We are seeking information from special education practitioners, including school-based speech-language pathologists, special education teachers, early childhood special education teachers, and teachers of the deaf, regarding how they evaluate and determine initial special education eligibility for preschoolers who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) using listening and spoken language (LSL) as their communication mode. We recognize that hearing loss is a low-incidence disability. Respondents do not need to have evaluated a preschooler who is DHH to complete the survey. Rather, evaluating preschoolers for special education eligibility determinations should be part of their responsibilities, so that the respondent may encounter this situation in the future.
This study has IRB approval through the University of Alabama. The anonymous survey should take the respondent approximately 15-25 minutes to complete. The information from this survey will help us understand how preschoolers who are DHH using LSL are evaluated and considered for initial special education eligibility, which could help drive evidence-based assessment practices for children who are DHH.
