Skip To Main Content

Classroom Strategies

Helpful Suggestions for Working with Students with Deaf or Hard of Hearing:

  1. Face the student when you speak so that he can read your face/lips. Talk from the back of the room only when the student can see your face and is aware you are talking. Try not to talk with your back to the class while writing on the blackboard.
     
  2. Identify the person who will be speaking. This gives the student a chance to turn and locate the speaker. Repeat any questions or answers from others who are behind the student.
     
  3. Control the pace of the discussion. Allow time for the student to be able to seek out and observe the speaker.
     
  4. When the student doesn't understand you, it is better to rephrase a sentence than to repeat it.
     
  5. A student with a hearing loss needs visual access to information. A simple outline of the lesson on the board or a study sheet provides clues that aide in lip-reading.
     
  6. Whenever possible indicate the location of related passages in texts and workbooks.
     
  7. New vocabulary will be a big problem. Writing the words and definitions on the board, overhead projector, distributing a vocabulary list, or making reference to vocabulary in the text (eg: glossary) is very helpful. Beware of idioms and unusual use of sentence structures or vocabulary.
     
  8. Place words or phrases on the blackboard or overhead as the lesson progresses to assist the student in following the lesson more readily.
     
  9. Follow a notetaking framework or chunk information together.
     
  10. Signal transitions in class. This will give the student time to make needed changes.
     
  11. Timing is important when using visuals. Pause to allow time for the student to look at the material.