Profile of North Carolina K-12 hearing-impaired students and their parents/caregivers

This study reports the findings of a survey conducted to create a profile of North Carolina hearing-impaired students and their parents or caregivers. A total of 1329 questionnaires were distributed through public and residential schools. Responses were received from 557 (42%) of the parents/caregivers and included 80 (86%) out of 93 counties identified in Certified Headcount for Special Education (1988) as having hearing-impaired students in North Carolina. Findings from the questionnaires included: personal information about parents or caregivers and their hearing-impaired students in North Carolina public and residential Schools for the Deaf. Also included were expectations the parents had for their hearing-impaired students, parental evaluations of support services and acknowledgement of outstanding features of programs and services for parents and their hearing-impaired children in North Carolina schools. Among the notable findings was the fact that 243 (43%) of the parents indicated that their hearing-impaired children were below or well below grade level in school, yet 381 (68%) indicated that they expect their hearing-impaired children to attend college. The findings provide an overview of hearing-impaired students in public and residential schools in North Carolina, as opposed to samples of national data concerning hearing-impaired students. The information should prove valuable to those working with hearing-impaired students in North Carolina and provide guidelines that will enable counties to provide maximum educational opportunities