What are Hearing Impairments and deafness?
A hearing impairment can be defined as a complete or partial loss in the ability to detect or understand sounds. Each student with a hearing impairment will experience a different degree of hearing loss. `Deaf´ is a general term commonly used to describe individuals with any degree of hearing loss. Degrees of deafness are generally categorised in the following way: Mild Deafness – A student with mild deafness may experience difficulties when following speech, especially if there is background noise. S/he may or may not wear a hearing aid. Moderate Deafness – Without a hearing aid, a student with moderate deafness will experience difficulties understanding speech even in normal conditions. Severe Deafness – A student with severe deafness is likely to rely more on lip-reading. Even with hearing aids s/he may find it difficult to understand speech. Some individuals with this degree of deafness may use British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate. Profound Deafness – A student with profound
