Michael is a five-year-old male who was just diagnosed with hearing loss and a speech disorder (resulting from the hearing loss). He has not learned to speak properly and is working with a speech therapist three times a week. Further, he has failed to make friends and does not show any progress in learning letters or numbers. His parents are worried that he might be labeled in school and not allowed to participate in regular classroom activities.

He is scheduled to start kindergarten in a month and the school psychologist wants to test him to see if he should be placed in special education classes. The parents want you to develop a plan to help him socially since the school will address his learning needs and the speech therapist is working with him on language development.

You ask the parents about his social life and they tell you that he is an only child. He does not play with children in the neighborhood, though occasionally he has play dates. Usually, children do not respond to him when he tries to talk to them and it seems that with little contact with other children, he is socially immature.

Instruction

When writing your paper, make sure to do the following:

• Use the definition laid out in IDEA to describe Michael’s hearing disorder and the competency based individualized strategies for supporting him in a school setting.
• Summarize your thoughts about why he is unable to make friends and how his disabilities interfere with his social development.
• Explain how hearing impairment can be considered a cultural difference for Michael. (include an explanation of how “Deaf Culture” and differences in communication could impact Michael’s social development).
• How can we help Michael bridge the social and cultural gap to be able to interact more with his peers? List some possible solutions for your work with him, for what his parents can do, and for what his kindergarten teacher can do once he is in school.
• Offer some suggestions for how you can evaluate his monthly, social progress.