Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center Program

A daily plan of instruction is in place which includes each student's schedule and learning targets for each group lesson and individual student work. Instruction is individualized to address the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals as well as academics, communication, social skills and activities of daily living. Plans include systematically teaching generalization of skills across people, settings, time and materials. 

Meaningful data is collected, analyzed and discussed on an ongoing basis (e.g., IEP goals, learner outcomes, behavior). Data is used to analyze individual student's response to the intervention. Decisions are made in a timely manner if the student is not making progress with the intervention.

Roles and responsibilities between all team members are clearly defined including paraeducators, Special Education and general education teachers and related service providers. Time is built into the schedule for communication, collaboration and feedback between paraeducators and supervising teachers or evaluators. Schedules for paraeducators are in place to ensure that students have opportunities to work with a variety of adults throughout the day. A backup schedule is in place to ensure support during paraeducator leaves of absence.

Students have explicit and direct language instruction from Teacher of the Deaf (TOD), given daily for Pre-K and elementary and multiple times weekly for secondary. Communication plan action items are implemented to develop the student’s primary mode of communication in all school environments. Every lesson addresses the four domains: reading, writing, receptive communication and expressive communication.

Hearing technology allows students to be more independent. When the equipment isn’t working or the teacher is on mute, students have opportunities to manage their environment to support hearing:

• Change themselves (e.g., move seat).
• Change the environment (e.g., close the door).
• Ask others to change (e.g., look at me when you speak).

Students can explain their hearing loss and equipment to an unfamiliar person. Secondary students explain their accommodations and why they need them. Students take on a leadership role in their IEP meetings.

Itinerant teachers provide instruction and consultation for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and travel from school to school. Itinerant support is significantly different from site-based support since it occurs at multiple locations.

Itinerant support is available for students of all grade levels, from preschool through high school. Services, roles and responsibilities for itinerant teachers differ from on-site teachers. Specifically, itinerant teachers work with both students and adults to collaborate with special and general educators to create goals, provide classroom and learning strategies and make recommendations for appropriate accommodations for IEP and 504 students.

This support is available for students of all grade levels, from preschool through high school. Jeffco adheres closely to the Colorado Inventory Performance Profile(CIPP) data for appropriate placement to most accurately provide the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Direct and consultative services are provided as most teachers and staff have less experience and understanding of specific hearing needs. 

Itinerant teachers in Jefferson County provide instruction and consultation for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and travel from school to school. Presently, Jeffco has services in 155 schools with additional programs on a total of 168 campuses. Due to multiple locations, itinerant support is significantly different than site-based support.

Services provided by itinerant teachers as well as their roles and responsibilities differ from teachers who work at one site. Specifically, itinerant teachers work with both students and adults. They collaborate with special and general educators to create goals, provide classroom and learning strategies, as well as make recommendations for appropriate accommodations in the academic environment for students with an IEP or a Section 504 plan.

DHH and DHH+ students are supported with various Assistive Technology (AT) and an AT team. Contact a center school for more information.

The team provides consultation services to students with disabilities who may need AT to receive reasonable benefits from their education. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines assistive technology as any item, piece of equipment or product system (software) that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of a student with disabilities that the IEP team specifies is necessary for the student to receive a free and appropriate public education. Disabilities may include difficulties that interfere with communication, learning, social relationships, mobility, access to curriculum and active participation in the educational environment.

This could include:

• Specialized pencil grips and paper
• Audiobooks
• Speech-generating apps

The DHH+ program has the significant advantage of being led by a Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) and DHH+. The DHH+ students attend their core classes in a self-contained classroom environment.

The use of Augmented and Assistive Communication Devices (AACD) is welcome and strongly supported.

Schools that offer DHH+ programs:

• Wheat Ridge High School DHH+
• Everitt DHH+

Maple Grove Elementary is home to Jeffco’s Auditory and Oral Deaf (AOD) and a DHH center-based program. This program has the advantage of having qualified professionals who provide services to students with hearing loss. Professionals include eachers of the Deaf (TODs), EAs, Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) and a Mental Health Provider (MHP). 

Students participate within the general education setting as well as the DHH classroom. Programming and instruction are individualized to meet each child’s needs. In addition to these specialized professionals, students may work with experienced and trained paraeducators to provide them with extra support within the general education classroom. 

A benefit of this program is that it’s located within a regular elementary school. This model allows students to participate within the general education setting as well as the DHH classroom. The goal of the program is to provide DHH students with the knowledge necessary to become independent in academics, social skills and self-advocacy. 

On a daily basis, general education teachers work collaboratively with DHH teachers to provide students with specific strategies to enhance their ability to access the curriculum. Accommodations and strategies may include preferential seating, comprehension checks, clarification and rephrasing, pre-teaching and reteaching and the use of AT such as a personal FM system. 

The Auditory and Oral (AO) approach at Maple Grove teaches children, beginning as early as infancy, to use hearing and speech to develop spoken language for communication and learning. Sign language is not used in the AO approach; however, natural gestures that are used in typical conversation are included. 

Visual support of written materials or pictures is used extensively to help students understand new classroom information. AO education can be used with most children, regardless of where that child’s hearing loss is in the mild through profound range. Families who choose this approach commit to helping children use their hearing and speech for language and communication. Professionals work closely with families to help them use hearing aids, cochlear implants, FM systems or hearing technology that is appropriate for the child.

Maple Grove Elementary: DHH Total Communication (TC) Program

The Maple Grove DHH Total Communication Program provides services to students with hearing loss from prekindergarten to fifth grade. Our DHH team includes (TODs, EAs, Educational Interpreters, SLPs, and a MHP, as well as educational sign-language interpreters, and paraeducators.

At Maple Grove, TODs serve students with communication modes that fit each student’s diverse and unique needs. An example of various communication modes includes AO, ASL, and Simultaneous Communication (SIM COM)- signing while talking. 

The use of primary mode to provide access to lessons and concepts taught is often bolstered by pre and post-teaching of information as well as reviewing and understanding of less familiar materials. 

Maple Grove Preschool: DHH Preschool Program

Maple Grove also houses Jeffco’s preschool program and a  DHH+ (plus additional disabilities) program. The program serves students from three to five years old with various levels of support for pre-academics and communication. There are options for half-day or modified full-day or intensive needs. Our DHH team includes TODs, EAs, SLPs, and paraeducators. 

Supports include integrated classroom settings with typical hearing peers providing language and social skill models. Students in the program are taught self-regulation and self-advocacy skills that are critical for continued educational success.

DHH preschool program provides an ECE (Early Childhood Education) curriculum with an emphasis on receptive and expressive language development using the student’s primary communication mode.

In addition to DHH classrooms, mainstream opportunities are available based on student performance and progress. Schedules are tailored to appropriately meet students’ communication, academic and social needs in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). TODs regularly collaborate with general educators to ensure that a student with hearing loss will have their communication needs met.

Everitt’s DHH+ program uses academic and life skills to provide intensive language and instruction for students from sixth to eighth grade. These students often have hearing loss as well as additional needs that include a cognitive delay, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Down’s Syndrome. Each student is taught using a Total Communication (TC) approach in a self-contained classroom with mainstream opportunities. 

The DHH+ program has the significant advantage of being led by a Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) and DHH. The DHH+ students attend their core classes in a self-contained classroom environment and are offered two electives per semester. 

The use of Augmented and Assistive Communication Devices (AACD) is also welcome and strongly supported.

The Wheat Ridge High School DHH center-based program caters to DHH students who use a variety of communication modes with a variety of receptive and expressive languages paired for varying degrees of hearing loss. 

This program was designed with specialized embedded supports to ensure the consistency of student learning. That includes amplification, accommodations and opportunities for DHH teaching professionals to collaborate with other teachers to ensure DHH student needs are met. General education teachers are familiar with DHH student accommodations to access instruction, including interpreters, paraeducators, note-takers and FM amplification systems. 

The DHH program has an academically diverse group of students. Some are enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, while others have a co-teaching Special Education model (with one general education teacher and one Special Education teacher) for a better fit.

All DHH students at WRHS are highly encouraged to participate in at least one extracurricular activity per semester, as this has been empirically proven to enhance post-high school success.

Wheat Ridge High School DHH+

The DHH+ program uses academic and life skills to provide intensive language and instruction for students from ninth to twelfth grade. They often, although not exclusively, have hearing loss as well as additional needs, including cognitive delay, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Down’s Syndrome. Each student is taught using a Total Communication (TC) approach in a self-contained classroom with mainstream opportunities.

Rocky Mountain Deaf School is a free public charter school in Jefferson County that offers a bilingual education for DHH students from preschool to 12th grade.