A detailed discussion of the disability and learning ...



7366 Technology Leadership in Schools

Case Study – Hearing Impaired

Student description: Becky Brownfield

Assistive devices & software: Julie Whitaker

Resources: Julie Whitaker and Becky Brownfield

Description of impairment and individual student:

Hearing impaired students typically have a “level” of hearing implications. First, we define the following:

To define hearing impairment, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) constitutes two definitions under hearing impaired. The first definition defined is “deaf.” Students, who are deaf, are “unable to hear well enough to rely on their hearing and use it as a means of processing information.” The NAD also tells us that Deaf with a capital “D” refers to individuals whereas deaf with a lowercase “d” refers to the definition.

The second term addressed is the term "hard of hearing." The NAD states, “This term refers to those who have some hearing, are able to use it for communication purposes, and who feel reasonably comfortable doing so. A hard of hearing person, in audiological terms, may have a mild to moderate hearing loss.

Educators working with students who have some kind of hearing impairment must first understand if the child is deaf or suffers from hearing loss. Each child’s case is different and must be evaluated individually. In the case of Jennifer, our student is deaf. Jennifer has over 85 percent hearing loss in both ears (since birth). Basically, Jennifer hears noise from time to time but cannot decipher the information without aids. The following describes Jennifer, a student with hearing impairment:

Student: Jennifer

Grade: 12th

Age: 18

Background: Jennifer comes from a broken family. She lives with her mother and sister. Jennifer’s father lives in a metropolitan area about 2 hours away along with a stepsister and stepmother. Jennifer’s family struggles financially. Jennifer works at a local restaurant busting tables to help her mother economically. Jennifer does drive her own car but must pay close attention to visual information as she can’t hear sirens, horns, traffic, etc.

Student strengths:

• Lip reading

• Socialization

• Speech

• Mathematics

• Basic computer skills

• Kinetic learning

Student weaknesses:

• Vocabulary

• English & Reading

• Prioritizing

• Organizational Skills

• Attentiveness to detail and specific directions

Jennifer is an excellent lip reader and does very well when she can visually see an instructor’s mouth and body language as they are speaking. Currently, Jennifer does require an interpreter with her at all times to complete her education. (Interpretation software might decrease the need for a constant, live interpreter. See following table)

Jennifer specifically struggles with jargon. For example, learning computer jargon or vocabulary terms is difficult. For Jennifer, it is like learning another language and the interpreters have to create signs for the terms or spell out every word. This slows the learning process dramatically. To assist Jennifer, visual aids are ideal. Notes given to Jennifer prior to lecture and assignments are very helpful. Any videos must have closed caption enabled for Jennifer to read as she watches the screen.

To elaborate on her English and reading skills, Jennifer loves pictures. Following written directions is not her forte. When completing activities she tends to follow picture examples and might miss important steps because she does not like to read the written text. Although Jennifer speaks well, she does not have proper grammar and English comprehension. Larger words must be explained to Jennifer especially on exams.

The following table provides information regarding assistive technology devices and software for hearing impaired students. Many of the listed technologies would benefit our student, Jennifer. Jennifer already uses quite a bit of overheads, projectors, SmartBoards, and other visual display technologies. Jennifer is not currently using the text message software programs other than the text messaging on her cell phone. These technologies along with caption technologies would certainly benefit Jennifer.

ADAPTIVE/ASSISTIVE DEVICES AND SOFTWARE

|Adaptive/Assistive Device and Software |Description |

|Hearing Aids for Hearing Impaired Students |A hearing aid is a small electronic device that you wear in or behind your |

| |ear. It makes some sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can |

| |listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. The |

| |downside to a hearing aid is that background noises are amplified as well as |

| |speaking voices. |

|Assistive Learning System |A device that has a microphone that the teacher speaks into that transmits to |

| |the hearing impaired student. The teacher’s voice is clear and there is |

| |minimal background noise. |

|FM Transmitter Systems (also referred to as Auditory Trainers) |Transmit the teacher's voice directly to the student at a constant level, |

| |insuring that the teacher's voice is heard above the level of background |

| |noise, regardless of the teacher's distance from the student. |

|Speech-to-Text Systems |Converts spoken language to written language |

|E-mail or Instant Messenger Service |Teachers can send quick notes to a hearing impaired student or the student |

| |could send a quick question or comment to the teacher. E-mail could also be |

| |used when students are working on group projects. |

|Mak-Mesenger Instant Makaton Messaging for the Hearing-Impaired |The first instant messaging system specifically designed to support the |

|Finger-Chat System |teaching of finger-spelling alphabets. The system offers the user multiple |

| |modes with which to communicate. It is designed so that both hearing and |

| |hearing-impaired people can interact with each other on an equal basis. |

|Overheads/PowerPoints/Graphs/Charts |Spoken information could be reinforced through the use of visual |

| |representations. |

|E-Subtitles |Adds emotions to video subtitles. This could be beneficial in schools because |

| |students are experiencing the entire effect of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, |

| |for example. |

|Captions |A written version of what is being verbally taught. Captions can be included |

| |to any audio technology: songs, movies, videos, etc. |

|iCommunicator |A program that can open up two way communication for individuals who are deaf |

| |or hard of hearing. It can convert speech into both text and video sign |

| |language on a laptop PC. The iCommunicator system provides two-way |

| |communication by allowing users to type in comments or questions and having |

| |that text read out loud over the computer speakers. |

|iText |A tool included in iCommunicator 4.0, users can select any text from a Word |

| |document, e-mail or web page and have the words signed for them. |

|Videodisc Technology |Videos are placed on videodisc format allowing it be to accessed instantly by |

| |a computer. The combination of video and computer allows for interactive |

| |instruction that can be tailored to meet specific needs. |

|PCS Sign Language Symbols and Clicker |Every word has its own graphic assigned to it. It would be helpful in the |

| |school system because new words can be added as the student’s vocabulary |

| |expands. The picture representation helps them to retain the word and its |

| |meaning. |

|Math Wiz CD-ROM |A set of CD-ROMS that have five levels of math word problems for |

| |hearing-impaired children. Each level has a tutorial with eight demonstration |

| |problems. Each problem uses colorful graphics, English and Spanish text and |

| |voice, animation, and explanations in American Sign Language in the |

| |problem-solving process. |

|Cornerstone Literacy Project for Early Elementary Students |A video fable is shown For two hours a day over a six-day period. Teachers use|

| |the video to incorporate vocabulary, writing, and reading assignments as well |

| |as other activities to improve language arts skills. Materials include a |

| |teacher's guide, videotapes, student activities, and computer games. The video|

| |also includes versions of the story in American Sign Language. |

|C-Note System |C-Note uses two linked laptop computers, one for the notetaker and one for the|

| |student. On each computer the display is divided horizontally into two windows|

| |for incoming and outgoing messages. During the lecture, the notetaker types in|

| |lecture material which then appears on both screens allowing the student and |

| |notetaker to communicate with each other via the computer. With the C-Note |

| |software, the student and notetaker can exchange messages over the serial |

| |line. The messages may be saved to disk on each computer as a permanent record|

| |of the session. |

RESOURCE LIST

|Resource |Website |

|American Sign Language Browser | |

|SIGNhear Communication (Sign Language) | |

|American Society for Deaf Children | |

|Music Videos with Sign Language | |

|Handspeak: American Sign Language | |

|American Sign Language | |

|American Sign Language Teachers Association | |

|How to Start Signing Over the Internet | |

|Animated and Text Definitions for Sign Language Letters and Words | |

|PCS Sign Language Animations |

| |&SUbCategoryID=5422&SKU=M1MJ224 |

|HearMore: Aids and Appliances for Assistive Living | |

|Products for Deaf and Hard of Hearing | |

|People | |

|Technology to Assist Hearing Impaired Students with Math and Literacy| |

|Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing | |

|American Speech-Language Hearing Association | |

| | |

|Deafness and Hard of Hearing Resources | |

|Hypermedia for Readers with Hearing Impairments | |

|Applications to Provide Students with Information through Both Visual| |

|and Auditory Channels | |

|National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through | |

|Technology, Media, and Materials | |

| | |

|Teaching Lab Courses to Students with Disabilities | |

|Technology for Hearing Impaired Students |

| |ired |

|National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders | |

|National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: | |

|Focus on Hearing Aids | |

|Boys Town National Research Hospital: Hearing Aids and FM Systems in | |

|the Classroom | |

|Personal Assisted Listening Devices | |

| | |

|Phonak | |

|Phonic Ear | |

|Mak-Mesenger Instant Makaton Messaging for the Hearing-Impaired | |

| |assist-tech.gold.ac.uk/mak-messenger/CVHI04.doc |

|E-Subtitles |

| |toc=comp/proceedings/icalt/2006/2632/00/2632toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/ICALT.2006.150|

|Student Center for Handicap Research, Computer Assisted Instruction | |

|Article on Assistive Technology for Hearing Impairments |

| |IATPProducts/FactSheet.asp%3FAction%3Dgetfile%26ID%3D64+technology+to+assist+h|

| |earing+impaired+students&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=13&gl=us&client=firefox-a |

|Caption Web Links | |

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|Articles on Captioning | |

|Project ReadOn: Lets You Submit Videos to Have Captions Added | |

|BubblePly: Allows You to Add Your Own Captions | |

|DotSub: Allows You to View Videos that Have Subtitles in Various | |

|Languages | |

|Veotag: Adds Subtitles to Video that can be Viewed Online | |

|enCaption: Automated Real-Time Closed Caption Service for Television | |

|Broadcasts | |

|Add Captions to Pre-Recorded Video | |

| | |

|Broadcast Video Systems: Equipment Needed for Closed Captioning | |

|Closed Captioning Encoders and Decoders | |

| | |

|Subtitle Shareware | |

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|Captioning Software | |

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|Voice Captioning | |

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|Web Captioning Software | |

|RealPlayer Caption Software | |

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