Deaf & Hard of Hearing Program

The Tri-City SELPA provides regionalized Educational Audiology and Deaf/Hard of Hearing services to all member districts.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program serves students eligible for special education under one of the below disabilities:

Deafness: A hearing impairment which is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information for learning, with or without amplification, which adversely affects educational performance.

Hard of Hearing:  A hearing impairment, whether permanent or fluctuating, which adversely affects a child’s educational performance but which is not included under the definition of “Deafness”.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing and Educational Audiology Services:  The deaf and hard of hearing specialists and educational audiologist work with students who have an educationally significant hearing loss.  In addition to ensuring access to the curriculum, our deaf and hard of hearing team teaches students self-advocacy skills, how to use their equipment, train the teachers and peers about working with a student with hearing loss, and work on receptive language and auditory skills depending on the individual student's needs.  Our ultimate goal is to teach students with hearing loss to understand and maximize their listening environment independently.  We work together as a team to support all school staff in identifying the many barriers to communication throughout the school day and implementing essential accommodations.