Procedures for working with students with deafness or hearing impairments in general physical education.

Lucas, Matthew D.

Definition of Deafness and Hearing Impairment

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides definitions of 13 disability categories. If a child between the ages of 3-21 is determined to have a disability as defined by this federal law, the student is entitled to a "free, appropriate, public education" under IDEA. This "free, appropriate, public education" includes physical education. Two of the disability categories that are covered by this law are Deafness and Hearing Impairment. Deafness means a "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification." (I.D.E.A., 2004). Hearing impairment is defined in the law as an "impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness" (I.D.E.A., 2004). It is important to note that deafness may be viewed as a condition that completely prevents an individual from receiving sound in all or most of its forms. However, in contrast, an individual with a hearing loss can generally respond to auditory stimuli, including speech (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2002).

General Characteristics/General Educational Implications of an Individual with Deafness or Hearing Impairment in the Classroom

When discussing the characteristics and educational implications of individuals with deafness and hearing impairments from a general standpoint one should note that neither hearing loss nor deafness affects a person's intellectual capacity. However, children who are either hard of hearing or deaf generally require some form of special education services/modifications in order to receive an appropriate education. This is true because one of the two main senses--hearing--that individuals generally use to obtain information is negatively affected (the other sense being vision). Such special education services/modifications often include: auditory training from a specialist; amplification systems; services of an interpreter for those students who use sign language; favorable seating in the class to facilitate lip reading; captioned films/videos; and assistance of a note-taker. Children who have a hearing impairment will often find it difficult to learn many aspects of verbal communication including vocabulary, grammar, and word order. For children who are deaf or have severe hearing losses, early, consistent, and conscious use of visible communication modes (such as sign language, fingerspelling, and Cued Speech) are often beneficial. In addition, for these children, amplification and oral training can help reduce this language delay (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2002). Another strategy that teachers should employ for individuals with a hearing impairment--as well as with all students--is to obtain feedback from the students at every opportunity as an indicator of the student's level of understanding (Strategies for Teaching Children With Hearing Impairments, 2004). However, since the environment of a general physical education class is different than that of a classroom, special challenges will present themselves and special considerations must be made to properly instruct a student with a hearing impairment in a general physical education class. The following section will note possible challenges present when working with individuals with deafness or hearing impairments in the specific setting of a general physical education class.

Possible Challenges of Working with Individuals with Deafness or Hearing Impairments in General Physical Education

As mentioned earlier the two main senses that individuals generally use to obtain information are vision and hearing. And, of course, students with deafness or hearing impairments are either not able or have problems in using one of these senses--hearing. This leads to many challenges when working with these students, especially in the general physical education setting. This is true because of the nature of activities for which students in physical education are often involved. It is to be remembered that during many of these activities the students cannot remain focused visually on the teacher to obtain visual cues as a replacement to auditory cues as is often the case in the classroom. An example would be the difficulty of watching a ball during the catch while following visual cues of the teacher. Specific challenges that may become evident in the physical education setting include (1) difficulty getting attention of students for instructional purposes as well as for safety concerns, (2) difficulty in giving instructional directions and feedback and (3) difficulty in allowing for communication between students in the general physical education setting. The next section will note possible solutions to these specific challenges in the general physical education setting.

Possible Solutions to Challenges of Working with Individuals with Deafness or Hearing Impairments in General Physical Education

One specific challenge that may exist when working with individuals with deafness or hearing impairments in the general physical education setting is an increased difficulty getting attention of students. This is important for both instructional purposes as well as for safety concerns. A possible solution for these situations may include giving all students a visual/verbal cue in order to have students freeze. One example may be to instruct students to stop what they are doing, "freeze" and clap when they see/ hear the teacher clap. Of course, students who are deaf or have a hearing impairment will probably not hear the clapping but they will be able to see the other students clapping and they can then follow the cue.

Another specific challenge that may exist when working with individuals with deafness or hearing impairments in general physical education may be a difficulty in giving instructional directions and feedback. For students who are able to read lips or read text this does not pose as big a challenge as for students who do not possess these skills. For the students that can read lips, minor modifications would need to be made including the positioning of the teacher so the student can see him/her. For students that are capable of reading text a simple solution may be the use of erase boards. In terms of using the erase boards, the teacher may simply write cues and feedback on the boards. It should be remembered that often such instructional cues might be written before class in order to avoid taking away from class time. As for feedback, this would probably need to be done during the lesson but would not consume much class time. This situation does become more problematic if the student in question is not able to read text or lips. In such a situation basic sign language may be used. It is also important to remember that "make-shift" visual cues and pictures drawn by the teacher may also be an important strategy to employ. This could include "smiley faces" as positive feedback for younger children to pictures detailing an individual stepping with the opposite foot during the overhand throw for older students. In this case the teacher could simply draw a stick figure throwing a ball and circle the leg that is stepping toward the target. Teachers could also have other students, or themselves, serve as visual models for students when trying to emphasize cues with students. The teacher should also try to avoid having the student with the hearing impairment attempt a drill first. If students are performing an activity, and are organized in lines, allow the student to be behind other classmates so that he/she can have extra models to follow. In terms of giving instructional cues and feedback it is also important to remember the following points:

* If there is an interruption in the class, get the student's attention before resuming teaching.

* Use visuals frequently. It is to be remembered that visual information is often the student's primary means of receiving information.

* Be flexible: allow the student to work for a longer period of time.

* Don't assume. When in doubt about how to assist the student, ask the student.

* Allow the student the same anonymity as other students (i.e., avoid pointing out the student or the alternative arrangements to the rest of the class) (TeachersFirst E-ready Special Education Site, 2001).

It is also important for the teacher to learn a few basic signs if the student is able to perform sign language. Lastly, it should be stated that when working with individuals with deafness or hearing impairments in the general physical education setting one practice that should be followed is the introduction of the "language" of the activity--words that are commonly used during the activity before class to the student. This will allow the teacher and student to better communicate, as the student will become more familiar with possible terms.

The last specific challenge that will be discussed when working with individuals with deafness or hearing impairments in general physical education is how to address the difficulty that students will probably have in terms of communication with other students. It should be remembered that one of the most important components of learning in the general physical education setting is a direct result of what students learn from their peers. This includes students observing peers performing a skill correctly followed by their responses, as well as students having their skills observed, and once again the response that follows. In order for this learning between peers to occur, communication between them needs to flourish. This communication is usually easily achieved through basic verbal communication of peers. In order to address this inability to verbally communicate because of the hearing impairment of one student the same types of methods used to provide instructional directions and feedback should be used. For students to communicate amongst themselves in physical education the use of erase boards and writing is beneficial for children who are literate (it is also important to introduce classmates to a few basic signs for communication purposes with the student with the hearing impairment). As with instructional cues and feedback, if the student cannot read, "make-shift" visual cues may be used. These visual cues may be put on erase boards for students who are providing the feedback to the student who has a hearing impairment.

Conclusion

Working with students with deafness or hearing impairments in general physical education can often be challenging for the physical education teacher. These difficulties can manifest themselves in the ability of the physical education teacher to get the attention of students for instructional purposes and more importantly for safety concerns of the students in the class. In addition, as a result of the deafness and hearing impairments of the student, the physical education teacher may experience difficulty in providing instructional directions and feedback and difficulty in ensuring proper communication between students in the general physical education setting. A variety of modifications can be made for students with deafness and hearing impairments in physical education. These modifications include the use of visual cues; directions and feedback written on erase boards, the use of basic sign language and the use of basic visual models through other students or through the teacher.

This paper has hopefully addressed basic solutions to improve the education of students with hearing impairments or deafness in the general physical education setting. It is also important to reiterate the importance of teaching a few basic sign language words to the entire general physical education class as well as to learn them as a teacher. One such web page that can assist the general physical education teacher in this endeavor is a site from the Michigan State University Communication Technology Laboratory (2000). The URL for this site can be found in the references section of this manuscript.

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REFERENCES

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Pub. L. No. 108-466 (2004).

Michigan State University Communication Technology Laboratory. (2000). American Sign Language Browser. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/ aslweb/browser.htm

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. (2002). General Information about Disabilities: Disabilities That Qualify Infants, Toddlers, Children, and Youth for Services under the IDEA. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from http://www. nichcy.org/pubs/genresc/gr3.htm

TeachersFirst E-ready Special Education Site. (2001). Working with Hearing Impaired Students. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from http://www.teachersfirst.com/sped/prof/deaf/strategies. html

Teaching Strategies for Disabilities/Impairments. (2007). Strategies for Teaching Children With Hearing Impairments. Retrieved March 12, 2008, from http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/ hearing.html#sect2

Matthew D. Lucas, Ed.D., C.A.P.E., Assistant Professor, Longwood University