How involved would you get for a child with a hearing loss?

[J-rap]

My daughter will be starting college in the fall.  She has a hearing loss that requires her to wear hearing aids, but she usually doesn't.  (Certain issues about them bother her.  Some sounds will actually hurt her ears when she wears them.)

 

Because she is mostly homeschooled, this was not an issue because one-on-one she could hear everything fine when it was just the two of us sitting at a table together, and of course we didn't have the class lectures.

 

She did take some classes at the public high school and the teachers had her sit in the front row, which helped.  Honestly though, I think she has grown up not even realizing that there are things she is missing, even though we have discussed it often.

 

Just wondering about the best way to deal with this in college.  I kind of feel like it's up to her to manage this in college, but as I said, I don't think she even realizes the extent to which her hearing loss might be affecting what she takes in.  But,  I don't want to be that helicopter parent that steps in for everything.

 

[coffeegal]

My recommendation is to sit and discuss every scenario you can think of, brainstorm together and think of solutions. For instance, can she put her hearing aids in before class? What happens if she doesn't wear them? Could she tape record lectures and listen to them later? Check with friends to ensure she didn't miss important parts of the lecture? With hearing loss, what aids are she allowed to use? Who should she go to if she runs into problems?

 

If you brainstorm problems and plan solutions, your daughter should do fine at college. I wouldn't get more involved unless the issue becomes drastic and she asks for help.  :001_smile:

[Laura Corin]

Have you been back to the tech and had the hearing aids readjusted?  Husband had to do that several times before they were right.

 

I'm sure you know that it's important to wear hearing aids consistently, as the brain has to learn to interpret the signals it is getting (perhaps for the first time).  I would talk through the science of hearing aids, once they have been adjusted, to make sure that she understands her choices.

 

L

[Teachin'Mine]

Could she take one class this summer at a local college?  You could even do something just for fun and even take it together, and then you can help her to come up with a workable plan.  If she could learn to work with the disability coordinator at the community college, then she'll have it even easier when she goes away and needs to do it all on her own.  Just a thought.   

 

One big difference with lectures is that the instructor often turns away from the students and continues talking while writing on the board.  This may be a situation which requires her to wear the hearing aids.  I like Coffegal's idea of recording the lectures.  Some professors may require her to go through the disability office in order to get approval to do this.

 

[Nan in Mass]

I am a big believer in letting go slowly.  What sort of college is it?  Small or large?  I think this makes a difference.  If it is a large college, I'm not sure you can do that much to help other than make sure she knows what her rights are, suggest things that she might do for herself like approach each professor at the beginning of the semester, make sure she knows exactly how to do this, and talk with her about the results.  If it is a small college, then there will probably be an opportunity at orientation for you to speak directly to the people who might be of help.  We did this with oldest (different issue).  At orientation, there was a time when the people responsible for the students' health and welfare, the vairous deans, housing personel, nurses, counselors, food service personel, etc., were at tables around the gym and the parents were sent in to ask questions.  It was a chance for parents to ask questions semi-privately.  People asked all sorts of questions - the requirements for various majors, dietary restrictions, allergies, roommates, which high school classes would transfer, health problems, or whatever.  The school personel seemed to expect that the parents would have legitimate questions or information that the school needed about specific students.  Youngest's school did the same thing, although organized slightly differently.  Both schools made sure the parents knew who to call if they had concerns or questions.  The students, meanwhile, were off doing something else, so it was easy for the parents to ask questions without embarrassing anybody.  For the issue we were dealing with, we were told that our student needed to approach the appropriate person himself, but they pointed out the next time during orientation we would all be in a room together, so it was easy enough for us to get our son's permission and then to walk over and introduce our son.  They took over from there.  Youngest was more up front about not being sure he could manage university on his own.  We arranged to visit every week and help with any issues as they arose.  There is quite a lot you can do to support your children, even from afar.  Helping our sons adjust to college doesn't seem to have done them any harm.  Oldest has graduated and is away working for months at a time, far out of our reach.  We visited youngest less at the end of this last year than we did at the beginning. : )

 

Nan

[Gwen in VA]

Is hearing loss covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act? If so, your daughter should contact the disabilities office at the college about her hearing issue.

 

Why?

1) According to a good professor friend of mine, she may be allowed certain privileges -- like maybe being able to tape lectures when normally the profs don't want to be taped, etc.

 

2) Also, if issues come up, supposedly having previously existing documentation can REALLY help.

[regentrude]

Colleges are required to accommodate students with disabilities. There will be a formal process in place. She needs to contact the office that deals with students with disabilities and provide a formal diagnosis; the counselors will give her a letter stipulating what kinds of accommodations she is entitled to, which she has to give to her instructors. Possible accommodations are a captioning service for spoken lectures that sends captioning directly to her laptop with a very small delay or exemption from oral group work.

The instructor normally is not informed about the diagnosis, however, she should let her instructor know or let the counselors talk to her instructors so that they can provide a better learning experience for her. Disclosing her condition may also be necessary to arrange for captioning service (instructor may have to wear a special microphone to ensure transmission of the data to the captioning service).

 

I would very strongly recommend that your DD take advantage of this process. As an instructor, there are things I can do if I know I have a hearing impaired student in my class, aside from high tech solutions: look at student while talking, repeat questions asked by other students before proceeding to answer them, pairing the student for oral group work with a student with clear pronunciation (you'd want to avoid a mumbling foreigner), relaying all important information both orally and in writing.

[In The Great White North]

 

Have you been back to the tech and had the hearing aids readjusted?  Husband had to do that several times before they were right.

 

I'm sure you know that it's important to wear hearing aids consistently, as the brain has to learn to interpret the signals it is getting (perhaps for the first time).  I would talk through the science of hearing aids, once they have been adjusted, to make sure that she understands her choices.

 

 

 

And look into different hearing aids.  My dad just got some, and of course, the ones covered by the insurance were not the best or most comfortable.

[Paige]

My DS complained about his hearing aids hurting at first too. We didn't let him not wear them and he has become used to most sounds. The tech who works with him has given him some settings on his aids that allow him to adjust them according to the situation and his needs and that helps a lot as well. 

 

Still, your DD is an adult and you can't make her. In a lecture setting, her best bet may be to have the teacher fitted with a microphone and she can wear a headset. It's not perfect, but if her loss is mild, she could probably hear through the headphones well enough without wearing hearing aids and it would be much better than nothing. 

 

My DS does not realize the extent of his loss at all. He has no idea what he misses because he never hears it! Do you have any older members of your family who probably need hearing aids but are resisting? We have a couple and DS can tell that they can't hear and that they miss things in our family. I can sometimes get him to understand that he is just like them! My DS's loss is mild-we didn't even know about it until a year or so ago- but I hate trying to have a conversation with him without his aids now that I know what it can be like with them. 

[Nart]

Has she ever had a 504 plan or special Ed? Do you have a report from her audiologist? When you contact the college's disability office she needs proof of her disability in order to get accomodations. She can't just go in and say she has a hearing loss.

[Elisabet1]

She needs your help to get documentation. She also probably needs your help to find the disabilities office. Also, coach her on advocating for herself. She will likely want to give her teachers the heads up from day 1 that she has this issue so that they can be aware that she might miss something or might need them to face her rather than the board. Once she learns how to advocate for herself, then she can do all this for herself.

[Teacher Mom]

I wear hearing aids. The right brand of hearing aids can change your life. i don't know what issues she has with her hearing aids, but if it is itching, the molds falling out, or having to take them out to talk on the phone -- all that can be fixed. I have hearing aids that can be connected by Bluetooth to my phone, computer, and TV for easy listening and I have a microphone that can be placed on a speaker's podium if there is just too much background noise in the room. They are also directional in that they amplify speech over background noise so I can actually hear in a crowded room. These hearing aids have absolutely changed my life for the better. They are the third brand I have tried and I am so glad I did not give up looking for the right kind.

 

Please tell her there are all kinds of hearing aids out there. I would be glad to give her or you information on my brand if you PM me.

[AMJ]

Could she take one class this summer at a local college? You could even do something just for fun and even take it together, and then you can help her to come up with a workable plan. If she could learn to work with the disability coordinator at the community college, then she'll have it even easier when she goes away and needs to do it all on her own. Just a thought.

 

One big difference with lectures is that the instructor often turns away from the students and continues talking while writing on the board. This may be a situation which requires her to wear the hearing aids. I like Coffegal's idea of recording the lectures. Some professors may require her to go through the disability office in order to get approval to do this.

Back in college I tried recording lectures (with permission), but with mediocre results. The recorder did not pick up the prof's voice well when he turned away, and "background noises (chalk clatter, coughs, paper rustling, feet scuffing, etc.) Often drowned him out.

 

OP'S daughter should talk to her professors about her hearing and discuss methods of making sure she can hear well or can get notes on all class discussions, especially if she doesn't know anyone yet with whom she could compare notes.

 

Let her know she can ask for what she needs, even proactively beforehand, but let her handle things. She needs the opportunity to determine how to handle things herself, and maybe learn from experience the ups and downs of the choices at hand. This also is good practice in negotiating and networking for the years ahead.

[Splash]

My husband has a hearing loss and won't wear hearing aids because he never learned how to filter all the extra noise he never hears without them.  Anyway he said college was actually pretty easy because most professors spoke loudly as they wanted the class to hear.  He didn't take many large lecture courses but found the ones that were smaller contained rooms and sat near the front.  He says real life/work is actually much more difficult because people talk to you from across the room, behind you, with their backs to you and even from other rooms.  

 

Just his experience.

 

Kimberly

[MiMi 4under3]

Jhat, thanks for bringing this up...

 

My DD10 has moderate/severe hearing loss in one ear, and also doesn't usually wear her hearing aid because it "bothers" her, and voices sound "muffled" with it on.  Since she's at home it hasn't been a problem - but it's true, she probably doesn't realize what she's missing.  I'm thankful you reminded me about how this will affect her in the future.

 

 

I wish your DD much success in college and beyond.    :)

[J-rap]

Have you been back to the tech and had the hearing aids readjusted?  Husband had to do that several times before they were right.

 

I'm sure you know that it's important to wear hearing aids consistently, as the brain has to learn to interpret the signals it is getting (perhaps for the first time).  I would talk through the science of hearing aids, once they have been adjusted, to make sure that she understands her choices.

 

L

 

She had them readjusted about nine months ago.  And you're right, I'm sure part of the problem is that she has never given her brain the time it needs to really adjust to them.  She hasn't worn them consistently and I'm sure I haven't encouraged her enough to do so over the years.  Part of the problem too is that her ears are very small, and glasses and hearing aids are uncomfortable to wear at the same time.

[J-rap]

It's a small college so I'm sure they would work with her.  She is a little shy, but I think she'd be okay about talking about it with the school.  Your idea of finding someone to approach at orientation is a great idea.  Probably if I were to at least begin the communications regarding this with the school, she'd feel comfortable picking it up from there, especially if she had the name of a specific contact person.

I am a big believer in letting go slowly.  What sort of college is it?  Small or large?  I think this makes a difference.  If it is a large college, I'm not sure you can do that much to help other than make sure she knows what her rights are, suggest things that she might do for herself like approach each professor at the beginning of the semester, make sure she knows exactly how to do this, and talk with her about the results.  If it is a small college, then there will probably be an opportunity at orientation for you to speak directly to the people who might be of help.  We did this with oldest (different issue).  At orientation, there was a time when the people responsible for the students' health and welfare, the vairous deans, housing personel, nurses, counselors, food service personel, etc., were at tables around the gym and the parents were sent in to ask questions.  It was a chance for parents to ask questions semi-privately.  People asked all sorts of questions - the requirements for various majors, dietary restrictions, allergies, roommates, which high school classes would transfer, health problems, or whatever.  The school personel seemed to expect that the parents would have legitimate questions or information that the school needed about specific students.  Youngest's school did the same thing, although organized slightly differently.  Both schools made sure the parents knew who to call if they had concerns or questions.  The students, meanwhile, were off doing something else, so it was easy for the parents to ask questions without embarrassing anybody.  For the issue we were dealing with, we were told that our student needed to approach the appropriate person himself, but they pointed out the next time during orientation we would all be in a room together, so it was easy enough for us to get our son's permission and then to walk over and introduce our son.  They took over from there.  Youngest was more up front about not being sure he could manage university on his own.  We arranged to visit every week and help with any issues as they arose.  There is quite a lot you can do to support your children, even from afar.  Helping our sons adjust to college doesn't seem to have done them any harm.  Oldest has graduated and is away working for months at a time, far out of our reach.  We visited youngest less at the end of this last year than we did at the beginning. : )

 

Nan

 

[J-rap]

Hmmm, I don't know!  I'll have to look into that.  Thanks!

 

Is hearing loss covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act? If so, your daughter should contact the disabilities office at the college about her hearing issue.

 

Why?

1) According to a good professor friend of mine, she may be allowed certain privileges -- like maybe being able to tape lectures when normally the profs don't want to be taped, etc.

 

2) Also, if issues come up, supposedly having previously existing documentation can REALLY help.

 

[J-rap]

Thank you, you have some great suggestions!   Some of them I had not heard of before, and I agree that my daughter should take advantage of these services, or at the very least, have things in place so that she is set to take advantage of them if necessary.

 

Colleges are required to accommodate students with disabilities. There will be a formal process in place. She needs to contact the office that deals with students with disabilities and provide a formal diagnosis; the counselors will give her a letter stipulating what kinds of accommodations she is entitled to, which she has to give to her instructors. Possible accommodations are a captioning service for spoken lectures that sends captioning directly to her laptop with a very small delay or exemption from oral group work.

The instructor normally is not informed about the diagnosis, however, she should let her instructor know or let the counselors talk to her instructors so that they can provide a better learning experience for her. Disclosing her condition may also be necessary to arrange for captioning service (instructor may have to wear a special microphone to ensure transmission of the data to the captioning service).

 

I would very strongly recommend that your DD take advantage of this process. As an instructor, there are things I can do if I know I have a hearing impaired student in my class, aside from high tech solutions: look at student while talking, repeat questions asked by other students before proceeding to answer them, pairing the student for oral group work with a student with clear pronunciation (you'd want to avoid a mumbling foreigner), relaying all important information both orally and in writing.

 

[J-rap]

My DS complained about his hearing aids hurting at first too. We didn't let him not wear them and he has become used to most sounds. The tech who works with him has given him some settings on his aids that allow him to adjust them according to the situation and his needs and that helps a lot as well. 

 

Still, your DD is an adult and you can't make her. In a lecture setting, her best bet may be to have the teacher fitted with a microphone and she can wear a headset. It's not perfect, but if her loss is mild, she could probably hear through the headphones well enough without wearing hearing aids and it would be much better than nothing. 

 

My DS does not realize the extent of his loss at all. He has no idea what he misses because he never hears it! Do you have any older members of your family who probably need hearing aids but are resisting? We have a couple and DS can tell that they can't hear and that they miss things in our family. I can sometimes get him to understand that he is just like them! My DS's loss is mild-we didn't even know about it until a year or so ago- but I hate trying to have a conversation with him without his aids now that I know what it can be like with them. 

 

Yes -- exactly.  She doesn't realize she is missing things because she isn't hearing them to begin with!  I do often give her examples though.  I'll talk to her quietly when her back is turned, and then point out to her that I've just been talking to her and her siblings have heard me from the same distance.    The headphone option (with the teacher fitted with a mic) is an interesting one. 

 

[J-rap]

Has she ever had a 504 plan or special Ed? Do you have a report from her audiologist? When you contact the college's disability office she needs proof of her disability in order to get accomodations. She can't just go in and say she has a hearing loss.

 

For awhile she had some kind of a plan when she was taking speech therapy through the public schools (to work on sounds that she wasn't hearing accurately).  Good idea to get documentation.  I do have reports from her audiologist.

[J-rap]

I wear hearing aids. The right brand of hearing aids can change your life. i don't know what issues she has with her hearing aids, but if it is itching, the molds falling out, or having to take them out to talk on the phone -- all that can be fixed. I have hearing aids that can be connected by Bluetooth to my phone, computer, and TV for easy listening and I have a microphone that can be placed on a speaker's podium if there is just too much background noise in the room. They are also directional in that they amplify speech over background noise so I can actually hear in a crowded room. These hearing aids have absolutely changed my life for the better. They are the third brand I have tried and I am so glad I did not give up looking for the right kind.

 

Please tell her there are all kinds of hearing aids out there. I would be glad to give her or you information on my brand if you PM me.

 

Her main issue is that certain sounds that she hears sound sharp and hurt her hears (when she is wearing her hearing aids).  For example if someone clapped next to her, it would hurt.  Also, her ears are quite small and the hearing aids -- though also small -- never felt very comfortable (especially if she is trying to wear her glasses at the same time). 

[J-rap]

Good ideas -- thanks!

 

Back in college I tried recording lectures (with permission), but with mediocre results. The recorder did not pick up the prof's voice well when he turned away, and "background noises (chalk clatter, coughs, paper rustling, feet scuffing, etc.) Often drowned him out.

OP'S daughter should talk to her professors about her hearing and discuss methods of making sure she can hear well or can get notes on all class discussions, especially if she doesn't know anyone yet with whom she could compare notes.

Let her know she can ask for what she needs, even proactively beforehand, but let her handle things. She needs the opportunity to determine how to handle things herself, and maybe learn from experience the ups and downs of the choices at hand. This also is good practice in negotiating and networking for the years ahead.

 

[J-rap]

Yes, this is definitely part of my daughter's main problem with them!  It's good to know that your husband's experience was positive.

 

My husband has a hearing loss and won't wear hearing aids because he never learned how to filter all the extra noise he never hears without them.  Anyway he said college was actually pretty easy because most professors spoke loudly as they wanted the class to hear.  He didn't take many large lecture courses but found the ones that were smaller contained rooms and sat near the front.  He says real life/work is actually much more difficult because people talk to you from across the room, behind you, with their backs to you and even from other rooms.  

 

Just his experience.

 

Kimberly

 

[Nan in Mass]

It's a small college so I'm sure they would work with her.  She is a little shy, but I think she'd be okay about talking about it with the school.  Your idea of finding someone to approach at orientation is a great idea.  Probably if I were to at least begin the communications regarding this with the school, she'd feel comfortable picking it up from there, especially if she had the name of a specific contact person.

 

Now that I think about it, this is usually how we help - either by making the initial contact together or by figuring out a specific name and question and then pushing the student to make the intial contact.  We ask how it went and help with finding the next person and question in the chain, if necessary.  Usually, though, once the initial bit has been dealt with, they take over and we don't hear much about it after that.  We've found it is a TON easier to make the first contact WITH the student.  Orientation is the easiest time to do that sort of thing because everybody is in the same place at the same time and parental questions are expected.  On the other hand, it took a whole winter of pushing from afar to persuade youngest to go to see his advisor.  The results once he did were spectacular and he was very glad we had pushed, but getting a busy student to do something low on their priority list is sometimes ... difficult... as I'm sure you know.  I'm surprised the orthodontist is still talking to us lol.  Our older ones are profusely grateful for the help we provided and don't even remember being pushed to do things. : )  And as I said, it doesn't seem to have affected their ability to be independent later.  All it did was make things more comfortable and prevent problems while they were developing that independence.

 

It might be a good idea to find out how much "prior" documentation is involved in getting various levels of accommodations and try to aquire it and have it in hand for orientation.  I'm pretty sure that amongst the paperwork we filled out for the college was a question about any learning disabilities or health problems that the college should know about.  If we'd replied yes, then we might have been contacted by the appropriate people?  I don't know. 

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

It may be that the lectures are automatically recorded and made available to the students.  Or at least the professor's lecture notes.  This has been true for all three of mine.  Youngest, by explaining his prefered study method, managed to persuade his advisor to give him a key to one of the classrooms so he can replay the lectures pause button in hand, and take his notes on the huge expanse of white board.  He was doing the same thing with the white boards available in the library basement, but wearing headphones so as not to disturb other studiers was limiting the amount of whiteboard he could use.  (We had nothing to do with that other than pppuuussshhhing for that initial visit to the advisor lol.  He explained his problem and the advisor came up with this solution.)  Oldest said he didn't take notes at all, just used the prof's, and that this was really common at his school (engineering major).

 

Just in case any of that is helpful...

Nan

[Barbara H]

While ultimately it will be on her to follow through, for this initial step of contacting the campus disability office I personally suggest treating that as mandatory just like any other step in the college process such as filling out paperwork for the dorm, sending in a deposit, etc.  If down the road she doesn't need accommodations that's fine but for now she needs to meet with someone in the disabilities office and you need to help her obtain required paperwork from the doctor's office. Offer to write the initial contact email with her. Offer to go to the initial meeting with her if needed. But, the meeting and paperwork are not optional in my opinion.

 

I'd keep in mind that even at a small school there all sorts of unanticipated situations may come up where hearing may be more of an issue - a professor who mumbles and talks into the chalk board, a ESL speaker that is harder to understand, a classroom with a really noisy heating system, a larger classroom with assigned seats, etc.  None of these issues should be hard to fix with accommodations if she speaks up but it is asking for trouble not to have the necessary stuff in place. They will never force more on her than she needs and I expect she'll find the disability accommodation process fairly easy to deal with and she'll be glad she did it.

[Nart]

For awhile she had some kind of a plan when she was taking speech therapy through the public schools (to work on sounds that she wasn't hearing accurately). Good idea to get documentation. I do have reports from her audiologist.

If she had speech therapy at a public school, she most likely had an Individualized Education Plan and so was eligible for special education under hard of hearing and/or speech. If you don't have the paperwork call the school district because they should have a copy. Some college disability offices ask when you first began receiving any services and/or accomodations.

[Barbara H]

While proof of previous accomidations is helpful with the College Board and ACT for testing, many college disabilities offices will tell you that they do not want to see these documents. Some will look at them but many others want nothing to do with it because they don't want to give students or parents the impression they are bound by previous accomidations. There are significant differences between the laws governing accommidations for K-12 and college

 

For sure students should understand that it is perfectly fine for students to receive accomidations for the first time in college. That's the case for many homeschoolers. Especially for strictly medical disabilities (vision, hearing, mobility, etc.) documentation can be really straight forward and easy. For vision stuff we needed a single letter from the opthalmologist and one meeting with the disability office. Not at all hard and zero feeling that we were having to convince them or fight the system.

[J-rap]

While ultimately it will be on her to follow through, for this initial step of contacting the campus disability office I personally suggest treating that as mandatory just like any other step in the college process such as filling out paperwork for the dorm, sending in a deposit, etc.  If down the road she doesn't need accommodations that's fine but for now she needs to meet with someone in the disabilities office and you need to help her obtain required paperwork from the doctor's office. Offer to write the initial contact email with her. Offer to go to the initial meeting with her if needed. But, the meeting and paperwork are not optional in my opinion.

 

I'd keep in mind that even at a small school there all sorts of unanticipated situations may come up where hearing may be more of an issue - a professor who mumbles and talks into the chalk board, a ESL speaker that is harder to understand, a classroom with a really noisy heating system, a larger classroom with assigned seats, etc.  None of these issues should be hard to fix with accommodations if she speaks up but it is asking for trouble not to have the necessary stuff in place. They will never force more on her than she needs and I expect she'll find the disability accommodation process fairly easy to deal with and she'll be glad she did it.

 

Thank you for these suggestions.  This is the route we will go.

[TechWife]

I'm with the others who say she needs to contact the office that works with students with disabilities. There are all of the academic reasons and possible accommodations listed above, but her residential environment might need to be adjusted a bit as well. For example, the resident assistant will communicate a lot of information, especially the freshman year. She needs to know to look directly at your daughter, provide written information and so forth. There are also fire safety issues to consider as well. The college may determine that they need to place her in a room next door or across from the resident assistant so that she can get to her easily should a need arise. 

 

Another thing to consider regarding the hearing aids is her social experience. If people aren't aware that she his hearing impaired, then that may very well impact friendships, especially if she can't hear someone if she is turned away from them. 

 

There are also safety issues to consider. If the college is unaware she is hearing impaired, then they can't make sure she is safe in the case of any safety announcements or other issues. Then theres the fact that if she is hurt on campus and her hearing impairment somehow contributed to the injury (or the injury could have been avoided had she been able to hear something), but she hasn't informed the college that she has a hearing impairment, then their insurance might not cover her injuries. 

[J-rap]

Thank you!   These are great points, and some of them I hadn't considered. 

 

I'm with the others who say she needs to contact the office that works with students with disabilities. There are all of the academic reasons and possible accommodations listed above, but her residential environment might need to be adjusted a bit as well. For example, the resident assistant will communicate a lot of information, especially the freshman year. She needs to know to look directly at your daughter, provide written information and so forth. There are also fire safety issues to consider as well. The college may determine that they need to place her in a room next door or across from the resident assistant so that she can get to her easily should a need arise. 

 

Another thing to consider regarding the hearing aids is her social experience. If people aren't aware that she his hearing impaired, then that may very well impact friendships, especially if she can't hear someone if she is turned away from them. 

 

There are also safety issues to consider. If the college is unaware she is hearing impaired, then they can't make sure she is safe in the case of any safety announcements or other issues. Then theres the fact that if she is hurt on campus and her hearing impairment somehow contributed to the injury (or the injury could have been avoided had she been able to hear something), but she hasn't informed the college that she has a hearing impairment, then their insurance might not cover her injuries. 

 

[mommytobees]

I know I'm coming into this way late, but it caught my eye.

 

I am back in college now.  I am no longer homeschooling, which is why I don't frequent the boards much.  I have a disabilities plan with both the CC I am currently attending and at ASU where I'm slated to start this fall.

 

This was one of the hardest and BEST things I have ever done for myself!  It was *hard* to swallow my pride and ask for help.

 

My problem: I have a neurological condition, which causes my vision to be decreased.  My standard font size on my computer is 20.  I read my Kindle at 22.  Prior to asking for help with the CC, I was taking a maths class (Pre-Calc) and the font size was 12.  I struggled.  

 

The documentation for both the CC and ASU were easy for me.  Both schools simply wanted my eye doctor to write a note saying that I needed my tests to be 22-24 font size and why.  I met my disabilities advisor, who is a legally blind woman, a few weeks ago.  I was FLOORED at what ADA affords me.  All I wanted was larger tests.  What I get not only means I CAN pass, but I learn easier as well.  I work so HARD to take my classes, simply to read my books and take notes in my classes.

 

I encourage you and your daughter to make an appointment with a disabilities advisor at the university she is going to be attending.  Find out what specific documentation they require.  Find out what they will offer her in services.  One of the points that was stressed strongly to me that may well apply to your daughter as well: not all instructors are willing to dedicate space in the front of the lecture hall for students who "need" to sit in the front of the hall.  All of my class this fall are major related classes, with class sizes of about 30 students. So, these are small class room settings. However, larger classes (like the history class I'm going to take sometime in the future) have class sizes of 90-120. More than likely, seating in those rooms will be first come, first serve.  I'll be receiving a "note taker" for those size classes, a student who is receiving volunteer hours in exchange for taking all my notes for me. This is NOT something I want, people don't think the way I do and don't take notes the way I do...but, if there is writing I can't see, I don't have a lot of choices.  

 

 

One credit I give my advisor that I just didn't consider prior:  SHE has many many many students who have acted as lab rats over the past 10 years.  She has ideas that I never considered and a few, which I didn't want to consider.  She recognized the pride I was struggling with (btw, she is about 10 years younger than I am) and said this to me:

 

If you don't have to work so hard to learn, what would you do with your time and energy?

 

Same thing applies to your daughter.  She is young, so the thought of running out of time and energy isn't as tangible of an idea.... but.....?

 

Good luck!

 

Kris

 

P.S.  I'm headed into speech and hearing sciences.  Does your daughter sign? 

 

[mommytobees]

It's a small college so I'm sure they would work with her.  She is a little shy, but I think she'd be okay about talking about it with the school.  Your idea of finding someone to approach at orientation is a great idea.  Probably if I were to at least begin the communications regarding this with the school, she'd feel comfortable picking it up from there, especially if she had the name of a specific contact person.

 

I meant to add a response to this and forgot!

 

Don't wait until orientation!!  Contact the disabilities advisor's office now!

 

Why?  Well, for one thing if you have to see a doctor and get specific documentation, you have more than enough time.  Second, because everyone else, for the most part, will be waiting until August to do it as well.  The earlier you get started, the easier and possibly the better the results.

 

Kris

[Dmmetler]

Another reason to make contact. Depending on her major/school, there may be an option of multiple professors/class sections. It is highly likely that the SSD office will know which professors/instructors are easier for a student with a hearing impairment to follow. For example, I had a wonderful professor who had had a stroke a few years prior that affected his speech. Great guy, learned a lot from him, but I can only imagine that if I'd had a hearing loss, or compensated for one by speech reading, the speech issues and motor issues caused by his stroke may well have made him hard to understand.

 

 

[J-rap]

I know I'm coming into this way late, but it caught my eye.

 

I am back in college now.  I am no longer homeschooling, which is why I don't frequent the boards much.  I have a disabilities plan with both the CC I am currently attending and at ASU where I'm slated to start this fall.

 

This was one of the hardest and BEST things I have ever done for myself!  It was *hard* to swallow my pride and ask for help.

 

My problem: I have a neurological condition, which causes my vision to be decreased.  My standard font size on my computer is 20.  I read my Kindle at 22.  Prior to asking for help with the CC, I was taking a maths class (Pre-Calc) and the font size was 12.  I struggled.  

 

The documentation for both the CC and ASU were easy for me.  Both schools simply wanted my eye doctor to write a note saying that I needed my tests to be 22-24 font size and why.  I met my disabilities advisor, who is a legally blind woman, a few weeks ago.  I was FLOORED at what ADA affords me.  All I wanted was larger tests.  What I get not only means I CAN pass, but I learn easier as well.  I work so HARD to take my classes, simply to read my books and take notes in my classes.

 

I encourage you and your daughter to make an appointment with a disabilities advisor at the university she is going to be attending.  Find out what specific documentation they require.  Find out what they will offer her in services.  One of the points that was stressed strongly to me that may well apply to your daughter as well: not all instructors are willing to dedicate space in the front of the lecture hall for students who "need" to sit in the front of the hall.  All of my class this fall are major related classes, with class sizes of about 30 students. So, these are small class room settings. However, larger classes (like the history class I'm going to take sometime in the future) have class sizes of 90-120. More than likely, seating in those rooms will be first come, first serve.  I'll be receiving a "note taker" for those size classes, a student who is receiving volunteer hours in exchange for taking all my notes for me. This is NOT something I want, people don't think the way I do and don't take notes the way I do...but, if there is writing I can't see, I don't have a lot of choices.  

 

 

One credit I give my advisor that I just didn't consider prior:  SHE has many many many students who have acted as lab rats over the past 10 years.  She has ideas that I never considered and a few, which I didn't want to consider.  She recognized the pride I was struggling with (btw, she is about 10 years younger than I am) and said this to me:

 

If you don't have to work so hard to learn, what would you do with your time and energy?

 

Same thing applies to your daughter.  She is young, so the thought of running out of time and energy isn't as tangible of an idea.... but.....?

 

Good luck!

 

Kris

 

P.S.  I'm headed into speech and hearing sciences.  Does your daughter sign? 

 

Thank you for sharing all of this with me!  It's helpful to hear, and has given me good food for thought.  I think enough people have convinced me that it's far better to be prepared, and to do so ahead of time to the extent that we're able.  My daughter does not sign.  It really hasn't been necessary, although we'll see what the future brings.  Thanks again.

[QueenCat]

Please don't have her wait until orientation to contact the Office of Disability Services. It takes time for them to evaluate her paperwork, and then meet to discuss accommodations. At ds' school (fairly small), professors cannot give accommodations unless the ODS has directed them to do so. Accommodations can include taping the lecture, having a note taker, getting a copy of the professors notes, as well as other options, depending on the student's needs. At ds' school, they actually encourage the student to invite a parent to the first meeting so I went with him. During the first week each semester, he takes a letter from ODS to each professor, and the professor signs off that he/she knows what the accommodations are for ds.

[Sara R]

Go to the accessibility services office ASAP! I used to work for accessibility servcies at a university as a TypeWell Transcriber for the deaf and hard of hearing. I provided a meaning-for-meaning transcript of the lecture. I carried two laptops that were wirelessly connected. I typed on one and the student saw the lecture in real time on the other computer, enabling them to participate in class. (More info at http://www.typewell.com/overview/how-it-works. Milovany, another poster here, also works as a TypeWell transcriber.) Many colleges offer this or similar services, but the more advance notice you can give them, the better they are able to provide services.