37.Compareandcontrasttheterms”deaf”and”hardofhearing.”
ANSWER: “Deaf”describesspecificallythoseindividualswhosehearinglossisintheextreme:91
dborgreater.Evenwiththeuseofhearingaidsorotherformsofamplification,the
individual’sprimarymeansfordevelopinglanguageandcommunicationisthroughthe
visualchannel.Deafness,asdefinedbytheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationAct
(IDEA),means“ahearingimpairmentwhichissoseverethatthechildisimpairedin
processinglinguisticinformationthroughhearing,withorwithoutamplification,which
adverselyaffectseducationalperformance.”Apersonwhoisdeafisunableto
recognizesoundorthemeaningsofsoundpressurewaves.However,thedegreeofloss,
asmeasuredonanaudiometer,shouldnotbethesolecriterionfordefiningdeafness.
Thedefinitionofdeafnessmayalsobefunctionalinnature,directlyrelatedtotheability
tocomprehendspokenlanguageauditorially.
Forpersonsdefinedashardofhearing,auditionisdeficientbutremainssomewhat
functional.Apersonwhoishardofhearingisonewho,generallywiththeuseofa
hearingaid,hasresidualhearingsufficienttoenablesuccessfulprocessingoflinguistic
informationthroughaudition.
Thedistinctionbetween”deaf”and”hardofhearing,”basedonthefunctionaluseof
residualhearing,isnotasclearasmanytraditionaldefinitionsimply.Newbreakthroughs
inthedevelopmentofhearingaidsaswellasimproveddiagnosticprocedureshave
madeitpossibleformanychildrenlabeledasdeaftousetheirhearingfunctionallyunder
limitedcircumstances.
REFERENCES: Bloom’s:Understanding
LEARNINGOBJECTIVES:HESC.HARD.17.13.02-Explainthevariousdefinitionsandclassificationsofsensory
disabilities.
NATIONALSTANDARDS: UnitedStates-CEC.6.0-Beginningspecialeducationprofessionalsusefoundational