An educational classification, not a medical diagnosis. A medical or clinical diagnosis does not automatically qualify a child for an IEP, and a child can qualify under IDEA without one. Eligibility is an educational team decision based on evaluation data. These are educational classifications, not medical diagnoses.
What it means
Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child educational performance but does not meet the definition of deafness. This can include milder or one-sided losses and conditions that come and go.
What it can include
- Mild to severe hearing loss
- Fluctuating or one-sided hearing loss
- Difficulty hearing in noisy classrooms
How it affects school
Supports may include preferential seating, assistive listening devices, captioning, and strategies to ensure the child hears and understands instruction.
How IEP eligibility works
To qualify for an IEP under this category, an evaluation team generally must find three things to be true:
- A qualifying disability. The child is evaluated and found to have one or more of the 13 disability categories defined under IDEA.
- An adverse effect on learning. The disability must adversely affect the child educational performance. A label by itself is not enough.
- A need for specially designed instruction. Because of the disability, the child needs special education and related services to access their education.
Common questions
My child has hearing loss in one ear. Could they qualify?
Possibly. If the loss adversely affects educational performance and the child needs specially designed instruction, the team can find the child eligible under this category.
What is the difference between this and deafness?
Deafness is reserved for hearing loss so severe the child cannot process spoken language through hearing even with amplification. Hearing impairment covers other losses that still affect learning.
Have a question about your own child? Ada can explain how this category and IDEA apply to your situation in plain language.
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