Activity 1

Activity 1:

You Tube Video which may be helpful in sharing information with teachers regarding their students who are hearing impaired due to inner ear hearing loss or middle ear hearing loss.  Middle ear hearing loss is most commonly due to congestion from a cold/allergies,  ear infections or fluid in the ear.   This video is specific to a student with inner ear hearing loss, but as many as 25% of elementary students on any given day will have middle ear hearing loss (conductive hearing loss). The amount of loss is specific to each child, but this gives a good example of what they may be hearing and why some kids appear to have negative behaviors in the classroom, when they actually are just not hearing. 

Keeping in mind that the child who has good hearing cannot hear like an adult.  He/she cannot fill in the blanks of missed information.  If the teacher says, "The cat ran up the tree." The student may hear, "The cap ran up the tree."  Unlike adults, who would automatically correct the sentence, the child may think, "Wow, that's a cool cap.  I need one of those."'

Many students will get incorrect answers on spelling tests, not because they don't know how to spell the word, but because they did not hear the teacher correctly. The student may not be able to think..."That word was not on my list; therefore, I should not spell it. I should ask the teacher to repeat it."  Instead, he writes the word as he heard the teacher say it. He/she does not have the life experience or cognitive ability to make the correction (this is possible, on average, around 13-14 years of age).

Now, let's think about the 25% of kids, on average, who are not hearing well in the classroom...