Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services

Direct Services

Direct one-on-one instruction by a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing (TOD/HH) includes:

• Aural Habilitation: therapeutic support to increase students listening skills when newly amplified or implanted.
• Audition: Auditory training to increase auditory memory, listening skills in quiet and when background noise is present, and to strengthen the auditory brain loop.
• Language through audition: increasing language skills using the auditory pathway to progress with curriculum vocabulary, language structures, grammar and social communication skills.
• Self-Advocacy Skills: Specific instruction to support self-advocacy as it pertains to hearing loss, to increase independence, and self confidence.
• Social Emotional Support: Specific instruction to support students in their social emotional development.
• Transition planning: support and materials for transition to postgraduate life.

Indirect Services

Support to district staff from a teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing to support district staff and student needs through:

• Education to expand school teams knowledge and skills related to deaf education.
• Collaboration with district staff to adjust programming.
• Support to help shape programming for high complexity needs.
• Monitoring progress of student performance through formal and informal assessments.
• Training staff on specific skills and tasks related to audiological equipment, RM HAT and connectivity.
• Consultation by providing recommendation regarding modifications/accommodations for the team to consider.

What Makes Soundbridge Services Unique

• Certified Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing trained in aural habilitation, listening, and spoken language. Certified Educational Audiologists specialized in establishing equal auditory access within the classroom setting.
• Continued staff development and supervision specific to deaf education allows our staff to be on the cutting edge of best practices in the field of auditory oral deaf education and educational audiology.
• Prompt audiological support to school teams in case of RMHAT malfunctioning to minimize interruptions in auditory access.
• Educational audiological assessment to monitor the student's auditory perceptual abilities and verify appropriateness of student's RMHAT to provide data for the IEP process.
• Collaboration with district staff to provide the student with appropriate auditory access to the curriculum and with instructional support that is individualized to meet each student's needs.
• Team approach between Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Educational Audiologist to maximize student progress and success.