LoMonaco,+Angie+Hearing+Impairment

I am trilingual. I speak Spanish, Italian, and of course English. I used to speak German fluently because I spent two summers abroad there, but I need to practice again!
 * Something about me that is interesting: **

I plan to graduate from SOU with a bachelors of science degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Early Childhood Development. After I graduate I hope to get a teaching position in pre-school or kindergarten abroad in Italy or move to San Francisco and hopefully work there as a teacher!
 * My education and career goals: **

**What brings me joy?** I love spending time with my family and friends because they are the essence of my life. I also love to workout because I find it helps reduce stress levels significantly for me, and I love taking care of my body so it can take care of me!

My greatest fear about being a teacher is being unable to create understandings of the learning material to my students. I do not want to see puzzled, bored, or annoyed faces and so I will do my best to try to create fun, interesting, and effective lessons. I am also nervous about the expectations and needs I will have to meet for the institution I work at. As a new teacher I want to make a great impression and I certainly want to be doing my job right!
 * My greatest fear about being a teacher: **

As a student, I continue to have a difficulty learning math. I have been fortunate to have only a few math teachers who were kind and understood my lack of developmental knowledge of math, but most of my teachers have not been very helpful. I feel as though many of the math teachers I have had have high expectations and stress math so that it is difficult, frustrating, and creates a lack of interest for me.
 * My experience with something extremely difficult to learn and how it made me feel: **

**How this experience might help me connect to students with learning differences:** I know what it feels like to try so hard to learn a new concept and yet no connections are made. I know many students struggle with math (I being one of them), and I never want a student to feel the way I do about math. As a future teacher I don't want to exemplify my weakness and frustration with math to my students. I want to present as many different examples to satisfy all the learning styles of my students so that they can develop an understanding of what I am teaching them.

I am very interested in learning about all of the different types of disabilities because I want to be capable to teach everyone effectively in my classroom. I also want to know about successful methods I could use to make students feel included and understand what I am teaching them.
 * What I want to gain from this course: **

Sound is measured by its loudness or intensity measured in decibels, and its frequency or pitch measured in hertz. Hearing loss can be slight, mild, moderate, severe, or profound, depending on the individual’s ability to hear the intensities or frequencies associated with speech. Hearing loss can affect both of the ears or only one ear and one is considered to be deaf if one’s hearing loss is greater than 90 decibels. Hearing loss and deafness can be acquired or congenital. Acquired hearing loss occurs after birth, due to illness or injury. Congenital hearing loss or deafness was present at birth.
 * Topic Introduction - Hearing Impairment **

Hearing is one of our five senses. Children with a hearing loss need immediate attention. Language and communication skills are developed most rapidly in childhood. If a child with a hearing loss does not get treatment, then a delay is created in the development of language and communications skills. If detection is early as newborn age, then treatment can start early and the child can develop communication and language skills that will be with them for their whole lives.

I chose this topic because I wanted to have a better understanding of what a child with a hearing impairment goes through everyday. I have worked with children with hearing impairments, and I felt with them that I did not know enough about their condition and how they learn. I wanted to understand what causes their hearing loss, and what I can do as a teacher to assist them in the classroom so that they succeed with their learning.

**5.** Production of hearing aids only meet less than 10% of global need. In developing countries, less than 1 out of 40 people who need a hearing aid have one. It continues to be a global problem because of the lack of economical and medical resources for individuals in need.
 * The Top 5 things I learned while researching. **
 * 1. ** There are five different types of hearing loss that vary on the degree of hearing loss: normal, mild, high frequency, moderate, and severe.
 * 2. ** Higher auditory centers in a child are not complete until the ages of 15-16 years of age. So, children are not able to bring a neurological structure to a listening structure. Without the decades of life and language exposure and experience, children do not have the same amount of information stored to fill in the gaps of misheard information.
 * 3. ** In 2004, over 275 million people in the world reported to have a moderate-to-profound hearing impairment. 80% of these individuals come from low and middle income countries.
 * 4. ** Children with a hearing impairment are going to miss a significant amount of information if they are not hearing. Therefore, when working with a child with a hearing aid, it's important for the instructor to look for visual clues to see if the student is confused or not. Also, it's very important as the teacher to have the fm system (microphone) turned on because without it, the child only hears a muffled noise or sounds that seem from a long distance.

**Top Resource:** **5 out of 5** Hearing Loss Association of America "The Nation's Voice for People with Hearing Loss" .

This organization overall provides everything that an individual would like to know about hearing impairments, and is beneficial for parents, teachers, and individuals with a hearing loss. The website is available to the public and is easy to navigate through. What I really liked about the website were the resources provided, and how I can benefit from them as a teacher. The education page from the website is definitely imperative to look through for future educators. There is all you need to know about the nation's stance with education upon individuals with hearing impairments, current information about the changes being made in education for students with a hearing loss, and references as well as articles written by teachers, scholars, and researchers on how to assist an individual with a hearing loss at home, in public, and in the classroom. I like that the information provided for students with a hearing impairment is applicable for their whole lives and includes resources for them to use for elementary school, high school, college, and adulthood.


 * 8 Additional Resources: **

American Society for Deaf Children. 15 May 2012. . **5 out of 5** The American Society for Deaf Children was founded in 1967 for parents to communicate and share with each other information about their children. Today, it is a national, independent non-profit organization. The organization believes parents have the right and responsibility to be primary decision-makers and advocates. So, the website is useful for parents who need information about hearing loss, and support. The website also provides resources and interesting links that one has access to in order to gain more information about the deaf society. There are also many articles written by parents, teachers, and journalists who have observed children and adults with hearing loss and how they are successful with their education and daily lives.
 * 1. **

“Deafness and Hearing Loss.” National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. June 2010. 15 May 2012 . **4 out of 5** The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities Organization has a bilingual website that offers a great amount of information about disabilities for one to read about. The organization serves as the "central source" of information on disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth. The website also has information on IDEA. There are also resources available on the web for each state so one can find disability agents and organizations in one's location.
 * 2. **

“Different Types of Hearing Loss.” ehealthMD. Ed. Guy Slowick. 29 February 2012. 16 May 2012. <[]>. **4 out of 5** This site is dedicated to providing information to the public about health. One is able to read about a variety of disabilities, disorders, and diseases and learn about them all. The site allowed me to read more in-depth about hearing loss and how it occurs in the ear. This site provides the scientific background behind all types of health concerns and affects on the human. The articles and information provided is written by physicians, professors, and many other individuals in the health professions.
 * 3. **

“Everything You’ve Wanted to Know About Deaf Culture (And Then Some).”Deaf Culture Online. Ed. Mark Drolsbaugh. 15 May 2012 . **5 out of 5** This website is dedicated to sharing information about the lively deaf society. Individuals with hearing losses, family members of individuals with a hearing impairment, and people who are involved in the deaf community share articles, information, and resources about the deaf culture today. The website wants to promote deaf culture, but also allow one to learn about American Sign Language, parent resources, deaf topics, hard of hearing topics, baby sign language, current trends, communication preferences, and stress management / wellness.
 * 4. **

"The Listening Environment -Children Who Hear More, Learn More." Dr. Carol Flexer. January 2012. __Lightspeed Classroom Audio.__ **3 out of 5** This video explains why children have a more difficulty hearing and comprehending material to them versus adults. It has do with brain development primarily the auditory center as well as the fact that adults have had more language and speech experience and exploration. media type="youtube" key="cBZ4oTNKl_Y" height="315" width="560"
 * 5. **

"Hearing Loss in The Classroom." Pediatric Audiology Project. **5 out of 5** This video provides examples of what it would be like for a student with a hearing impairment to not be able to hear what his or her teaching and classmates are saying if the FM system (microphone) is not turned on by the teacher. It also gives suggestions as to how to assist a child with a hearing impairment such as: repeating comments, passing a microphone around, and paying attention to the child with the hearing loss to make sure he or she is able to hear well. media type="youtube" key="ln8NHzVfJkQ" height="315" width="560"
 * 6. **

**7.** "Name that Sound - What does hearing loss sound like?" Hearing Center Online.. **3 out of 5** This website shows representations of what hearing loss sounds like. There are five different, and common hearing levels for varying degrees of hearing loss. I like this website because one can click on audio of music, speech, and speech with a background noise and hear what it may sound like for people of different hearing levels. It gives one a sense of what individual with a hearing impairment go through everyday, and how we can be greater aware of it.

Gavigan, Kristina. "Classroom Adaptations for Students with Hearing Impairments." Yahoo Voices. 28 April 2009. . 20 May 2012. **4 out of 5.** This article provides ideas to help classroom teachers with students who have a hearing impairment, but are still not succeeding in the classroom. There are many suggestions provided for the teacher to follow such as to avoid multiple verbal directions, show the student what to do rather than tell that student, provide visual outlines and graphic organizers for all students, etc.
 * 8. **