Engaging deaf and hard of hearing students in the school library: A handbook for teacher-librarians

Abstract

Over seventy percent of students who are deaf or hard of hearing will attend a public school and enroll in a classroom with their hearing peers or in a self-contained classroom with other deaf and hard of hearing students. Teacher-librarians who work in these schools can improve their instruction by understanding not only what it means to be deaf or hard of hearing but also how deaf and hard of hearing students learn to read and what challenges they may encounter in the school library classroom. This paper offers practical suggestions and recommendations to help teacher librarians teach within the concept of Universal Design for Learning to make learning accessible for all students, but specifically for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.