{"id":2268,"date":"2013-01-11T22:06:35","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T22:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=2268"},"modified":"2015-02-17T09:47:09","modified_gmt":"2015-02-17T17:47:09","slug":"hearing-loss-in-children-speech-intelligibility-is-integration-right-for-your-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/news\/hearing-loss-in-children-speech-intelligibility-is-integration-right-for-your-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Loss in Children & Speech Intelligibility: Is Integration Right for Your Child?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hearing<\/a>

Image source: Wwhearing.org<\/p><\/div>\n

Hearing loss in children necessitates close collaboration with teachers, the special education team, and speech therapists. If you\u2019ve been dealing with speech therapy<\/a> and special education<\/a> for a while now, you\u2019re probably already familiar with the concept of integration in the classroom<\/a>. Some children might head to the special resources room for speech therapy and similar sessions during the school day, for example, while others remain in the classroom for speech therapy in that setting. In the latter case, a speech therapist or aide will work with the child as he participates in classroom activities, and the speech therapist will also work closely with the teacher. Still other children are taught exclusively in special needs groups or schools. The important thing to remember with all these different models is that there is no \u201cone size fits all\u201d solution. Your child is unique and has his own unique needs. So it\u2019s critically important to work with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team to determine what suits your child best.<\/p>\n

A recent study<\/a> examined hearing loss in children<\/a>. These kids were integrated into a typical classroom. The researchers who were involved in the study wanted to determine the effects of hearing loss in children on social competence and inclusion.<\/p>\n

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The Study<\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Tova Most from Tel Aviv University and her co-workers published the study in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education<\/em>.<\/a> They evaluated children with hearing loss in a regular classroom (one child with hearing loss per classroom) and children in group inclusion (where several children with hearing loss are in a regular classroom). The children, 64 of them in total, were between the ages of four and seven. Twenty-two children were in individual inclusion and 42 were in group inclusion. The researchers evaluated the social competence (perceived loneliness) of the children through the lens of their speech intelligibility.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sC4z9WIgRCI<\/p>\n

The Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

The results of the study are a little bit complex. For starters, the researchers found that in general, the children who were in individual inclusion were typically more socially competent than those in group inclusion. However, speech intelligibility was more critically important for individual inclusion. Those with reduced speech intelligibility were less socially competent in individual inclusion than in group inclusion. And bear in mind that social competence is not only important for a child\u2019s emotional well-being, but it also lends itself to successful classwork and group work. If a child feels like an outcast because of a disability, his academic progress may suffer.<\/p>\n