Aids for the Hearing and Vision Impaired

Hearing and vision problems can make learning difficult for some students. It is always important to ensure students with learning handicaps are accommodated to the best of your ability. Students with hearing or vision problems do best seated in the front so they can see the board more easily and hear the teacher better.

For students that have hearing disabilities, create a lesson plan outline which will include a breakdown of all the points that will be made in the lesson with brief summaries. This gives the student a chance to go back and review anything they may have missed. These can be passed out to all students but will benefit those with hearing disabilities the most.

Buy a few hearing sound amplifiers. These can bought for about $10 a piece and will make a great addendum to your other teaching props. These are not made to replace hearing aids but help enhance sound for students that use hearing aids and tend to miss things here and there. The amplifiers will make sounds appear like they are closer then they actually are. They are designed to wear attached to the ear and are a one size fits all. You can pass them out at the start of class and collect them at the end.

For students with visual impairment, they usually enjoy tactile learning. Incorporate their learning with tangible items that lets them feel with their hands. These aids can help in any subject. In science, small objects that resemble the topic being discussed are helpful. A realistic toy horse model when learning about the horse can help a student visualize the animal in their mind . If a student is learning their numbers, you can have them trace the shape of the number by following raised areas that are similar to braille that are in the shape of the numbers. This is also great for the alphabet and shapes. You can encourage students with both visual and hearing impairments to bring a tape recorder to record important class lessons, especially, if there is going to be a quiz or test on the subject.