SECTION 2: Understanding Clinical Levels of Deafness and Autism

To support Deaf+ students in school, you must understand how both their Deafness and their autism present, and how the combination influences what you see in the classroom. This section breaks down both disabilities by clinical level and gives real-world examples of what each level might look like in school, at home, and in public.

🔹 AUTISM: Diagnostic Levels

Autism is diagnosed using levels that describe how much support a person needs in daily life.

Autism Level	Description	Examples in School	Examples at Home	Examples in Public
Level 1	Requires support	May struggle with flexible thinking, peer conversations, or adapting to changes	May do fine with routine but melt down during unexpected plans	May follow rules well but panic with sensory input like crowds or loud sounds
Level 2	Requires substantial support	May struggle with expressive language or interpreting social cues; may need constant prompting or structure	May require routines for dressing, meals, etc. and struggle with transitions	May bolt/run when overwhelmed; may stim heavily in line or wait times
Level 3	Requires very substantial support	Limited verbal language or none; difficulty coping with any change; high likelihood of aggression/self-injury	Needs full assistance for hygiene, regulation, and transitions	May be unable to tolerate stores, restaurants, or unfamiliar settings

🔸 REMEMBER: These levels are not static. They shift based on co-occurring conditions (hardware problems) like:

• ADHD (executive function and demand crash)

• PTSD (startle responses, control rigidity)

• CP or arthritis (pain-based shutdowns)

• APD (language fuzziness that makes social interaction fail)

• Intellectual Disability (processing speed + memory)

• Trauma (hypervigilance, shutdowns, sleep/focus trouble)

A Level 1 child with unaddressed trauma may function like a Level 2. A Level 3 child with strong visual language access may operate in the classroom like a Level 2.

That’s why we support the full system, not the label.

🔹 DEAFNESS: Clinical Hearing Loss Levels

Deafness is diagnosed using decibel (dB) thresholds. This tells you what frequencies and sounds a person can detect, not how well they can understand language. Many parents and teachers confuse “hearing” with “comprehension.” That confusion causes massive academic failure.

Level	Hearing Loss	Descriptions	What It Can Look Like at School
Mild	26–40 dB	May miss soft speech, distant sounds	Misunderstands teacher from across room, especially with background noise
Moderate	41–55 dB	Misses most conversational speech	Watches peers to copy; may nod without understanding
Moderately Severe	56–70 dB	Cannot hear regular speech	Looks off-task, avoids spoken instructions, may appear inattentive
Severe	71–90 dB	May hear loud sounds, but not words	Loud vocalizations, seems unaware of verbal reprimands or rewards
Profound	91+ dB	May feel vibration but not hear sound	No response to name or voice, even when raised; may seem "in own world"

🟨 Important: Many of our students are profoundly Deaf and have auditory processing disorder (APD). That means even when aided (with hearing aids or cochlear implants), the language comes through distorted or broken.

Their brain can’t clean up the audio signal.

They may "hear," but they don’t understand—and the more you talk, the more frustrated and confused they become.

🔸 APD: When the Input is There but Still Doesn’t Work

Auditory Processing Disorder is like having a scratched CD. The sound plays, but skips and stutters. This can result in:

• Inability to follow directions unless they’re shown step-by-step

• Blank stares or mimicry responses (nodding, smiling) when they didn’t understand

• Avoidance of language-based tasks, especially reading or verbal reasoning

• Anxiety and shutdowns during verbal instruction

🛠 Support Tip: Assume you must show it, sign it, repeat it, or offer a visual. Auditory support is not sufficient.

This is why Deaf+ classrooms must be visually structured by default.

You are not just supporting Deafness or just supporting Autism. You are supporting:

• a visual learner

• with an operating system that needs predictability

• with language processing needs

• and a sensory system that can’t filter out irrelevant cues

When we create a visual learning environment, we are not “accommodating a disability”—we are building a system that actually runs.