Not providing proper services. For instance, as shel mentioned, it is assumed in the public school system, that an HOH child that speaks well, has receptive language skills comparable to their expressive skills. Please don't ever fall into that trap. Most oral HOH still need sign terps in the classroom.
Not providing certified terps. I have personally seen situations where they will take someone not certified, straight out of a 2 year interpreting program, and stick them in the classroom. Their skills are not sufficient to interpret educational material with the assurance that the student is getting all of the information.
Assumptions that all the HOH child needs is to wear their hearing aid and sit in front of the classroom where they can see the teacher, and they will be able to speachread what they cannot hear through their aids. This is very, very wrong. The classroom does not provide an environment that is conducive to speechreading. Very, very seldom will a child be able to gain sufficient information through the use of a hearing aid alone.
Issues such as lighting and visual fields need to be addressed.
Assuming that simplifying the material will achieve the desired goal. It is often not simplification that the deaf or hh child needs, but an interpretation or rephrasing of the material that would put it into a spatial reference rather than the linear reference provided by English.
I'll stop with that so I don't appear to overwhelm you. And just so you'll know that I'm not just throwing things out at random, I have a master's degree and am currently working on my doctorate in counseling. I currently work in Instituional Equity at the university where I am enrolled providing accommodations and tracking students with disabilites. Sometimes, when you are asking for advise, it helps to know the credentials of those offering it.
