Program Guidelines For Hearing Impaired Individuals

These California state guidelines are intended to aid in the planning, monitoring, and improvement of educational programs and services for hearing impaired students. After an introduction, chapters have the following titles and sample subtopics: (1) "Identification and Assessment of Unique Educational Needs" (screening, definitions of hearing impaired, language assessment, manual communication assessment, academic assessment); (2)"Roles and Responsibilities of Providers of Instruction and Services" (special education teacher, regular teacher, parents, interpreters, career/vocational specialist, guidance counselor, adapted physical education specialist); and (3) "Organization and Support for Providing Instruction and Services" (special education and local plan area, curriculum, least restrictive environment, infant programs, attendance area and transportation, program options, aides, audiological services, physical environment, media centers, staff development, parent education). Included in seven appendixes and a glossary is such information as testing standards for the hearing impaired, a draft of certification standards for professionals, recommendations for classroom acoustics, a statewide directory of services, and definitions of terms concerning the hearing impaired. (DB)

The California State guidelines are presented for identifying, assessing, and providing services to deaf blind individuals. Chapter 1 focuses on identification with sections on definition, etiology, referral, and unique educational needs (e.g., vision, audition, behavior, daily living). Chapter 2 discusses student assessment. Sections cover: assessment purposes and personnel, formal and informal assessment, motor skills assessment, communication assessment, hearing assessment, vision assessment, psychological assessment, academic assessment, vocational skills assessment, and the assessment report. The provision of instruction and services is addressed in chapter 3. The discussion covers the special education teacher, the itinerant teacher, students/parents/guardians, special providers of designated instruction and services (e.g., orientation and mobility specialist), the school nurse, the career-vocational specialist, the psychologist, aides and interpreters, and ancillary staff in residential programs. The final chapter considers the organization and support of instruction and services. Topics examined include: regionalization, administrative roles and responsibilities, the least restrictive environment, the continuum of services, program options, caseloads and class sizes, facilities and materials, staff development, parent education, program evaluation, and network development. Nine appendixes include a self-review guide, a listing of resources for technical assistance, an inventory of assessment tools, a description of Usher's syndrome, a summary of California Deaf-Blind services, and 39 references. (DB)

Millions of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates programs that provide cash disability benefits to people with permanent impairments like hearing loss, if they can show that their impairments meet stringent SSA criteria and their earnings are below an SSA threshold. The National Research Council convened an expert committee at the request of the SSA to study the issues related to disability determination for people with hearing loss. This volume is the product of that study. Hearing Loss: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits reviews current knowledge about hearing loss and its measurement and treatment, and provides an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and criteria. It recommends changes to strengthen the disability determination process and ensure its reliability and fairness. The book addresses criteria for selection of pure tone and speech tests, guidelines for test administration, testing of hearing in noise, special issues related to testing children, and the difficulty of predicting work capacity from clinical hearing test results. It should be useful to audiologists, otolaryngologists, disability advocates, and others who are concerned with people who have hearing loss.

The loss of hearing - be it gradual or acute, mild or severe, present since birth or acquired in older age - can have significant effects on one's communication abilities, quality of life, social participation, and health. Despite this, many people with hearing loss do not seek or receive hearing health care. The reasons are numerous, complex, and often interconnected. For some, hearing health care is not affordable. For others, the appropriate services are difficult to access, or individuals do not know how or where to access them. Others may not want to deal with the stigma that they and society may associate with needing hearing health care and obtaining that care. Still others do not recognize they need hearing health care, as hearing loss is an invisible health condition that often worsens gradually over time. In the United States, an estimated 30 million individuals (12.7 percent of Americans ages 12 years or older) have hearing loss. Globally, hearing loss has been identified as the fifth leading cause of years lived with disability. Successful hearing health care enables individuals with hearing loss to have the freedom to communicate in their environments in ways that are culturally appropriate and that preserve their dignity and function. Hearing Health Care for Adults focuses on improving the accessibility and affordability of hearing health care for adults of all ages. This study examines the hearing health care system, with a focus on non-surgical technologies and services, and offers recommendations for improving access to, the affordability of, and the quality of hearing health care for adults of all ages.