Instructors Of The Deaf

The Council of Education of the Deaf is an organization sponsored by the six national premiere organizations in deafness. The Council maintains high standards for persons working with deaf and/or hard of hearing students in the education process. To this end, the Council certifies the following professionals according to the established guidelines in the specific area of training and experience.

TEACHERS OF THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING
Individuals may qualify for no more than 2 endorsements depending on their professional preparation as listed below:

CED may endorse the following for certification as relates to their specialty in addition to knowledge in education of deaf and/or hard of hearing students.

SUPERVISORS OF INSTRUCTION
Individuals who have had educational training in this area are supervising teachers in their educational institution may wish to apply for this endorsement.

ADMINISTRATORS
Current and future administrators wishing to be endorsed by CED as administrators

PSYCHOLOGISTS
Psychologists who have had appropriate training as school psychologists with knowledge of educational processes and issues in deaf education may be endorsed by CED.

FEES
The Council maintains reasonable fees for certification with CED. Each certification with CED is good for 5 years from the date of issuance.

Those interested in obtaining initial provisional or professional certification with CED may do so by applying directly to:
Dr. Roz Rosen, Executive Director
Council on Education of the Deaf
Fowler Hall 207
Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002-3695
Email: roslyn.rosen@gallaudet.edu

Guidelines for Instructors with Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in the Mainstreamed Classroom:

A student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing, but mainstreamed into a Hearing classroom may require some support services in the classroom throughout his or her academic career. The following information will provide the instructor with some general guidelines to assist you in providing a valuable educational experience to the student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing in your classroom

Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing are expected to meet the same requirements as the students who are hearing in class. There may be some exceptional cases such as listening to audio tapes for an assignment. You may choose to give a different assignment of equal value to substitute for this particular assignment.

A student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing may find it difficult to take notes during the class and may, therefore, ask another student in class to be a notetaker to obtain copies of the notes. If you know of a student in the class who takes good notes, please feel free to suggest that person as a notetaker. Please review the notes periodically to be sure they are complete and accurate. In the past, some instructors have distributed their own set of notes before each class or volunteered their TA/GAs to take notes for the students. This is strictly optional.

It would be helpful to write new terminology, homework assignments, schedule changes, exam dates, and exam question changes on the blackboard or overhead.

Your position in the classroom is extremely critical. If possible, try to remain centralized in the classroom and avoid constant pacing in the classroom. Many students need to focus on your face in order to lip-read. It is also helpful to avoid standing in front of a window, as the glare will make it impossible to see the face and lips clearly.

As a courtesy, face the student directly when talking with him or her. If no interpreter is present, use paper and pen to help understand the conversation.

In class, discussions may be difficult for the student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing to follow, During group discussions, emphasize the importance of only one person speaking at a time and be sure that the student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing is aware of who is speaking.

Please be aware that most students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing cannot take in spoken instructions while reading or writing simultaneously. When test changes are necessary, either before or during the test, please indicate those changes on the blackboard or overhead.

Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing sometimes experience language and reading deficiencies because of the cultural differences in learning language and/or the hearing impairment. With this in mind, most students experience difficulties and delays in acquiring English language skills. Since reading ability is highly correlated with prior English language knowledge, many students have difficulties becoming proficient readers. A student may know the information from the class, but may need a little extra time to read the questions and write the answers to complete the test.

Closed-captioned videos and movies and written transcripts of movies and filmstrips are often helpful, especially to the student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing and does not utilize an interpreter. To determine if the video or movie you want to show is closed captioned, you will see the letters CC or the caption symbols on the case cover or label. You may also check with the Library to see if certain movies or videos are closed-captioned.

Some classrooms may be already equipped with televisions made in or after 1993 and will have the closed captioning option available. You may also check with Media Services when you reserve TVs to see if they have captioning capabilities. If not, you can reserve a closed caption decoder to attach to the TV. Initial and Ongoing Certification for Teachers and Professionals.

Instructors Of The Deaf

I'm a regular school teacher and I'll have a Deaf student next year. What should I know and/or do?

Dream classroom for deaf students