Hearing Impairment

1. Hearing Impairment • Introduction • Three Part Eligibility Requirement • Meet verification criteria (92 NAC 51.006) • Documentation: Adverse Effect on Educational Performance • Determination: Need for Special Education Services

2. Hearing Impairment (cont’d) • State Definition • Nebraska’s term hearing impairment includes federal definitions of deafness and hearing impaired. • Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) is used in the document. Preferred terminology by Deaf community.

3. Hearing Impairment (cont’d) • Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team Composition • Verification Guidelines • Report from Audiologist verifiying unilateral or bilateral hearing loss (with or without amplification)

4. Hearing Impairment (cont’d) • Adverse effect on at least one of these: • Effective Communication • Expressive or receptive language development • Speech reception or production • Cognitive ability • Social or emotional competence • Adaptive behavior skills • Result in a social/behavioral disability

5. Hearing Impairment (cont’d) • Implications for Assessment/Evaluation • Communication mode • Language used with and by child • Exposure/access to language in chosen communication mode

6. Hearing Impairment (cont’d) • Procedures to Determine Adverse Effect on Developmental/Educational Performance: • Factors to Consider • Questions to guide MDT team determination

7. Hearing Impairment (cont’d) • Related Definitions • Frequently Asked Questions • References and Resources

8. For Additional Information Special Education Office Nebraska Department of Education Telephone: 402-471-2471 Web Address: www.neb.state.ne.us/SPED/sped/html