A federal law allows students with hearing
loss to have a free and appropriate public education alongside
non–disabled students, to the extent possible, up to 12th
grade. Even though a child may have a hearing aid or cochlear
implant they will probably still need assistive technology,
modified acoustics, and accessible teaching strategies to
participate fully in noisy classrooms. In post-secondary
institutions students must advocate for accessibility through
the school administration. Many schools have disabled student
offices that can coordinate accessibility requests.
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Friends and Colleagues,
For the past two years, PEN-International has participated
in the development of a resource that is now available
on-line for serving students who are hard of hearing, "Hard of Hearing
Students in Postsecondary Education: A Guide for Service
Providers." This product is the result of the work of the
Hard of Hearing Task Force that first convened in December
2005. The task force, cosponsored by the University of
Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for
Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (RT-31) and the
Postsecondary Education Programs Network (PEPNet) was co-chaired
by Drs. Doug Watson and Marcia Kolvitz. The task force
meetings were facilitated by myself and Denise Kavin of
PEN-International, we also served as co-editors of the
work product of the task force.
The publication is intended primarily for services
providers at the postsecondary education level. However,
information and resources included will be very helpful
to students and parents as they discuss future plans for
education. Teachers, transition specialists, and other related
staff from secondary programs also can use this as a tool
when working with students as they transition from secondary
to postsecondary education and training programs.
