Mini-Course: Challenging Situations

 

7 - Social and Physical Challenges

Social challenges: Identifying the speaker

Children with cochlear implants may have difficulty identifying the speaker in a group because of challenges locating the source of sound. This may inhibit their ability to keep up with a fast-flowing conversation and to associate messages with an individual speaker.

If you use an FM system in the classroom, make sure to pass the microphone to other speakers during class discussions. Additionally, you may choose to designate a hand signal for use among all students in the class to indicate who is speaking. Enforce use of this hand signal to ensure that the child with the cochlear implant does not miss any information.

For more information on FM systems, refer to the FM systems information sheet.

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