On past teaching practices I have seen teachers use Somerset Total Communication to produce graphic representations of words which are placed above the sentence. As well as helping them decipher meaning, this also supports those with both hearing and visual impairments develop their communication skills.
I have also used the digital transmitters and receivers when working in a class with profoundly deaf children before I started the BEd course, and was pleasantly surprised at how effectively this helped support the child without drawing attention to their differences, and how the rest of the children would also wear the transmitter piece when talking to the whole class during presentations etc. The teacher had clearly made this use of ICT part of the daily classroom and there was a very inclusive feel to her class as a result.
For researching the task I have looked at various websites, but found this one very useful with lots of pratical suggestions for supporting those with hearing impairments:
BECTA have also produced a code of practice for support SEN:
And for those of you who are going, there is a seminar on using ICT to support dyslexic learners in the classroom at the Education Show in Birmingham later on this month:
I quite agree with your view on how digital transmitters can support children who are deaf within the classroom. I like the mention you have made about Total Coomunication, I am not very familiar with this program but I have used Clicker 5 a great deal in a similar manner. I have found it very empowering for the children especially when they use it to do their own writing as they feel more confident in reading it back to check their work.
ReplyDeleteI also really like programs like Switch it which are used with switches to empower children with PMLD to make choices. Although I wonder how quickly they will be replaced entirely by touch screen technology. It will be interesting to see how that technology develops.
I had never heard of the technology where trasmitters can be used to aid pupils who are hard of hearing to hear the teacher more clearly. I think this is a fanastic way to keep pupils fully involved in the lesson without the use of an LSA.
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