Specially Designed Instruction
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Services to Meet the Unique Needs of Students |
Specially designed instruction is customized and individualized instruction. It is described in the IEP and is informed by evaluation results and student performance data, is based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable (34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(4)), and uses methods known to be effective with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The specially designed instruction addresses academic, behavioral and/or functional needs, including a student’s language levels and hearing levels and acquisition, retention, expression and/or application of knowledge and skills in general education. For example, a student with goals in mathematical problem-solving might require specially designed instruction so that s/he can effectively read, understand and solve story problems.
The specially designed instruction needs vary from student to student. Some students require specially designed instruction in a variety of areas (e.g., reading, math, expressive/receptive language, vocabulary) daily, while others need less intensive instruction.
When an IEP team is determining the specially designed instruction for an individual student, it must also determine the amount of time and frequency the student will receive the instruction (e.g., in all academic classes, or three times a week for 30 minutes at a time). For IEP teams to accurately design specially designed instruction, it is important to ensure all the student’s needs are appropriately reflected in the goals. The IEP team should also consider service delivery models such as small groups, co-teaching, collaboration and consultation. The type and amount of specially designed instruction and specialized instructional support a student receives must be tailored to his/her unique needs based on his/her evaluation and goals. IEP Teams should design instruction that will help the student meet his/her annual goals.
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Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) & Students who are D/HH |
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One of the reasons SDI is integral is that students who are D/HH need instruction in Florida’s Expanded Skills and/or Speech/Auditory Training Standards. These standards focus on the unique skills students need to access their environment, receive meaningful educational benefit from the educational experience, and prepare them for postsecondary education and/or employment. The Expanded Skills Standards focus on deaf culture, study skills, literacy, audiology, hearing assistive technologies, communication, socialization, and communication modalities and strategies. It is important to note that the only certification qualified to teach this course code is Hearing Impaired: K-12 (now named “Deaf/Hard of Hearing: K-12), or a certified teacher for students who are D/HH. The Speech and Auditory Training Standards focus on speech perception/device use, self-advocacy, pragmatic language/social skills, language processing/language use, and auditory skills/phonologic awareness. There are four educator certifications approved for teaching this course code; three of them are related to SLPs (or their associates), and the other is Hearing Impaired: K-12 (now named “Deaf/Hard of Hearing: K-12), or a certified teacher for students who are D/HH.
The often unfamiliar and masked manifestations and complexity of communicative needs for students who are deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH), make it imperative that SDI meets the highly-specialized needs for each individual student in D/HH programs and do not focus solely on academics (though academics are important). An IEP team is charged with considering the need for SDI as it applies to each domain of the IEP: Curriculum and Learning Environment, Social or Emotional Behavior, Independent Functioning, Health Care, and Communication. This is just one reason the Council for Exceptional Education published the following as part of a position statement in May of 2017:
"Teachers of students who are DHH have been prepared to meet the unique individual needs of, and provide specialized instruction for, students with varying hearing levels by earning a specialized degree, [and/or] meeting state requirements, and becoming a credentialed TODHH."
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Have a question for the panelists? Fill out a short form in advance!
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Nada El-Khoury is the program coordinator and itinerant PreK-12th grade teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing (ToDHH) with the School District of Desoto County which is located in southwest Florida. She has been working in the field of deaf education for over 30 years. For Nada, specially designed instruction means, “Do whatever it takes.” Read about her story of standing on a table to demonstrate the vocabulary words “cliff” and “edge” when the school principal walked into the room.
You can read the interview with Nada El-Khoury, ToDHH in DeSoto County. RMTC-D/HH was interested in learning more about her experience as a ToDHH pertaining to Principle 5 of the Optimizing Outcomes Guidelines, “Specially designed instruction is individualized.”
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Expanded Skills Spotlight |
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Standard(s):
SP.PK12.DH.5.2a Describe positive and negative ways the physical environment can affect communication and describe situations when it would be difficult.
Title: Unit 4: Auditory Processing from Navigating Life with Hearing loss Curriculum from Texas Sensory Support Network at Education Service Center Region 11
Have an idea or lesson plan for Expanded Skills standards? Email your idea to RMTC-D/HH!
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Brief description of the lesson*: This lesson plan has students investigating the difference between hearing a sound and recognizing it. Then they move to recognizing a person speaking to using strategies to make sure they understand the words spoken. Finally, they will identify the sound and understand how the speech changes in different settings.
This lesson is from the Navigating Life with Hearing Loss Curriculum in a LiveBinder developed to provide the necessary information, resources, and opportunities that will empower students who are deaf or hard of hearing to effectively apply information and skills learned in educational, home, and community settings in order to facilitate achievement in secondary and post-secondary environments. Areas to be addressed include audiology, hearing health, assistive technology, available support services and accommodations, communication, self-determination and advocacy, and Deaf culture.
*Please note: These lessons are meant to act as guidelines for teachers to use and adapt according to their need.
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Resources that are in the RMTC-D/HH Media and Materials Loan Library* that have relevance to the essential principle “Specially designed instruction is individualized”:
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Literacy—It All Connects (Catalog Number 1908) shows teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students how to incorporate nine integrated teaching strategies into their own schools and programs. These strategies will assist teachers in meeting goals mandated by the No Child Left Behind legislation for promoting the achievement of students in reading and for providing access to the curriculum. At the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University, the cutting-edge approach to best educational practices for deaf and hard of hearing children is the Literacy - It All Connects a balanced literacy approach.
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This is Disciplinary Literacy - Reading, Writing, Thinking, and Doing (Catalog Number: 1950) is about to go from theory to game plan—taking students from superficial understanding to deep content expertise. And guess what? ReLeah Lent’s big secret lies in highlighting each content area’s differences—advancing a discipline-specific model in which literacy is used as a tool for strategic thinking, reading, writing, and doing within each field.
*Florida stakeholders can borrow these and many other resources from RMTC-D/HH's Media and Materials Loan Library, for FREE. Each material comes with a return label, making even the shipping at no charge to the borrower.
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Family Corner is a section for professionals that will address how they can help parents to be more involved and be more collaborative. This section will be from the perspective of a parent of a child who is deaf and has other disabilities and who also happens to be an educational professional. Depending on the topic, this section may deal with how to approach parents on the topic or help educators understand the parents’ perspectives.
What families need to know about: Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) is Individualized
Many, and yet not all, families may have an understanding that under the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA), their child will get an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that is specific to that child. Beyond that basic awareness, the parts and procedures of the IEP can be obscure, including the concept of SDI being designed and delivered for the individual student in addition to statewide, standards-based instruction he or she is afforded. This provides a critical educational opportunity for professionals to share with families, creating better partners in the educational process, and helping them be better prepared to make informed decisions regarding education for their children.

Educational professionals can support families by making sure they understand what SDI is, why it is necessary, and how it is individualized for their child. Educating families and helping them understand this is a core element of creating an IEP. Demonstrating a need for the provision of SDI is a cornerstone criteria for eligibility for an IEP and may look different from one child to another, even within the same disability category. Parents may need help understanding the methodologies, supports, services, and technologies that are being molded to fit the child’s unique needs. It may not be clear to parents that, while the services are individualized, IEP teams are also recommending processes, procedures, and methodologies that are researched and data-driven to remove barriers to instruction manifested by the child’s unique needs and abilities. By taking the time to inform and educate the families, professionals are also fulfilling the first three principles that were discussed over preceding months: that each student is unique; high expectations are driving educational decisions; and families are critical partners in the education of the child who is D/HH.
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The Learning Variability Project has developed a free online tool called the Learner Variability Navigator to translate the science of learning variability to identify strategies to provide individualized lessons for students.

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Upcoming Events: Save the Date! |
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RMTC-D/HH provides Tech Notes as a free resource to teachers, professionals, and parents around the state in order to pass along potentially useful information and expand the knowledge and opportunities available to educators and families of children who have hearing loss. This email was funded by the Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services through federal assistance under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), Part B funds. The information included does not reflect any specific endorsement by any parties involved. |
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Stay in touch via social networking; follow us daily!
#TechnologyTuesday: Latest in technology in regards to Deaf Education.
#ResourceWednesday: Resources from other organizations that are specific to Deaf Education
#BehindTheScenesThursday: Memories of RMTC-D/HH events and exclusive “behind the scenes” captures of RMTC-D/HH’s goings-on
#FunFAQFriday: answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) in the field of Deaf Education
#SpotlightSaturday: Lesson plans related to the Florida Expanded Skills Standards AND spotlighting different highly effective teachers and what they are doing in their teaching environment
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