Under IDEA, deafness is a “hearing impairment whether permanent or fluctuating that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.” People who are deaf or hard of hearing may communicate using Sign Language. In Deaf culture, there are different meanings of Deaf. Deaf, with a capital ‘D’, refers to a particular group of people who share a language and a culture. “deaf,” with a lowercase ‘d,’ refers to the audiological condition of not hearing. Hard of Hearing (HOH) refers to a person who has mild to moderate hearing loss.
Those who are deaf or HOH utilize today’s technologies such as, captioning, telecommunication, and visual alerting devices to engage with other people, television shows, and more.
In the classroom, teachers can create a more inclusive environment for students who are deaf by learning some sign language to communicate with them. As an educator, take the time to learn how to support your student with is deaf or HOH, work with organizations that support these students. Use their expertise to advise you on how to engage students who are deaf. Most research and information on the Deaf community is focused on the white Deaf population. With that understanding, teachers should acknowledge that most information of the Deaf population is white-centered meaning there is not much information on people who are deaf or HOH. Educators should also value different types of Sign Language as American Sign Language (ASL) is not the only form of sign language in the world. Understanding, students may come from different backgrounds and may use a different sign language just as an English language learner would, is beneficial to supporting students who are deaf.
There are BIPOC who are deaf or HOH who have done or are currently doing amazing things that teachers can uplift in the classroom to include students who are deaf.
- Marlee Matlin (Actress, Author and Activist)
- Nyle DiMarco (Model and Actor)
- Thomas Edison (Inventor)
- Tamika Catchings (Basketball Player)
Need to look at this information quickly? Download the Deaf/HOH Cheat Sheet Here!