This week I got a great question from one of my readers (paraphrased):
“I have seen that a lot of DHH students have made some great progress by early elementary school, and a lot of them have language scores that fall in the average range (with a standard score of at least 85).
I’m not sure if I should continue providing speech services to these students, if I should just be consulting, or if I could dismiss these students and let the teachers handle things from there (such as special education teachers or DHH teachers).
Should students with hearing impairments continue to get speech services throughout their academic careers, even if their language scores are coming out in the average range?”
This question came at a great time, because I just had this interview with one of my colleagues about working the DHH populations and deciding if a doctorate is right for you, which I’ll be sharing with you later this week.
That’s why I took the time to record this quick video to provide a detailed answer and explain all the things you might need to consider.
If you work with the DHH populations or if you’ve ever felt unsure about making eligibility decisions in the school systems, you’ll want to check it out.
In this video, you’ll learn:
- If DHH students should get speech services indefinitely (0:38).
- One of the most important court cases that’s impacted special education policy, and the surprising outcome (1:01).
- Why school districts technically don’t have to provide the “best education possible to every single student”, and what the law actually says (2:02).
- How to make sure you’re doing a thorough evaluation for DHH students (3:15).
- Two common areas of struggle for DHH students (3:56).
- Why providing services when they aren’t needed can actually be harmful if you’re working in the schools (5:38).
- What you should do if you have DHH students who DO qualify for speech/language services (6:32).
You can listen to the entire video here (or just play the audio on your commute):
Resources mentioned:
The Ultimate Guide to Syntax Volume 1: Passive Voice, which is part of my premium program for SLPs, Language Therapy Advance. An additional resource that will lead you through the foundations of building your student’s syntax is The Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, which you can download by clicking the image below.