Hearing Impairment

Eligibility requirements for services are taken from the State of Alaska's Special Education Handbook. Children can qualify under either deafness or hearing impairment.

To be eligible for special education and related services as a child with deafness, a child must:

• Exhibit a hearing impairment that hinders the child's ability to process linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification and that adversely affects educational performance; and
• Require special facilities, equipment, or methods to make his or her educational program effective; and
• Be diagnosed by a physician or audiologist as deaf; and
• Be certified by a group consisting of qualified professionals and a parent of the child as qualifying for and needing special education services.

To be eligible for special education and related services as a child with a hearing impairment, a child must:

• Exhibit a hearing impairment, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects educational performance but is not within the meaning of deaf; and
• Require special facilities, equipment, or methods to make his or her educational program effective; and
• Be diagnosed by a physician or audiologist as hard of hearing; and
• Be certified by a group consisting of qualified professionals and a parent of the child as qualifying for and needing special education services.