TPS Archives

Reprints From The Professional Skier

Winter 1998 - "Develop A Way With Words To Teach Hearing-Impaired Students" by Beth Fox

This article is reprinted from The Professional Skier. All copyrights apply. Please see our copyright and disclaimer notice page.

People with disabilities may not expect the recreation industry to cater to them, but they do expect it to accommodate them. Resorts that offer programs for skiers with disabilities do a good job of promoting inclusion, but for one segment of the disabled community--people with hearing impairments--the inclusion needs to take place in regular ski classes. And for that reason, ski and snowboard instructors may benefit from at least some knowledge of the needs of those with impaired hearing.

Given a positive atmosphere of rapport and understanding between provider and participant, this can be a rewarding learning experience for all involved. The following is a guide to help winter sports instructors understand and meet the needs of class members who are deaf or hard of hearing.

A person is classified as deaf or hard of hearing if his or her sense of hearing is nonfunctional for ordinary purposes in life. Most people who are classified as deaf have partial hearing; complete loss of hearing is relatively rare. Verbal communication, which can be so important to us in our daily lives, may be interpreted by the person with a hearing problem as garbled and faint or with little or no understandable sound at all.

There are several types of hearing loss. Congenital deafness refers to hearing loss that occurred before speech and language concepts developed. A person with congenital deafness has never experienced normal speech and is more likely to experience difficulties with language development, speech, and lip-reading than hearing-impaired individuals who have experienced adventitious deafness--a loss of hearing after speech and language patterns have already developed.

Another condition, conductive deafness, is the result of damage to the middle ear. The person with conductive deafness possesses partial hearing that can often be augmented with a hearing aid. The condition known as sensory-neural deafness results from damage to the inner ear caused by diseases that produce high fevers, such as measles and spinal meningitis. A hearing aid often helps only minimally with sensory-neural deafness. Another auditory disability an instructor might encounter in a student is called central deafness, which results from damage to the cerebral cortex.

People with hearing impairments may socialize in different ways. Hearing-impaired individuals who have participated primarily in special schools, classes, or clubs for people who are deaf may be most comfortable when interacting with the deaf community. Others strive to overcome any obstacles that prevent them from interacting with the hearing public.

Depending on the student's preference and ability, he or she can communicate by using fingerspelling (figures 1 and 2 below), sign language and spoken words, lip-reading, or a combination of methods. When working with a student who is hard of hearing, the first consideration will be the most appropriate mode of communication.

Many people think all individuals with hearing problems read lips. Some people do and others do not. Individuals with hearing disabilities are often linked to the world primarily through vision, and they carefully watch facial expression and body language to understand the message being conveyed. So, make sure the students can see your face clearly. Do not cover your mouth or turn away while speaking, and try to stand in consistent light, if possible, so shadows don't cross your face. Keep good eye contact: It is important to talk to the student face to face (not so close that the upper body cannot be seen, but not so far away that the student can't adequately distinguish the movement of your lips).

Always speak distinctly, but do not over-enunciate words because this will confuse someone trying to read your lips. Also, do not increase the volume of speech unless the student asks you to do so: Higher volume does not always equate with increased clarity and understanding.

It is important to communicate with facial expressions and body language as well as words: 80 percent of human communication is nonverbal! When teaching a movement or a giving a demonstration, position yourself so that a student who is hard of hearing is in a position to view as much of the total activity as possible. This greatly increases the clarity and expression of ideas for the student. If you follow these rules for visibility, class members who are not hard of hearing will understand your concepts better too.

Most totally deaf people depend on sign language for communication. Interested instructors should take the time to learn at least the basic manual communication signs, which generally represent a concept and not necessarily a single word (figure 3 below). The main point is to use what is known in the deaf community as "Total Communication." Total Communication includes signing, speaking, acting out your concept-anything to communicate. If you do not know the accepted sign for something, you may be able to improvise and still get the point across. Usually, students are more than happy to help you increase your repertoire of signs.

It is also important to remember that even if a deaf or hard-of-hearing student can read lips or use sign language, he or she may not necessarily be a visual learner. Instructors and students alike may have to adapt in their teaching and learning styles to facilitate understanding by incorporating kinesthetic as well as visual cues to help students understand the concepts being presented.

As mentioned previously, sign language involves not only the hands but the face and body as well. When people with hearing problems communicate, they focus on faces, not on hands. When using sign language, your hands should move in the areas directly below and around your face whenever possible. Positioning your hands near your face is especially helpful when fingerspelling, which uses a hand gesture for each letter of the alphabet. When using fingerspelling, letters should be spoken as they are signed. Wear gloves instead of mittens out in the cold when deaf students are in the class.

Communication is interactive, which means some students may have to work to get their point across to the instructor as well. Most people with hearing problems have faulty speech patterns, so do not be afraid to ask the student to repeat or clarify a statement if you cannot understand what he or she said.

Another difficulty an instructor might face is that people with congenital deafness may shuffle or drag their feet for added sensory stimulus to enhance balance. Be aware of this on uneven ground or rough terrain. In addition, some people with hearing problems have inner-ear complications that can affect their sense of balance. These individuals may need to learn to use other sensory stimuli such as visual cues, modified stance, or pole dragging to compensate for this challenge. Some deaf skiers drag their poles behind them to pick up clues the terrain. This promotes a sensory connection to the snow surface.

Teach the student with hearing problems mainly by demonstration. Point out the techniques being used by other people participating in the same activity. Demonstrate a move, show the student how to make the movements, have him or her practice it, and help make corrections when necessary. Be positive, and the class atmosphere will lend itself to learning. As mentioned before, class members whose hearing is not impaired will also benefit from this teaching approach.

Teaching individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing might seem like a great challenge. However, teachers who learn the manual alphabet for American Sign Language and the signs related to winter sports listed in figure 3 above will be able to combine these basic signals with their other teaching skills to provide a rewarding and enjoyable learning experience for all students.

Beth Fox is a Level III certified adaptive and Level II alpine instructor with The National Sports Center for the Disabled at Colorado's Winter Park Resort.