It’s a difficult time for everyone. Learning is virtual for many children, which is bringing new problems for children going to school at home. For children who need different and more services, virtual learning can be particularly challenging.

A Charlotte, North Carolina, family is worried that their son Connor, who was born deaf, is falling too far behind because of virtual learning. When Connor was in school, he’d work with several teachers and aides who were specialists in helping children like him. Because of the pandemic, this isn’t possible any longer.

For children with hearing loss, it is challenging over a Zoom meeting to tell who is speaking and what is being said. For younger children with hearing loss, closed captioning may not be an option as they may not yet be able to read.

Children who would normally be receiving additional and much needed help in the classroom are likely falling behind. Connor is just one of many children whose parents fear they may regress due to virtual learning.

Reference

Leshner C. (2020) He’s falling behind: Concerns about the impacts of virtual learning on students with disabilities. WCNC Charlotte. December 11.

Share this

Related Posts

Racial Disparities: Adult Cochlear Implantation

In a recent study, Mahendran and colleagues (2021) sought to compare the rates of cochlear implant (CI) referral and implantation across different races and to compare audiometric profiles of the patients via retrospective analysis. Demographic and audiometric data were collected for 504 patients between 2010–2020 who underwent CI evaluation or implantation. Of those, 388 met…

Read More

Cochlear Implantation in Patients with Pendred Syndrome

Should we provide cochlear implants earlier for children with large vestibular aqueduct syndrome? Patterson and colleagues (2021) examined outcomes of nine pediatric patients with Pendred syndrome who received cochlear implants between 2003–2017. Pendred syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder defined by the combination of sensorineural hearing loss, goiter and an enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA). All…

Read More

Cochlear Implantation and the Elderly

Cochlear implantation is generally considered a safe and effective recommendation for healthy adults who have bilateral, moderate-to-severe or moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss and do not benefit from acoustic amplification (i.e., poor speech recognition). However, given the large elderly population and the importance of timely hearing intervention, there is a need to more closely examine the…

Read More