Foundations of Deaf Education
Foundations of Deaf Education
This domain tests the historical, legal, and philosophical foundations that shape services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), including how hearing loss is defined and how placement decisions are made.
Core rules and concepts
- IDEA guarantees FAPE in the LRE. For a DHH student, the IEP team must consider the child's language and communication needs, opportunities for direct communication with peers and staff in the child's mode, academic level, and the full range of needs, including direct instruction in that mode.
- Part C provides an IFSP for children under 3; Oklahoma's SoonerStart is the state Part C system. At age 3, eligibility and services shift to Part B and an IEP.
- Hearing loss is classified by type (conductive, sensorineural, mixed), degree (mild 26–40 dB HL through profound 91+ dB HL), and onset (prelingual vs. postlingual). The audiogram and speech-banana overlay inform access, not placement by themselves.
- The medical model focuses on deficit and correction; the cultural model views deafness as a difference, with ASL and Deaf culture as assets.
- Placement is a continuum: itinerant services in general education, resource rooms, self-contained classes, and residential schools such as the Oklahoma School for the Deaf. Placement must follow the IEP, not the reverse.
Worked example
A 4-year-old with bilateral severe sensorineural loss uses ASL at home. The district proposes a general preschool room with an interpreter but no direct ASL instruction. The team should ask whether the child has opportunities for direct communication with peers and adults in ASL and direct instruction in ASL, as IDEA requires. A general-education setting can be appropriate only if those needs are met; the team must not choose placement based on what is available.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating LRE as "general classroom at any cost."
- Assuming a cochlear implant yields typical hearing access.
- Writing placement into the IEP before goals and needs are identified.
- Confusing IFSP and IEP timelines.