Andre's Hearing Loss
What is an Audiogram?
How to Interpret an Audiogram
-Across the top, you have frequency (pitch) measured in Hertz. When thinking about the frequency, think of a piano where you have the lower sounds on the left and the sounds get higher as you move to the right across the audiogram. If we were to keep mapping sounds to the right, we would begin to see things such as dog whistles, or things that we as humans would not hear. When we say higher sounds, we are referring to voiceless, airy sounds, such as /s/, /sh/, /ch/. Sounds that have no voicing behind them. Those sounds tend to be the hardest for people with hearing loss to hear because they are so quiet.
-On the right side of the audiogram, you have the different degrees of hearing loss broken down.
The boomerang looking thing in the middle is called a speech banana. This area represents the intensity (loudness) and frequency (pitch) where sounds are heard within normal, conversational level of speech.
-The left ear is represented by the blue X, and the right ear is represented by the red O, and are called plots. The green A represents hearing with hearing aids.
-Wherever you see a plot and BELOW it, is what a person is ABLE to hear in that respective ear. Sounds ABOVE the line would NOT be detected.
**When considering what a person can hear, you must consider AUDIBILITY versus INTELLIGIBILITY. If something is audible, it means that sound can be detected. The person may not necessarily know, or understand what they are hearing. If something is intelligible, it means they understand what is being said, or heard. For example, a teacher in a classroom during arrival or dismissal will hear students in the hallway talking. Although the teacher can hear the students talking, they could not tell you exactly what the students are saying because they are only audible, not intelligible. When you are intelligible, you can be heard and understood.
- Reading down the right side of the audiogram, the areas that the student’s plots cross into determine their hearing loss. The loss can move across more than one type of hearing loss. For example, a student can have a moderate hearing loss, or a mild loss that slopes down to a severe loss. A person could also have a severe loss that slopes up to a mild loss.
Andre's Hearing Loss
Andre's Hearing Aids
The Hearing Impaired Student in the Classroom
May have difficulty attending for long periods of time due to listening fatigue
Can look attentive and appear to understand when they do not
May miss part or most of the message when trying to take notes and listen to the teacher
May have language delays due to the inability to acquire language through incidental learning
May have difficulty following classroom discussions with multiple speakers
May not make their communication needs known to their teachers or alert the teacher to equipment malfunction
Most hearing-impaired students can’t understand announcements on the loudspeaker
May need extra time to process language when answering questions
May need to be allowed flexible seating
May need to provide copies of class notes when needed
“Five Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Hearing Loss”
From, Living With Hearing Loss, A Hearing Loss Blog
1. Hearing loss is exhausting.
You are constantly trying to make sense of the incomplete sounds you are hearing and turn them into a word or phrase that makes sense in the conversation. It’s like playing a continuous game of Wheel of Fortune filling in gaps to solve puzzles.
2. I am not stupid or rude.
I might answer questions inappropriately or miss the point of a conversation, but I am not stupid. I just misheard what you said. And if I don’t respond to you it is not because I am ignoring you. I just didn’t hear it.
3. Hearing aids and cochlear implants don’t work like glasses.
Hearing aids do not restore normal hearing like glasses can restore normal vision. They make all sounds louder, not clearer, and they amplify annoying background noise which can interfere with communication. Cochlear implants process sound very differently from how normal hearing sounds. It takes a lot of practice to make sense of this different way of hearing and success varies among users.
4. I do not need you to speak for me.
If someone asks me a question and I don’t hear it, please repeat it so I can answer for myself. Doing otherwise can be insulting or demeaning.
5. A few simple tricks can help a lot.
Face me when you speak to me and keep your lips visible. Don’t try to talk to me from another room and be sure to get my attention first before speaking. I want to hear you and am trying my best.
Tips for Success
Ask open-ended questions to check for understanding, not “Did you hear that?”
Repeat what other students ask/say so the hearing-impaired student can participate in class discussions
Gain student’s attention before speaking and face student when speaking
Write important information on the board
Preteach new vocabulary/concepts
Encourage the student to ask for clarification when they don’t understand
Limit background noise as much as possible
Expect the same kind of behavior, responsibility, and dependability from the hearing-impaired student as you would expect from the rest of the class.
Andre's Accomodations
- Direct student's attention to specific information (e.g. parts of graphic, parts of answer choice)
- Divide work into chunks
- Feedback provided frequently
- Gain student's attention before teaching/giving instruction
- Peer tutoring/paired working arrangement
- Sit near teacher for instructional purposes and for best listening location
- Teacher check for understanding by asking open-ended questions and reteach/reread materials as indicated
- Use captions with videos when available
Adapted or Additional Materials
- Copy of class notes (Student should not be required to take notes while listening to instruction due to hearing impairment)
Alter Assignments or Testing
- Calculator
- Extra time for assignments and tests
- Questions and answers read aloud
Behavior and Social Supports
- Minimize or remove auditory and visual distractions
- Preferential seating
- Reminders to stay on task (verbal/non-verbal)