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Have you ever wondered what accommodations D/deaf students can get at school? Maddie Hinkle's suggests:
by Melody Gibson
Parents of a D/deaf student may feel overwhelmed by the idea of school. Can a D/deaf child enter a mainstream school system, or do they need to be in a specialized school for the deaf? This question will have a different answer for each child, but for parents who choose to enroll their child in a mainstream school, fear not: there are many accommodations available!
This summer, we spoke with Maddie Hinkle, a Youth and Family Connections coordinator for the Chicago Hearing Society (CHS). Her organization serves D/deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard-of-Hearing kids ages zero through twenty-two throughout the state of Illinois.
During our chat, we asked Maddie about what sort of accommodations and technology D/deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students can use. She spoke to us about suggested items for 504s and individualized education programs (IEPs), technological advances, and the effects of successfully integrating D/deaf students in the classroom.
Specific Accommodations for Deaf Students
Talk with your school district about the possibilities. These recommendations are for anyone in any US state, not just Illinois.
For 504 kids who don’t have the specific recommendations of an IEP, Maddie suggests the following.
Request preferential seating. The student should be able to see clearly.
Seek ways to reduce background noise in the classroom.
Request closed captioning on all media.
Suggest that teachers and staff get the student’s attention appropriately before asking a question. This could look like a tap on the shoulder or a gesture in the child’s field of vision.
Encourage teachers to check in with a D/deaf student a bit more often than they might with other students.
Set up a protocol for ensuring the student understands classroom or homework expectations. Teachers may need to repeat or rephrase directions for clarity.
Consider the use of hearing assistive systems, if available or applicable to the child.
Maddie says that these accommodations “can make a big difference, especially in a large classroom, which you know a lot of those mainstream general ed classrooms are.”
For kids with IEPs, Maddie says that all the same things apply, but there may be additional services available because of the more individualized nature of an IEP.
Maddie works closely with students and families in her role at CHS. For the children she works with, she says, “we always encourage our mainstream kids to get itinerant services to make sure that they get training in advocacy, so they know how to repair communication breakdowns and make sure that they're understanding and advocating for themselves, regardless of what environment they're in.”
The Effects of Technology on Deaf Students
Maddie emphasized the leaps we’ve seen in cochlear implant technology in recent history. “With cochlear implants being more and more common, more and more kids are getting mainstreamed,” she said. While this presents a need for more accommodations in the mainstream classroom, it also affords D/deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children a different experience than previous generations.
Transcription services have also improved, giving students the ability to get notes quicker than in the old days of manual note-taking.
Maddie also highlighted the advances in smartphone technology. Text-to-speech apps, relay services, and other accessible features have been growing in popularity and efficiency, which has been a major boon to the Deaf community.
The Downstream Effects of Accommodations: College & Beyond
When we spoke to Maddie this summer, she said she’s seen shifts in the way D/deaf students engage in higher education. For example, she said that not long ago, it was common that D/deaf students generally attended only one of a few colleges with specific programs (RIT and Gallaudet came up as traditionally D/deaf-friendly picks).
Now, however, she’s seen more D/deaf students attending a wider variety of universities. Maddie said, “So many kids are aware of those accommodations [and] of their rights in terms of education, and also so many of those kids have been mainstreamed. We see that our D/deaf students when they graduate high school really feel like they could go anywhere for college, which has been a big shift.”
Maddie’s organization, CHS, runs a Deaf mentors program. In addition to school success, engagement with the Deaf community can help young D/deaf students find their identities—as well as inspiration to pursue their dreams. While school accommodations are important, they are only one piece of the puzzle.
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About Maddie Hinkle
Maddie Hinkle has been studying American Sign Language (ASL) since high school, and she became involved with the broader disability community at her college. This led her to pursue a master’s degree in Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University with the goal of shaping her career around literacy and advocacy. She is currently a Youth and Family Connections coordinator for the Chicago Hearing Society (CHS).
Melody Gibson is a writer and editor based in New York State. She has bachelor’s degrees in both communications and graphic design. Melody became enchanted by picture books when she started reading to her son when he was a baby. She writes about children’s literature, family relationships, special needs advocacy, child development, and more.
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