Teachers' Perceptions About Minimal Hearing Loss

Abstract

A 25-item survey was administered to 45 teachers to identify what they knew about Minimal Hearing Loss (MHL) and to verify or refute five possible misperceptions reported earlier by Goldberg and McCormick Richburg (2004). Results support the importance of an educational audiologist on the service delivery team to help teachers understand the ramifications of MHL and assist in meeting the educational and psychosocial needs of students with this type of loss. Results also suggest areas for in-service education for classroom teachers, especially regarding the issue of preferential seating.Minimal hearing loss (MHL) is defined as hearing loss between 16 and 25 dB hearing level (dB HL; Bess, Dodd-

Active Learning Through Service-Learning

“…Data support the educational and financial benefits of teachers' collaboration with educational audiologists (McCormick Richburg & Goldberg, 2005). In order for AuD students to understand the importance of such collaborative work, giving these students the experience of working with teachers at a preservice level would appear ideal for both the students and the teachers.…”

Minimal Hearing Loss: From a Failure-Based Approach to Evidence-Based Practice

“…Another factor that causes MHL to be minimized may be the terminology used, including the words minimal and mild. The use of the word minimal has been reported to be misleading to educators, who are unaware of the detrimental effects that can be associated with MHL (McCormick Richburg & Goldberg, 2005). Likewise, parents have expressed that the classifications used to describe degree of hearing loss do not accurately reflect the impact the loss has on a child's life (Haggard & Primus, 1999).…”

Trends Impacting One Public School Program for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing

“…Results of a study by Shargorodsky et al (2010) revealed that hearing loss has increased 30% in the last 12 years for teenagers from 12 to 19 years of age. Furthermore, it appears general educators may have noticed this trend, especially at the middle and high school levels, because they are expressing a need for their students to learn about hearing conservation (McCormick Richburg & Goldberg, 2005). The mid-Atlantic regional education agency’s audiologists are a reflection of this trend in that they have been receiving an increasing number of requests to provide hearing conservation presentations to schools.…”

“…The child not followed may experience a delayed diagnosis of hearing loss, culminating in poor performance in school (L. R. Goldberg & Richburg, 2004;Shargorodsky, Curhan, Curhan, & Eavey, 2010). Interestingly, general education teachers in Missouri expressed a lack of confidence in school-based hearing screening (i.e., screening done by someone other than an educational audiologist), especially for identifying children with minimal hearing loss (McCormick Richburg & Goldberg, 2005). Having educational audiology services readily available makes it more likely that a child's hearing loss can be efficiently diagnosed and managed, including properly fitted and functioning hearing aids and assistive listening devices.…”