What is the role of Deaf/Hard of Hearing Teachers?

This article appeared as a sidebar to th article: "The Critical Shortage of TODs: What This Means for Our Kids."

Barbara Raimondo, Executive Director of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf explains it this way, “Teachers of the deaf have acquired evidence-based knowledge and skills needed to meet the language and communication needs of deaf and hard of hearing students and also are able to teach to their strengths.” As Marc Marschark, Director of the Center for Education Research Partnerships at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, emphasizes, “Deaf children are not hearing children who can’t hear,’¹ but have unique learning abilities that teachers must understand in order to teach them well.”

According to the Council for Exceptional Children, credentialed teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing are critical to:

• Providing appropriate evaluation
• Effective educational programming and planning
• Providing student-centered instruction in academic, linguistic, and social-emotional content
• Meeting the requirements of [the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] and [the Americans with Disabilities Act]
• Securing positive outcomes for students and schools
• Providing specialized instruction and support to meet the specific language, communication, academic and social needs of students who are [deaf or hard of hearing].²

“There is a shortage of probably every kind of educational professional. It is an issue that is alarming to many in education. There are shortages in general ed, special ed, related services, and so on,” notes Raimondo.  ~

References:

1. Marschark, M. (2014) Center for Education Research Partnerships, Raising and Educating Deaf Children, How Deaf Children Learn.
2. Council for Exceptional Children Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness (2017). Teachers of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: A Critical Resource Needed for Legal Compliance, https://dcdcec.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/2017_dcdd_position_statement_todhh.pdf