ABSTRACT
It is thought that 13% of pupils with cerebral palsy have some sort of hearing impairment, with 3% having a more severe loss. The following strategies should support hearing difficulties:
Seek advice from the hearing impairment service, if appropriate.
Place the pupil near the front of the class (within the limitations of the pupil’s mobility).
Gain the pupil’s attention before speaking.
Face the pupil when speaking to him/her.
Avoid standing in front of the window when speaking to the pupil.
Reinforce speech with signs, gestures and encouragement to watch other pupils.
Support phonic knowledge with a pictorial scheme (e.g. ‘Jolly Phonics’) and give other prompts – pictures, prompts in a written form.
Play sound bag games to encourage auditory discrimination skills where the pupil has to sort objects into sets according to two given sounds.
Use short listening activities/games to strengthen auditory skills.
Repeat other pupils’ responses.
Repeat instructions to the pupil after the whole group input, to ensure understanding.
Have an environment that is as free from auditory distraction as possible.
