Hearing Impaired Students in Regular Classrooms: A Cognitive Model for Educational Services

The presentation of information in the mainstreamed classroom setting to profoundly hearing impaired children is frequently based on the translation of auditory information into word-for-word visual representation (speech read/sign language) through the services of an interpreter. The effectiveness of these selected delivery systems, particularly documented within the regular classroom, have yet to be realized. The following discussion presents a model based on the premise that visual and conceptual delivery of information presented in the classroom is more important than the verbal transliteration of the spoken material. The following does not examine the social, fiscal, or moral issues related to mainstreaming hearing impaired children (Vernon, 1981) but rather addresses the changing role of the “educational interpreter”.