Section 1: Identification and Referral

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/?src=policy-page)

IDEA Definitions Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, Part 30, §E 300.7

• “Deaf-blindness” means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
• “Deafness” means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
• “Hearing impairment” means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this rule.

Ohio students are eligible for special education services when hearing loss is present, whether permanent or fluctuating, and when the hearing loss adversely affects educational performance. (Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities, 2021)

According to the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) “by nature of the sensory impairment, a child with a bilateral or unilateral hearing loss, whether fluctuating, progressive or permanent, meets the disability component for eligibility for special education services. Neither IDEA, nor its implementing regulations, defines a minimum decibel (dB) loss as part of the eligibility requirement” (Meeting the Needs of Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Educational Services Guidelines, 2006).

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2002) Guidelines for Audiology Service Provision in and for Schools states, “Auditory Processing Disorder and hearing loss, whether conductive, sensorineural, mixed, unilateral, bilateral, fluctuating, permanent, or temporary, have the potential to affect children in three major areas: communication skills, academic achievement, and psychosocial development.” (ASHA Guidelines for Audiology Provision in and for Schools)

Any student with such an audiogram and/or diagnosis with hearing loss provided by a licensed audiologist should be referred for services. If the child who is D/HH and under three years of age, he/she should be referred to the Part C Early Intervention (EI) program overseen by the Department of Developmental Disabilities for a multidisciplinary assessment. The assessment establishes the child’s needs for EI services and takes place in five areas: adaptive development, cognitive development, communication development, physical development (including vision and hearing), and social-emotional development. If the child is school age, he/she should be referred to the local school district for an appropriate multidisciplinary assessment, including hearing, communication, vision, cognition, social-emotional needs, and academic components.