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HUSHH-UPS® - Special Education Professionals
Classrooms include many children with learning
challenges. Students with hearing impairments, behavioural and attentional
problems, speech and language disorders, learning disabilities, English as a
second language, PDD-Autism, central auditory processing disorders and
developmental delays face additional challenges when their learning
environment is compromised by noise.
Internal and external sources of noise
create an acoustic environment that is detrimental to all students’
abilities to hear and process auditory information. Children’s audiological
systems do not fully develop until 13 -15 years of age. Studies have
documented the negative impact of noise on children’s learning. Research has
also demonstrated that a connection exists between high levels of classroom
noise and the progress children make in acquiring literacy skills. A team of
researchers discovered that reading delays of one year or greater in
elementary aged children could be accounted for by classroom noise alone. It
has been proven that reduction in classroom noise has a significant effect
in improving academic achievement, increasing concentration, attention and
classroom participation.
A significant internal source of
classroom noise is created by chairs scraping on uncarpeted floor surfaces.
Chair noise exceeds the average volume of a teacher’s voice and
significantly decreases students’ ability to discriminate speech sounds
within a classroom. Specialists in learning and hearing have demonstrated
that even in an above average acoustic setting, grade one children can
understand only 66% of a teacher’s words.
It is often difficult to remove
sources of classroom noise.
Hushh-ups® are a readily
and easily available product that solves the problem of chair noise.
Hushh-ups® eliminate the
chair noise and improve the acoustic environment within a classroom. The
results are dramatic and a benefit to both students and teachers.
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