Services for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

A continuum of services is available in Fairfax County Public Schools to all eligible students with a hearing loss. In accordance with the standards set by VDOE (Guidelines For Working With Students Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing In Virginia Public Schools), hearing impaired educational services are provided in a variety of settings including:

Itinerant Services

IEP service time is delivered from a teacher of the deaf-hard of hearing (DHH) and educational audiologist (if appropriate) in accordance with student IEP. These professionals work with students and school teams in the student’s neighborhood school. They regularly work with the student and collaborate with teachers, staff members, and other related service providers from a variety of general education and special education settings to help students make progress toward their targeted IEP goals. Itinerant educational audiologists work with students to ensure they have access to assistive listening devices, as appropriate in all aspects of their school day.

Site Based Services

Site-based programs for students who are deaf or hard of hearing exist for students whose IEP teams determine this level of service appropriate for equal access to the curriculum. Communication modalities used in these programs are:

• Auditory-oral - A method of educating DHH students that emphasizes the use of residual hearing through amplification technology as well as speech reading to access and develop language. Focus on auditory skill development with an emphasis on verbal communication strategies.
• Cued language - A method of educating DHH students that facilitates access to spoken language with visual access of cues. Cues are handshapes that represent sounds. The combination of handshapes with movement form syllables, words, and sentences. Emphasis on paired verbal and visual communication.
• Total communication (sign) - A method of educating DHH students that uses a variety of communication modes including: American Sign Language (ASL), picture systems, sign supported speech, fingerspelling, gestures, communication devices, and the use of amplification technology to access and develop language.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) discussion begins at the students’ base school.

Camelot Preschool

8100 Guinevere Dr. , Annandale, VA
Contact: Aileen Flaherty, Principal
Procedural support: Mike Schmidt

• Work within the framework of the preschool POS.
• Provides an environment in which students and staff members use one of the targeted communication modalities described above.
• Direct instruction and ongoing language access by teachers of the deaf for the majority of the school day.
• Interpreting and transliteration services on a regular and ongoing basis.
• Focus on strategies for building vocabulary, language, and foundations for listening and visual language.

Canterbury Woods ES

4910 Willet Dr • Annandale, VA
Contact: William Reeder, Assistant Principal, ES Special Education
Procedural support: Michele McDaniel

• Work within the framework of the POS with existing curriculum
• Provides an environment in which students and staff members use one of the targeted communication modalities described above.
• Direct instruction and ongoing language access by teachers of the deaf with the ability for inclusion opportunities.
• Interpreting and transliteration services on a regular and ongoing basis for students who require it.
• Focus on strategies for building vocabulary, language, literacy, and mathematics and 21st century skills.
• Availability of deaf or hard-of-hearing adult communication models.
• Specialized equipment and assistive technology deaf or hard-of-hearing children with appropriate technology in all academic and extracurricular environments.

Frost Middle School

4101 Pickett Rd • Fairfax, VA
Contact: Ellen Reed, Assistant Principal, MS Special Education
Procedural support: Michele McDaniel

• Work within the framework of the POS with existing curriculum.
• Provides an environment in which students and staff members use one of the targeted communication modalities described above.
• Direct instruction and ongoing language access by teachers of the deaf with the ability for inclusion opportunities.
• Interpreting and transliteration services on a regular and ongoing basis for students who require it.
• Focus on strategies for building vocabulary, language, literacy, and mathematics and 21st century skills.
• Availability of deaf or hard-of-hearing adult communication models.
• Specialized equipment and assistive technology for deaf or hard-of-hearing children with appropriate technology in all academic and extracurricular environments.

Woodson High School

9525 Main St • Fairfax, VA
Contact: Laura Rotella, Assistant Principal
Procedural support: Michele McDaniel

• Work within the framework of the POS with existing curriculum
• Provides an environment in which students and staff members use one of the targeted communication modalities described above.
• Direct instruction and ongoing language access by teachers of the deaf with the ability for inclusion opportunities.
• Interpreting and transliteration services on a regular and ongoing basis for students who require it.
• Focus on strategies for building vocabulary, language, literacy, and mathematics and 21st century skills.
• Availability of deaf or hard-of-hearing adult communication models.
• Specialized equipment and assistive technology deaf or hard-of-hearing children with appropriate technology in all academic and extracurricular environments.
• Focus on transition and postsecondary opportunities for students with hearing loss.

Additional Resources: 
Services for Students Identified as Hearing or Visually Impaired (from VDOE)

Contact Information

For more information on the services available to students who are deaf or heard of hearing, contact Nicole Warwick, program manager, at 571-423-4860 or [email protected].