Hearing Impaired Program

The Spartanburg Hearing Impaired Program (SHIP) serves all seven school districts in Spartanburg County. The program has 3 basic models - itinerant, resource and self-contained serving ages 3 - 21.

The teachers in SHIP provide consulting services to classroom teachers and other faculty members who are not familiar with difficulties due to hearing loss as well as working directly with students who are Deaf or hard of hearing (D/hh). The teacher of the student who is D/hh instructs in reading, mathematics, spelling, handwriting, language skills, auditory training, and other subject or skill areas based on the needs of the child. For those students who are mainstreamed, the D/hh teacher works closely with the regular education teacher(s) to help him/her with the D/hh child in the classroom by providing practical suggestions and techniques. Sign language interpreters are provided in the regular classroom, as needed.

SHIP believes in the philosophy of total communication which uses whatever the child needs to understand and communicate - sign language, speech, auditory training, speechreading, use of residual hearing, etc.

Anyone interested in learning more about the program, contact Tracy Makison , Coordinator of Hearing Impaired Program at (864) 641-2777.