HOH and school related service & accommodations

[trishasmom]

For those that has children who also have a hearing impairment what do you have on the IEP as far as related services and accommodations? Trisha has a mild to sloping severe hearing loss in both ears and is bilaterally aided. I received a note the other day that they think her ears are growing because the aids keep falling out. We just had new molds made the week before Christmas. Anyway it has come to my attention that her HOH is not actually being supported by her IEP and I need to address this at our upcoming IEP meeting on the 8th of Feb. I was hoping to hear what others have on their IEP's. Oh, btw, the aids keep falling out because they are not inserting them correctly. One of the things I want to discuss at the meeting is having a HI teacher at least on consult who can come in and train the staff on how to maintain, insert etc. the aids. Their staff changes often since most of the assistants are there for part of their higher education in the special needs curriculum. Thanks for any input. :-)

[sarahsma]

Carol,
Our daughter just started jr. high this year.We noticed over the summer that she seemed to have trouble hearing us.After a visit to the ENT and a hearing evaluation we were told that Sarah wasn't in need of aids yet but he did want the school to purchase an amplification system for her to carry to each class.The school complied after requesting a letter from the ENT. We had it written in her IEP that she has preferential seating. Always in the front of the room with the teacher closest to her. Sarah also has a 1 on 1 aide that always makes sure she doesn't miss anything in the classroom.This has worked well for Sarah so far.

[lespring]

Sitting in front isn't necessarily the best place for a student with a hearing loss. It USED to be thought that it was, but we now know that there is a lot of information missed when a student's back is to the rest of the classroom. A better spot for them is off to one side or another, and towards the back so they can see the activity in the classroom. There are A LOT of social cues that a HOH student misses with their back to the room.

If she is wearing her home aids at school, the district should be providing batteries. There are insurance issues that come into play if her home aids are damaged while at school. It's sometimes better to have school provide their own aids while she's there. They are then responsible for any repairs to them, etc. They also have back-up aids should the aids need to be sent out for repairs. Then also have to provide the earmolds as well.

Does she use an FM system with her aids? Most students (and teachers) find them very beneficial.

Staff needs to be trained to work with the aids. The school audiologist is usually the one to do the hearing aid training. Sometimes it's the teacher of the d/hoh. It depends upon the district. Usually there is ONE person in charge of battery changes, etc. (0ften the school nurse) but if your building has a teacher of the d/hoh right there, than THAT person usually does it. My last position (I'm a sign language interpreter) I was the one doing it for all the students in the building. This is not a typical role for an interpreter, but I'm very familiar with aids and FM systems so it was easier for me to problem solve and know when the audiologist needed to be called from the other side of the district to fix something.

Oh, and I forgot to mention..Angela also has a bilateral hearing loss, is bilaterally aided (has been since she was 12 months old) and uses an FM system)

[trishasmom]

Trisha does wear her own aids but I have it in her IEP that if they get lost or damaged while at school or to and from school then they are responsible for them just like they are for her communication device. I prefer to get her aids because then we get what we believe is best for her and don't have to argue over it. We also got the communication device pretty much for the same reason. We are working on getting the FM system but the school district is dragging their feet. She is not in a public school she is in a private autism school paid by the school district so all her related services has to be contracted for her. Her audiologist has recommended the FM system and the school district seems ok with it but just dragging their feet it's been almost a year now.

[CC]

Chris has a mild to moderate hearing loss due to a bone thing and has used hearing aids for the last few years in school but only in school. Honestly he hates them The first year the nurse at his school would stop in to make sure they were in right but then he got very good bout putting them in but only in school If the battery went dead or they were making some odd noise he would take it out and hand it to the teach.

anywho he no longer wears them in school as he really doesn't need them there. He goes to a private school and its really a very quite atmosphere and he does very well without them there.

A few years back they used a sound system Hmmm I think it was called "Bag of Sound" I could be wrong on that along with the hearing aids. We tried it for one year and just seem like overkill for his type of loss plus it had to be transported from class to class. Along with his augmentative the poor kid was carrying around just to many things.

What we do have in his IEP is anyone talking to him must have Chris look at him and this has proven (sp?) to very beneficial to Chris

Hmmm I guess I should know but what does HOH stand for??

Personally I think a built in sound system should be in all classrooms weather any child has a hearing problem or not. I read somewhere it has been proven they are beneficial for all

CC ~

[lespring]

HOH stands for Hard of Hearing. The term "hearing impaired" while hearing people think it's politically correct, the deaf community uses just that, deaf or Hard of hearing.

[trishasmom]

There are a lot of sounds that Trisha either can't hear even with the aids or hears differently than what they are. For instance hat and hot sound the same even if you are looking right at her. But if we sign the word along with saying it she has no problem. The more words she gains the more we see how the hearing loss affects her. Words that end in ey she says what sounds like es. She sometimes doesn't get the first part of a word and blends are especially hard for her. Monkey is es, the end only. The funny thing is that some words it's the beginning sound she misses and some of them it's the ending. She can say pig but not pizza (she says za za for pizza) she can say water but not work (she just says the k sound for work). Anyway as I said the more words she is verbalizing the more we notice what she is missing or misunderstanding.

[momofrussell]

Her audiologist has recommended the FM system and the school district seems ok with it but just dragging their feet it's been almost a year now.

hmmmm... my suggestion is that you put this request in writing...even if you have before.. i'd specifically put this request in writing.. because there are timelines involved when replying and either accepting or denying a request for a specific accomodation. And well, "almost a year" is WAY beyond the timeline LOL They aren't being held accountable and they should be.

Good luck with it all.. you've received some great suggestions!

A.

[MaggiesMom]

Listen-up.com has some good suggestions on IEPs and rights of people with hearing loss.

FM system is probably a must. Daily checks by someone who is trained is a great idea. I would imagine speech therapy would be something she'd need if she's not already receiving it.

Is she just using speech/hearing or is she using sign, cue or other techniques? That should be listed too.

If you find that she's missing important information or can't follow directions due to the hearing loss, a personal aid is not out of the question.

Schools don't like to deal with hearing loss cause it costs a lot per student. It's my understanding that only 1% of most school systems have a hearing loss. So other things get the money.

Write me if you want more information. Maggie's worn hearing aids for 5 years. We just found out she has auditory neuropathy too. Makes hearing loss even more complicated.

Take care.

Robin M