Hearing Impairment
Pedagogical strategies, activities and resources adapted for students with hearing impairment or deafness
- available resources
- 22
- available resources
- Pedagogical Strategies
- 8
- Pedagogical Strategies
- Specialized Courses
- 9
- Specialized Courses
Unobstructed line of sight
Always speak facing the student, with your face lit and visible. Without that, neither lip reading nor sign interpretation works.
- Never speak with your back to the class while writing on the board
- Avoid standing against the window: backlight erases your face
- Do not cover your mouth with your hand, paper or materials
- In a circle, make sure the student can see the face of whoever is speaking
One speaking turn at a time
Organise talk so only one person speaks at a time. Overlapping speech makes the class inaccessible, even with an interpreter.
- Agree on a simple signal for requesting a turn
- Point out who is going to speak before they start
- Repeat a classmate's question before answering it
- Leave a gap between turns: the interpreter is always a few seconds behind
Visual support for content
Record in writing or images what was said out loud — instructions, deadlines, new terms.
- Write every instruction and deadline on the board, without exception
- Introduce the lesson's new vocabulary in writing beforehand
- Use images, diagrams and demonstrations beyond text
- Hand out the lesson outline beforehand, not afterwards
Working with the sign language interpreter
The interpreter translates, they do not teach. The pedagogical relationship remains between teacher and student.
- Talk to the student, not to the interpreter: 'did you understand?', not 'did he understand?'
- Share the lesson material with the interpreter in advance
- Position the interpreter where the student can see both them and you
- Take pauses: simultaneous interpreting is tiring and runs on a delay
Always caption video
No video enters the classroom without captions. Auto-captions must be reviewed first — they fail precisely on technical terms.
- Review auto-captions before showing, especially subject vocabulary
- Prefer videos that already include a sign language window
- Do not talk over the video: the student cannot follow both
- Provide the transcript for later reference
Bilingual education: sign language first
Since 2021, Law 14,191 defines bilingual education for deaf students in Brazilian law: sign language is the first language and written Portuguese the second. That changes planning, not just support.
- Sign language is not support for Portuguese: it is the language the student thinks and learns in
- Content must be accessible in sign language, not merely translated on the spot
- Written Portuguese is taught as a second language, with its own methodology
- Bilingual provision starts in early childhood education and continues throughout schooling
Assessing writing as a second language
A deaf student's text carries the structure of sign language, not Portuguese errors. Marking it as if they were a native speaker measures the wrong language.
- First assess whether the idea is there; structure comes after
- Missing articles and prepositions are usually L1 interference, not carelessness
- Use the same criteria you would for someone learning Portuguese as a foreign language
- Correct few aspects at a time, with a defined focus
Deaf identity and culture in the classroom
Treat deafness as a linguistic and cultural difference, not only as a lack of hearing. That changes how the whole class relates to the deaf classmate.
- Teach basic signs to the whole class — communication cannot depend on the interpreter alone
- Bring in references to deaf adults in a range of professions
- Avoid treating sign language as 'a little help': it is a complete language
- Let the deaf student teach signs to classmates — it changes their place in the group
Visual audit of your class
Record your class or ask a colleague to observe how much of it is accessible through the visual channel alone.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
Watch your own class without sound and note everything that is lost — that is what the student loses too.
Visual glossary of the subject
A wall chart with the subject's technical terms in text, image and sign, built together with the class.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
For each new subject term, record all three forms and keep it visible throughout the term.
Marking writing as a second language
A procedure for marking a deaf student's writing without confusing first-language interference with error.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
Separate content from form, identify what is L1 interference and choose a single correction focus.
Circle time with organised turns
Reorganises group discussion so the deaf student can actually take part, rather than just watch.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
One turn at a time, with the speaker identified before starting and a pause between turns.
Educational Audiology
CENES
Hearing Impairment and Deafness
EW Cursos
Working with Hearing-Impaired Students
Educamundo
Training in Hearing Impairment
FA Souza
Foundations of Inclusive Education
Instituto Rodrigo Mendes
AVAMEC — the Ministry of Education training platform
Ministério da Educação
15 distance courses in special education
Ministério da Educação
Escola Virtual.Gov
Enap / Governo Federal
Escola Virtual — Fundação Bradesco
Fundação Bradesco
INES — digital library
A collection in Brazilian Sign Language and Portuguese on deaf education, from the MEC institute dedicated to the field.
Published by: INES — Ministério da Educação · PT · Site
Open materialINES — teaching materials
Pedagogical products of school content produced for direct classroom use.
Published by: INES — Ministério da Educação · PT · Site
Open materialINES portal
The MEC institute responsible for producing and disseminating knowledge in the field of deafness.
Published by: INES — Ministério da Educação · PT · Site
Open materialUniversal Design for Learning Guidelines
A framework for offering content through more than one channel from the planning stage.
Published by: CAST · EN · Site
Open materialThe Inclusive Mainstream School
MEC/SEESP booklet on organising the mainstream school from an inclusion perspective.
Published by: MEC / SEESP · PT · PDF
Open materialSpecial Education from an Inclusion Perspective
Foundations of inclusive special education, an official Ministry of Education publication.
Published by: MEC / SEESP · PT · PDF
Open materialDIVERSA — inclusive education in practice
Free platform by Instituto Rodrigo Mendes with practice reports, articles and materials.
Published by: Instituto Rodrigo Mendes · PT · Site
Open materialBrazilian Ministry of Education portal
Legislation, policies and official publications on special education from an inclusive perspective.
Published by: Ministério da Educação · PT · Site
Open materialProgress Center — evidence-based instructional practices
A collection of evidence-based instructional practices and support material, applicable across conditions.
Published by: Progress Center — American Institutes for Research · EN · Site
Open materialIntensive intervention — decision tools
What to do when an intervention produces no progress: how to measure, decide and intensify.
Published by: NCII — American Institutes for Research · EN · Site
Open material