Don't Punish or Ignore Those Advocating For Their Hearing Needs in Class

I was not there. I can't tell you what happened exactly. But, this is what a high school student told me: 

His teacher talked to the class for a bit while playing a recording of someone else talking with music in the background. The student raised his hand and asked the teacher to turn off the recording, because he cannot understand her. Allegedly, she put her hand up and told him to not interrupt her class like that again. Yikes. The recording kept playing as she continued to talk. Naturally, the student shut down and stopped trying to listen. He felt embarrassed.

The student did exactly what he was supposed to do and I praised him. He was advocating for his hearing needs in the classroom! That is a big deal. This is not always easy to do, especially for kids. However, how do we expect him to advocate for himself in the future if he thinks that his teacher may view him as being disrespectful? Why should he bother if it is going to get them in trouble?

Perhaps, he did not raise his hand or maybe he requested that she turn off the recording in a rude manner. I don't know. I was not there. BUT - the teachers need to understand that deaf and hard of hearing individuals are going to have a very difficult time understanding auditory information when there is noise present.

As a result, I sent out an email to all of his teachers reminding them to minimize background noises while talking or during instruction. I included in the email that playing recordings during a lecture is not acceptable and explained why.

I also met with his teacher and went over this with her, to make sure she understands. I made a point of telling her that when this student speaks up in class about not being able to follow or hear, he is not being rude. It needs to be taken seriously. A student trying to advocate for his hearing needs should not be punished or ignored.

I made a note to myself to do more classroom observations.

I really hope this experience does not discourage the student from advocating for his hearing needs at school in the future.

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Hearing Aid and iPhone Users: Listen Live - Does it Work?

How cool is this?! Why didn't my audiologists tell me about this?! I want hearing aids that will do this! This feature apparently turns your iPhone into your own personal FM system.

Anyone use this before? Is it only for hearing aids made for iPhones? Does it work with any hearing aid with Bluetooth capability?

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Asking for Help in Class. Why is it So Scary? What Can We Do to Help?

        Many Middle School and High School Deaf/HH students I work with often don't ask for help or ask questions in their classes. Some attend all general education classes while others attend a mixture of small group classes, classes with two teachers, and general education classes. Instead of simply asking for help, they might sit there pretending they get it, turn in work late or they may not do the work because they did not understand it. Perhaps they find a friend who can help them if they are lucky. Some of them are able to figure it out for themselves, but they waste a lot of energy trying to learn the material on their own and complete the work on time. Some will bring it home and ask for help from their family, which can bring unnecessary stress.

        Why are they not asking for help from their teachers? What is so wrong with asking questions in class?

I asked some of my students and these are some of their responses:

I don't want my friends to think I'm stupid.

I want my teacher to think I'm smart.

They (teachers) get mad.

I don't want that look. The look of "What? you don't know how to do this?!"

I don't want to annoy them.

They are going to think I was not paying attention.  

They are too busy.

I can Google it.

I can figure it out on my own. 

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        I understand. Why ask for help if you think you are going to be insulted? Why ask for help if you think you are going to be a pest? Why ask for help if you think you are going to appear unintelligent? Why bother asking questions when you have Google? Why risk admitting you need help in front of everyone? 

        How do we get students to ask for help in the class?  What are some strategies they can use to help make the experience less frightening? What should teachers do? 

        Are schools set up in a way that makes it impossible for students and teachers to ask questions and take the time to understand the material? How do we help students with social disorders? What about the shy kids?  

        Asking questions and asking for help is an important skill. This is how we learn. It is part of being a human being. We are not robots. We should not feel pressured to act "smart" filled with knowledge fed to us. Why is this happening? Do we as a society feel the need to act as if we know everything? Are people punished for asking questions? Are they seen as trouble makers, annoying, or unintelligent?  

        Is it healthy for students to accept (memorize) information they don't understand while attempting to make perfect test scores and grades?  

        What are your thoughts? Any suggestions? 

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Awesome Self Advocacy Tool for Students: PowerPoint Presentation

One of the many things I enjoy about my job is collaborating with colleagues. I talked with a Deaf and Hard of Hearing teacher about a high school student I work with. I wondered how I could get him to talk to his teachers about his hearing needs and how they can help him in the classroom. He was very resistant to the idea of using a script to talk to his teachers. He told me, "I'm not talking to them about this stuff. It's boring. They already know about it." 

We understand how important it is for students to self advocate and we are always discussing how we can get them to do it effectively. She suggested that I make it fun and interesting. He can make a movie or a poster; something creative that he would want to do and have some control over. She made some excellent points. It does not have to be just the student and teacher talking to each other. Having a visual makes it more interesting but also useful for the student and teacher. Reading from a script or trying to remember what to say without any sort of visual guide would be tough and very dull. 

Why did I not realize this before?

I thought it would be best to start with him making a PowerPoint Presentation. He is very comfortable with using the computer and loves learning how to use different programs. First, I created an example, a PPT about myself, that he can use as a guide. I think most people learn best looking at examples, I certainly do. 

When I shared with him the idea of making a PPT and showed him my example, he was interested. I told him to have fun with it and to really take this opportunity to express his sense of humor. 

He had so much fun making his PPT! I was surprised at how much information he shared with me. He was able to demonstrate what he understands and he understands a lot more than I previously thought! He talked about what he needs in the classroom and what his teachers can do to help. He did a fantastic job. I was pleased at how well it went and wished we had done this sooner. 

The goal is for him to sit down with his teachers in the Fall when school starts again and show them his presentation. I am hoping it will encourage a discussion. I know the teachers will enjoy it and get more out of it than me giving them information about the student. 

I started doing this with some other students and got the same positive results. 

My colleague used my example to help some of her students get ideas on how to make their own PowerPoint presentations. They loved it! She was also surprised at how much information they willingly shared. Two of her students have already shown their PPTs to their teachers. She said that the teachers told her that they wish they had known, even though she had shared the information with them verbally and and through writing in the past. Having it come from the student is much more powerful! 

Again, I wished we had done this sooner! 

I look forward to doing more of these. :)

When looking online to see if other students have done something similar, I found only one example on the Hands and Voices website. A parent encouraged her son to make a PPT for his teachers. Great stuff, check it out:

http://www.handsandvoices.org/matthew/index.htm


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Role Models: Deaf and Hard of Hearing STEM Professionals

When discussing successful people who happen to be deaf and hard of hearing, most of my students are familiar with well known professionals in the entertainment business such as Marlee Matlin and Sean Berdy. This is great, but there are many other successful deaf and hard of hearing professionals to be used as positive role models demonstrating what hard work, passion, and determination can accomplish.

Today I will focus on deaf and hard of hearing professionals working in science, engineering, technology, and mathematical fields (STEM).

I came across this website from DeafTEC:

https://www.deaftec.org/stem/professionals

It contains videos of professionals discussing their jobs, what they do, and how they got into their chosen fields. Very cool. Very inspiring.

Here is one:




Anything to get the kids excited about their futures!

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