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The term "hearing impaired" is often used to describe people with any degree of hearing loss, from mild to profound, including those who are deaf and those who are hard of hearing. Many individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing prefer the terms "deaf" and "hard of hearing," because they consider them to be more positive than the term "hearing impaired," which implies a deficit or that something is wrong that makes a person less than whole.

Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing individuals may choose to use hearing aids, cochlear implants, and/or other assistive listening devices to boost available hearing. Alternatively, or in addition, they may read lips, use sign language, sign language interpreters, and/or captioning.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing may have speech that is difficult to understand due to the inability to hear their own voice.

"Hard of hearing" refers to a hearing loss where there may be enough residual hearing that an auditory device, such as a hearing aid or FM system, provides adequate assistance to process speech.

Top 10 questions

If I walked into your classroom during an outstanding lesson, what would I see and hear?

animated discussions, students clearly making progress as evidenced in oral and written contributions. High quality visual displays of students' work showing progress. High levels of engagement. Behaviour that supports learning."

Gifted children often lead double lives. Intellectually, they may seem like small, eccentric adults, and they may prefer the company of adults, but in many ways they are still children. For this reason, many gifted education experts have doubts about letting gifted students start college several years early. In this talk, you will hear about my experience entering a college environment at age 13. You’ll hear about my successes and failures, the way I interact with the professional and academic world, and what I am learning now as an ex-gifted adult. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at

Ask students to define empathy

After watching the video, discuss the following questions: What was the most memorable moment in the video? Why did that moment have an impact on you?

Explore the notion of perspective taking and how it leads to empathy. Ask students, Why is it important both at an individual and a more global level to understand and respect each other’s experiences? (People’s experiences inform their viewpoints.) Have students brainstorm other ways a person can use to become more aware of how another person is feeling, thinking, or behaving and why such insights are important.

In 2019–20, the number of students ages 3–21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was 7.3 million, or 14 percent of all public school students. Among students receiving special education services, the most common category of disability (33 percent) was specific learning disabilities.

Thirty-three percent of all students who received special education services had specific learning disabilities, 19 percent had speech or language impairments,2 and 15 percent had other health impairments (including having limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes). Students with autism, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances each accounted for between 5 and 11 percent of students served under IDEA. Students with multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, traumatic brain injuries, and deaf-blindness each accounted for 2 percent or less of those served under IDEA.

Occupational therapy (OT) teaches you how to adapt. It can help you perform any kind of task at school, work, or in your home. You’ll learn how to use tools (you may hear them called assistive devices) if you need them.

Plan ahead. You can arrange to speak with school officials or teachers before the school year even begins. If the year has started, plan to speak with a teacher or counselor on at least a monthly basis.Make meetings happen. Agree on a time that works for both you and your child’s teacher and stick to it. If it’s convenient, meet in your child’s classroom so you can get a sense of their physical learning environment.Create goals together. Discuss your hopes for your child’s school success. Together, write down specific and realistic goals and talk about how to help your child reach them.Listen carefully. Like you, your child’s teacher wants to see them succeed at school. Listen to what they have to say—even if it is sometimes hard to hear. Understanding your child’s challenges in school is the key to finding solutions that work.Share information. You know your child’s history, and your child’s teacher sees them every day: together you have a lot of information that can lead to better understanding of your child’s hardships. Share your observations freely, and encourage your child’s teachers to do the same.Ask the hard questions and give a complete picture. Be sure to list any medications your child takes and explain any other treatments. Share with the teacher which tactics work well—and which don’t—for your child at home. Ask if your child is having any problems in school, including on the playground. Find out if they are eligible for any special services to help with learning.

A strong preference for visual learning A natural inclination to technology Strong capacity for social understanding and empathy Stead vocabulary acquisition Strong short-term memory Age-appropriate self-help and daily living skills

Cerebral

According to the American Speech & Hearing Association, AAC is any system or strategy that augments or compensates for an individual's inability to communicate effectively.

Explore the following websites for examples of augmentative communication systems:~ prentrom.com (Accent speech generation devices)~ tobiidynavox.com (Tobii Dynavox speech generation devices and apps)~ saltillo.com (Chat Fusion, Nova Chat devices, TouchChat Express)~ ablenetinc.com (Big Mack, Step-By-Step, Super Talker)​​

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), assistive technology means any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities (not just communication) of children with disabilities.