Spartanburg County Schools Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program
Spartanburg School District Six manages the county's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. We currently have six itinerant teachers serving DHH students in their home schools in the seven districts and five satellite teachers serving DHH students in our satellite settings. We work with a variety of communication modalities (listening/spoken language, sign language, both) and serve students on a self-contained basis (K3-5th grade) and resource basis in our satellite settings, and on an itinerant basis (4k-12th grade) in the student's home district according to the student's needs as deemed by the IEP team. All of our teachers are certified Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Satellite School Settings
- Child Development Center
- Roebuck Elementary School
- Gable Middle School
- Dorman Freshman Campus
- Dorman High School
What is a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing?
A Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, or TOD, specializes in educating D/deaf and hard of hearing students, addressing their auditory access, language, and learning requirements. They excel in teaching self-advocacy, language skills, assistive technology, vocabulary, listening, and transition skills. They also create personalized instructional plans for each student.
What is an itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and what do they do?
An itinerant TOD is a Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing who travels from school to school and works with students with hearing loss on an individual or small group basis at most three times weekly in the student's home school. An itinerant TOD provides instruction primarily in the areas of listening comprehension/auditory skills (when appropriate), language and vocabulary development, and self-advocacy skills. This individual works with the IEP teams to ensure there are appropriate accommodations in place to ensure the student has access to the spoken curriculum in the learning environment.
What does the DHH Satellite Program do?
For students who need more support by a certified TOD, the Spartanburg County DHH Satellite Program is designed to provide support to DHH students with daily TOD intervention and opportunities to mainstream using listening/spoken language and/or an interpreter. Students in the satellite program typically have more extensive language and academic needs directly related to language deprivation which is caused by their hearing loss.
What does a DHH evaluation look like?
The purpose of the DHH evaluation is to determine the educational impact of a student's hearing loss. Spartanburg County's DHH Program's DHH teacher and/or evaluator is part of a multidisciplinary team who assesses a student with hearing loss in the following areas as deemed necessary by the IEP team:
- Functional listening
- Self-advocacy skills
- Receptive language skills
- Listening comprehension
What does an Educational Interpreter do?
An educational interpreter/transliterator plays a crucial role in facilitating communication between individuals who are D/deaf and hard of hearing and those who are hearing within educational settings. Educational interpreters/transliterators may be used when a student is unable to access his or her educational environment using listening and spoken language alone due to his or her level of hearing loss, and a visual mode of communication is necessary. Responsibilities of the educational interpreter include ensuring all information is accurately interpreted and ensuring visual access to educational content.
For more information about the Spartanburg County Schools Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, please contact Erin America, Lead Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Office Phone: 864-216-4318
