate and communicate concepts.

Social-Emotional Development

The social-emotional development of children with hearing impairment follows the same basic patterns found among nonhandicapped peers. Few differences are noted among very young deaf and hearing children, who often develop friendships based on mutual play interests that are not impeded by their communication differences. With age, however, language becomes an increasingly important facilitator of friendships, socialization, and social-emotional growth. Thus, communication problems can make it more difficult for older children with hearing difficulties to interact and develop close friendships with hearing peers with whom communication is difficult.

Children with hearing impairment must often be directly taught subtle social mores and attitudes that normally hearing children seem to pick up incidentally by overhearing and observing conversations in the world around them. Thus, older students may appear more "naive" or less well socialized than hearing students their age.

Communication difficulties and issues related to parental acceptance of the child's deafness can have a negative impact on the parent-child relationship, which in turn may influence the child's social-emotional development. Families of children with hearing impairment report they must work harder to encourage strong relationships between family members who do not sign and the child who does. Recent efforts of early intervention programs have focused on assisting families in learning to adapt to these challenges and their child's special needs.

Vocabulary notes

hard-of-hearing – тугоухость

hearing loss – потеря слуха

hearing handicap – слуховая недостаточность

hearing impairment – поражение слуха

heterogeneous – разнородный

occur – случаться, происходить

painstaking – старательный

pitch – высота (звука)

rhythm – ритм

effort – усилие

nasal – носовой

guttural – гортанный (звук), горловой

moderate – умеренный, средний

profound – глубокий

figurative – образный, переносный

implication – вовлечение, причастность, смысл

require – требовать

facilitate – облегчать, содействовать

interact – взаимодействовать