It may be the first time you've had a student in your class you is D/deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, but there's no reason to be nervous, I promise! There's a bit of a learning curve (especially with assistive listening devices) but by working with you Teacher of the Deaf you will quickly figure out how to make sure that ALL the students in you class can hear and understand you.
Tips for working with oral (speaking and listening) students:
Read their IEP/504. This will tell you their specific accommodations, the extent of their hearing loss, whether their loss is unilateral (one side) or bilateral (both sides) and more.
Sit the student near where you will be. Generally this is the front of the classroom, but if you move around, you may need to get creative.
Face your student when you are speaking to them. This means no talking while writing on the white board. Most Hard-of-Hearing students get a good deal of information from speechreading (lipreading) and your facial expressions.
Repeat answers given by other students. If you ask for an answer from the class, repeating the name of the student who answered as well as their answers. Same goes for questions from the students in the class.
Allow your student to ask you for clarification. They may need information repeated since speech-reading (lipreading) is notoriously imperfect. Check for comprehension, as well.
Use their technology. If they have an FM or a sound-field sysyem, make sure you have turned it on and have it unmuted.
Below are links to some common FM trouble-shooting videos, but if issues persist, please contact your Teacher of the Deaf.
