Gelaica Joy A. Abrenilla Doc.

Pamela Suniega

BTLED-HE 2-2

Case Study 1

Angela is a 10 yr. old girl with a hearing impairment. She wears a hearing aid in each
ear but relies heavily on lip-reading for understanding. Angela's Yr. 5 class has 26
students and can get quite noisy. An itinerant teacher comes into the class two
afternoons each week to support Angela and her teacher. Lately, her has noticed that
Angela is losing concentration and zoning out towards the end of the day. On a recent
reading test, Angela's reading was found to be 3 yrs. behind.

 What difficulties would Angela experience in the classroom environment and

playground?
 What would be causing Angela's drop in concentration at the end of the day?
 Why is Angela's reading behind?
 What adjustments could Angela's teacher put into place to assist her
schoolwork?

Difficulties Angela would experience in the classroom environment and playground:

Communication Challenges: Angela's hearing impairment and reliance on lip-reading

can make it difficult for her to understand conversations and instructions in a noisy
classroom environment. Background noise and multiple people speaking at once can
create barriers to effective communication.

Social Isolation: Angela may face difficulties in social interactions due to her hearing
impairment. She may struggle to hear and participate in conversations, leading to
feelings of isolation and exclusion from her peers.
Academic Struggles: Angela's hearing impairment can affect her learning in various
ways. She may miss important information during class discussions or instructions,
leading to gaps in her understanding. This can result in difficulties keeping up with the
curriculum and falling behind in academic subjects like reading.

Limited Access to Auditory Information: Angela's hearing aids may help amplify sounds,
but they may not provide the same level of auditory information as a person with normal
hearing. This limitation can affect her ability to fully engage with activities that rely
heavily on auditory cues, such as group discussions, presentations, or certain types of
classroom activities.

Causes of Angela's drop in concentration at the end of the day:

Listening Fatigue: Angela may experience fatigue and a decrease in concentration due
to the effort required to continuously listen, lip-read, and process auditory information
throughout the day. This can be particularly challenging in a noisy classroom
environment, where she needs to exert extra effort to understand and follow
conversations.

Cognitive Overload: The combination of Angela's hearing impairment and trying to

compensate through lip-reading and other strategies can impose a cognitive load on
her. This additional mental effort may lead to decreased concentration and
performance, especially towards the end of the day when mental fatigue sets in.

Reasons for Angela's reading lagging behind:

Limited Auditory Input: Angela's hearing impairment may have affected her ability to
develop strong auditory processing skills. She may have missed out on some of the
nuances of language and phonetic patterns, which can impact her reading abilities.

Challenges with Phonics: Hearing-impaired individuals often face difficulties with

phonics, which is the ability to connect sounds to letters and blend them to form words.
Since Angela relies heavily on lip-reading, she may have missed out on the auditory
cues necessary for mastering phonics, leading to reading difficulties.

Adjustments to assist Angela's schoolwork:

Preferential Seating: Angela should be seated in a location that maximizes her access
to visual cues, such as near the front of the class, facing the teacher, and away from
distractions.

Clear Communication Strategies: Teachers and peers should be encouraged to use

clear and concise language when speaking to Angela. They can also use visual aids,
gestures, and written instructions to supplement verbal communication.

Reduce Background Noise: Efforts should be made to minimize background noise in the
classroom environment. This can include using noise-cancelling devices, carpeting or
acoustic panels to absorb sound, or creating designated quiet areas for individual or
small-group work.

Assistive Technology: Angela could benefit from the use of assistive listening devices,
such as a personal FM system, that can help amplify the teacher's voice directly to her
hearing aids. This can improve her ability to understand the teacher even in a noisy
classroom.

Regular Breaks: Providing Angela with regular breaks throughout the day can help
alleviate listening fatigue and improve her overall concentration and performance.

Individualized Support: The itinerant teacher should collaborate with Angela's classroom
teacher to develop an individualized education plan (IEP) that addresses her specific
needs and provides additional support in areas such as reading. This may involve
tailored interventions, remedial programs, or targeted reading instruction.

Sensitizing Peers: Educating Angela