Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students to Use Spoken Language: A Guide for Educators and Families

"Great for parents or someone who teaches the deaf, is entering the field of audiology, or is unfamiliar with hearing loss."
―Roberta Agar-Jacobsen, Teacher of the Deaf, Tacoma Public Schools, WA

"The way the many complexities of speech are discussed, explained, and addressed is very reader-friendly, easy to understand, and accessible."
―Sherilyn Renner, Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Bozeman Public Schools, MT

"I have a student who is hard of hearing: How do I assist the student in speaking?"

As a result of IDEA 2004 and NCLB, more and more students with hearing loss are being educated alongside their hearing peers, making teachers and service professionals responsible for helping to fulfill their educational needs. Written by experts in the field, Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students to Use Spoken Language provides educators and novice practitioners with the knowledge and skills in spoken language development to meet the needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The authors′ model of auditory, speech, and language development has been used successfully with the deaf and hard of hearing population, in training preservice teachers, and in workshops and presentations for practicing professionals. This essential resource introduces the authors′ developmental model and addresses:

• Creative and scientific ways of interacting with children with hearing loss to develop spoken communication
• Effective approaches, techniques, and strategies for working with children in the primary grades
• Techniques for imparting social and academic information while children are learning to communicate

This authoritative reference gives teachers the confidence to provide students with a well-prepared, intensely stimulating environment to foster the natural emergence of spoken language.

Dr. Susan R. Easterbrooks is a Professor of Deaf Education in the Educational Psychology Department in the College of Education at Georgia State University and has been active in the field of deaf education for over 30 years. Dr. Easterbrooks has been a teacher, clinician, administrator, school psychologist, lecturer, and consultant and has authored numerous articles, chapters, and books on the education of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. She has participated actively on various local, state, and national committees. She currently serves as chair of the committee revising Knowledge and Skills Needed by Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing for the Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness of the Council for Exceptional Children. She participated in the development and revision of guidelines for services to students with hearing loss, published by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education and on the Special Needs committee of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Dr. Easterbrooks resides in Gainesville, Georgia with her husband and son.

Ellen L. Estes is the Coordinator of the Katherine Hamm Center, an auditory-oral program for children with hearing losses at the Atlanta Speech School (www.atlantaspeechschool.org). She has taught children with hearing losses for 30 years. She is a past-Chair of the International Professional Section of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She has written articles, conducted workshops, and advised schools throughout the country on many aspects of the language and literacy development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. She resides in Powder Springs, Georgia with her children and two very bad dogs.