Teachers' DEN

 

New Year, New In-Service

In-services provide a way for school staff to better understand the unique access and learning needs of   students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Typically, the teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing will meet with staff prior to the start of a new school year. Midway through the year is also a great time for a refresher in the event of staff changes or access consideration updates. 

When developmentally appropriate, it is a great idea to bring students in to create their own in-services. They can create a poster, brochure, video, or even an in-person presentation.  

Including real-life situations or simulations can make the in-service not only engaging but understandable by audiences who do not frequently interact with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

In-service Topics

· The hearing mechanism

· The student’s hearing levels

· How the student communicates

· How personal hearing devices work

· The role of related service providers (educational audiologist, educational interpreter, etc.)

· Accommodations

· How Hearing Assistive Technology works and quick troubleshooting

· How to perform daily monitoring of personal and hearing assistive technology

· Difficult listening/visual situations

· Educational and social implications

· Remote learning considerations

 Simulations

· Nice to Meet You https://youtu.be/QWJTK2waj68

· Access to Closed Captioning in the Classroom https://vimeo.com/154598088

· Bad Lipreading https://youtu.be/Y2vS8dPMR2U

· Can You Read My Lips? https://vimeo.com/148127830

· Caption Fail https://youtu.be/7MuDgfX9C2w

· Cochlear Implant Demos http://bit.ly/3mpAIJI

· Hearing Aid + FM Simulation https://youtu.be/1l37lzLIgQU

· Hearing Level Simulator http://bit.ly/2KuRr1f

· Interactive Ear http://bit.ly/3gOnUvw

· Simulated Listening http://bit.ly/31zig7u

· What’s it like to be Deaf? https://youtu.be/60lzVhXW_0U

More Resources

DHH Inservice http://bit.ly/DeafEdInservice
Inservicing the Classroom Teacher https://bit.ly/2KyEIL2
Dear Classroom Teacher https://bit.ly/2LBY0zr
Distance Learning  In-service Template http://bit.ly/3mkTdix
Familiar Sounds Audiogram https://bit.ly/3gSkEz6

  

 

 

TACKLIN' Assessment

Investing in Your Child: A Penny for Your Thoughts

Multiple studies have shown that hearing children typically hear 30-40 million words before kindergarten. In a study by Hart and Risley (1999), the amount of listening experience necessary for adequate language development was investigated. In their longitudinal study of children from birth to age 4, they documented the number of person-spoken words heard by this population. The study did not include electronic words heard on the TV, books on tape, or the computer. On average, talkative families spoke 2100 words per hour while quieter families spoke only 600 words per hour. Parents who talked a lot provided more varied vocabulary, complex ideas, subtle guidance, and positive feedback ended up with children who also talked a lot.  Conversely, parents who rarely talked ended up with 3-year-olds who talked a little. These findings can be applied to all deaf and  hard of hearing children regardless of communication methodology. For example, it can be implied that parents who sign more to their child will have children who use sign more than those parents who sign only a little.  Strategies for increasing communication interactions and increasing your word count with your child at home in everyday situations is provided below.

Strategies to Increase Word Count

· Be a “sports commentator” and describe  every detail as your child is doing.  Make your words/signs match not only what the child is doing, but also what they are thinking and feeling. 

· Use self-talk to narrate what you are doing when playing and/or engaging in daily routines with your child.

· Find opportunities throughout the day to read aloud to your child. If you have an older child, you can engage them in partner reading and/or book discussions.

· Sing familiar songs with your child and/or make up your own song to accompany a daily routine.

Check out the Thirty Million Words initiative from the University of Chicago!

 Activities

· Brushing your teeth.                   

· Playing with playdough.           

· Making a snowman.

· Baking cookies.           

· Setting the table.        

· Building an indoor fort.

· Play board and card games.

Create an experience book with photographs or pictures of you and your child doing any of the above activities. Hearing First offers more information on experience books here.

 Cole, E.B. & Flexer, C. (2007). Children with hearing loss developing listening and  talking: birth to six. San Diego: Plural Publishing, INC.

Hart, B., & Risely, T.R. (1999). The social world of children learning to talk.  Baltimore: Brookes.

 

 

Language and Literacy Corner: The Importance of Resilience

2020 was a trying and challenging year with an increase in anxiety and depression in children. Emotional issues can impact language by slowing growth, reducing attention to language input, or in some cases, resulting in regression. Often people speaking in public forums have been observed to state, “children are resilient,” but resiliency does not develop naturally.

What is resilience? It is the ability to cope with a crisis and bounce back. Resilient people have protective factors that help them succeed and carry on, even when times are tough. These can be found in the environment (caring community, access to healthcare, needed resources, etc.), family, and within the child.

A video on resilience from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child can be found here

Social and emotional health is an important protective factor to help handle life. Three of the key factors related to social emotional development are:

· Attachments/Relationships (healthy relationships that begin in infancy);

· Self-Regulation (ability to show a range of feelings and control behavior in safe and healthy ways); and

· Initiative (independently use thoughts and actions to meet needs).

 How to support resilience:

· Talk/sign to your child and respond to their communication.

· Have a routine.

· Accept a range of feelings and talk about expressing those feelings.

· Accept mistakes as learning opportunities.

· Show joy in your child’s accomplishments and attempts.

· Play games together.

· Have set aside family time.

· Let your child help at home or plan activities.

The best summary is this quote from Dr. Sam Goldstein. “There are two ways to create a masterpiece. You can start with a lump of clay or you can start with a hunk of marble. Traditionally, in helping children gain knowledge, we’ve taken the marble approach. We’ve taken our chisels and chipped away and chipped away at children until we have a pile of rubble. In many cases, they’re very unhappy and not much better for our efforts. I suggest you shift your mindset to a way that is more in concert with the concept of resilience. You can start with a lump of clay. You can mold it and shape it and if it doesn’t seem to be moving in the right direction, you can reshape it. It’s a much more flexible and insightful approach. It’s not that children are lumps of clay or pieces of marble but what is your mindset. When you work with a child, is it your mindset to chip away at them and fix what’s wrong with them? Or is it your mindset to help shape, create, develop all that child can be regardless of what challenges this child brings to the world?”

Boosting Resilience and Stress Hardiness as Part of Language Intervention, by Sam      Goldstein, PhD, ABPdN - part of the "Adolescent Language Beyond the Classroom" ASHA e-workshop