Using Assistive Technology to Enhance Communication

As a continuation of my previous blogs, I will continue to talk about Assistive Technology and its impact on learning in the classroom. However, I will now switch gears from previously talking about UDL (Universal Design for Learning) to talking about using this type of technology to enhance the communication amongst students and teachers inside the classroom. 

To those of you who might have just started reading my post and have missed my important introduction, Assistive Technology is defined as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability". Keep this key definition in mind as we talk about it more in depth in future blogs, for it is very important to understand how it links and relates to many different topics we will discuss. 

We will begin to talk about students who are deaf and hard of hearing and how they use this assistive technology we've been talking about to help their communication ability improve greatly. For those who might think that these two terms alone mean the same thing, it is not the case.

• Students who are Deaf- have little or no functional hearing. Usually are not highly skilled or comfortable speaking, and they communicate mainly through the use of sign language. Typically require a sign language interpreter!
• Students who are Hard of Hearing- do not typically use sign language. Usually can understand speech through a combination of personal hearing aids that amplify the sounds, and their skills in lip reading. They might have speech impairments as well but they speak well enough that they can be understood.

Now that we've established the difference between these two types of disabilities that can be among our students in any classroom, we can talk about some of the problems that students who are hard of hearing may and most likely will face in the classroom in terms of their learning. 

Students that are deaf will most likely have difficulty following class lectures given, especially if the acoustics of the room are poor or the teacher speaks in a tone that's quickly, unclear, or quiet. If a teacher turns their back (which is almost unavoidable with being a teacher), such as to write on the blackboard, students who use lipreading as a tool to help them communicate with the teacher to hear instructions will no longer be able to hear since the teacher won't be facing that student. Other classroom activities including class discussions and video presentations pose to be very difficult for students who are hard of hearing as well!!!! 

Resources:

Dell, Amy G., Newton, Deborah A., Jerry G. Petroff. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom:Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities. Chapter 6-Assistive Technology to Enhance Communication (pp. 140-141).