UDL- Tylor- Hard of hearing and Speech Impairment

Accommodations for Tylor:

 A Student that is science loving and hard of hearing with a speech impairment

By Jennifer Wright

Tylor lives for science class where we get to explore all sorts of new things everyday. He also does very well in Math, sight word knowledge. He is a kindhearted friend and uses teamwork at school. He gets along very well with his peers and they help him too.

Tylor is currently producing an F sound with an average of 37% accuracy. He has significantly more issues with the F being at the front of a word. His accuracy improves greatly if he is able to pronounce the F sound, pause, and then continue on with the rest of the word. S blends are also difficult for Tylor with a 50% accuracy. K and G are also an issue in the initial position of a word.

In Language Arts, Tylor will rely on pictures and context to understand what is happening in a story and demonstrates understanding by correctly answering detail questions 3 out of 5 times.

While writing Tylor enjoys adding writing to his pictures and making stories. He is having trouble restarting at the left hand side of his page when the page ends on the right.

Tylor enjoys math and is good at it, he can count up to 15 unassisted and up to 20 with the class as a whole. He is having trouble remembering numbers 16 and 17.

Tylor is eligible for Special Education Services due to his primary disability of being Deaf or Hard of Hearing and his secondary disability of having a Speech Impairment.

He is eligible for special education services under Article 7 due to documented fluctuating mild to moderate binaural hearing loss and his difficulty understanding beginning and ending sounds that will cause difficulty or delays in learning to read or write. Tylor also exhibits difficulty in articulation and production of some sounds making it difficult for peers and staff to understand him causing him to become frustrated and stop working, therefore increasing delays in acquiring skills.

Tylor is hearing impaired and has several articulation errors that make it difficult for him to communicate with his peers as well as with staff.

A student that is hard of hearing will benefit greatly from Universal Design in Learning as it is a disability that can be overcome with minor adjustments to the learning environment and teaching strategies. In the classroom, "a student may benefit from amplification in other forms such as assistive listening devices (ALDs) like hearing aid compatible telephones, personal neck loops and audio induction loop assistive listening systems. Some students use FM transmitter systems which require the instructor to wear a small microphone to transmit amplified sound to the student" (DO-IT, 2004)  It is also important to note the need for hearing aid compatible headphones when working with resources on the computer such as this book.

To a student with a speech impairment it is important to increase writing response and decrease vocal. Allow plenty of time and patience for spoken response and gently ask a student with a speech impairment for clarification. Try to resist the urge, and discourage other students, from completing sentences or phrases for a student who has a speech impairment.

A student like Tylor that is Hard of Hearing will greatly benefit from representation as it is broadening the scope of which information is presented to him allowing for a greater chance of comprehension. To increase Tylor's comprehension and perception through representation a teacher must rely on all of Tylor's senses to make a connection. They will use written reiteration of what they are saying and appeal to his sense of touch when applicable. A teacher might:

• Encourage his response to questions using the student buzzer to activate answers on a promethean board . The Promethean board uses visual representation (pictures, writing, question and answer format etc.) as well as colors, and amplified sounds.
• Pass the classroom amplification microphone to each student when class discussion is required.
• Allow for class notes ahead of time or PowerPoint slides on paper for him to follow along with.

It is important to involve action and expression but in a way a Hard of Hearing student can still understand. Sometimes when a speaker is not facing the student, it is hard for them to understand what is going on in the classroom. A teacher might incorporate:

• A statement and reinstatement (possibly written mission statement) of the goals throughout the activity so the student knows what is expected of them.
• A partially filled in chart or worksheet that gives them prompts in the right direction.
• Multiple means of knowledge expression such as the promethean boards and multiple options for response projects.
• Tactile things on the table when discussing topics such as rocks, feathers, fur etc to appeal to a heighted sense of touch.

To engage a student such as Tylor, making lessons seem seamless to learn is key. If the student looses touch with what is going on in the classroom, he will not acquire the skills going on in that lesson. Tylor needs personal connections to the curriculum at hand, such as self-suggested writing prompts and speech topics. Tylor also needs:

• Songs such as "Head, Thorax, Abdomen" to learn the parts of an insect with repetitive pronunciation of words to practice as a group for a student with a speech impairment. This song also requires lots of movement (think Head, Shoulders, Knees and toes) and excitement from the whole class.
• Building physical models and representations.
• Times that don’t need oral communication such as bug catching or leaf collecting outside that appeal to his love of outdoors.
• Call/flash and response to sight words/ spelling words, especially that incorporate words with F, S, K and G.
• Custom book builder prompts that encourage him to read aloud key phrases incorporating his weaknesses with enough strengths to keep him motivated.