New Jersey Department of Education

Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Tahesha Way

Supporting Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Office of Special Education

Students who are Deaf or hard of hearing are a heterogenous group with unique and varied needs requiring a continuum of educational programs and services. Considerations for this population tend to focus on mode of communication and communication access in the educational environment, which is critical. However, meeting the educational, social, emotional, and cultural needs of students who are Deaf or hard of hearing is broader and more complex.

In August 2019, two pieces of New Jersey legislation were signed for the purpose of supporting children who are Deaf or hard of hearing and their unique needs, the New Jersey Deaf Students Bill of Rights and the Working Group on Deaf Education.

Note: Additional translations of the New Jersey Deaf Student's Bill of Rights are available on NJDOE's Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing webpage in the "Translated Resource Guides for Families" section.

Promising Practices

1. Optimizing Outcomes for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Educational Services Guidelines

This resource, Optimizing Outcomes for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Educational Services Guidelines (National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), 2019), reflects the diversity of the deaf and hard of hearing student population, the range of services and supports that must be available, and the idea that “one size does not fit all.”

2. Postsecondary Outcomes and Success for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The National Deaf Center (NDC) shares information, networks, and strategies to improve continuing education and training for deaf people.

Working Group on Deaf Education

The working group on Deaf education was organized to examine, research, and make recommendations related to the early linguistic development of children from birth to five years of age who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Children who are Deaf or hard of hearing are at high risk of experiencing language deprivation.

 

Data and Statistics

  • According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NICD):

    • More than 90% of children who are Deaf or hard of hearing are born to hearing parents.
    • About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears.

  • 59% of children with unilateral hearing loss or single-sided deafness had some sort of academic or behavioral problem at school (Vila & Lieu, 2016).

One-Pager

  • Printable Version (PDF)
    (Note: this is an untagged PDF and thus may have barriers for some people with disabilities. All of the content in the PDF is on this webpage.)

Resources

Page Last Updated: 10/06/2023

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