Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH)

Teachers of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing

ESU 9 Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TODHH) serve deaf or hard of hearing students ages birth to 21 in home-based, early childhood, general education, special education and transition settings. A TODHH works as part of a team and is responsible for identifying programming needs for students with a hearing loss. The teachers serve as a resource to all team members including parents, instructional and support staff, and students to provide unique information on the impact of a hearing loss on language, communication, academic and functional skill development


Services Provided:

A Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing typically provides direct instructional support in areas directly impacted by a hearing loss such as:  listening, communication, language, vocabulary, reading readiness skill development, and self advocacy.  Indirect services include providing staff development and consultation to teachers, interpreters / transliterators / transcribers, parents and other staff; ensuring adequate and appropriate access to classroom information, including access to captioned media; supporting the maintenance of amplification equipment; advising on environmental adaptations; monitoring students’ functioning in the school setting; supporting parents in communication system decisions and development; and assisting students and families with community resources related to hearing loss.

TODHH assist with Tier 2 and Tier 3 in the NeMTSS system.

MTSS Tier graphic

How the TODHH connects into your school

Flowchart of DHH teacher connects into school

Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) Specialists

Lori Niederklein
Cindy Koch
Heather Witte
ESU 9 logo with mission