Emma Greenland

ABSTRACT

Acoustic Design for Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Mainstream Schools

A review of the evidence base was undertaken to answer the following questions on behalf of the Department for Education in England:
What are the differing listening needs for students with different types of special hearing and communication needs (SHCN)?

How can we quantify the listening disadvantage for different types of listening needs, including SHCN, English as an Additional Language, Early Years and other emerging listening needs?
Over 250 studies ad articles were considered to help establish the prevalence of each listening need in mainstream schools in England and Wales, and the typical listening disadvantage associated with each need in both quiet and active classrooms.

Suitable reasonably adjusted acoustic conditions in mainstream schools were identified to support each need, together with the role of listening aids and other design measures, in order to support access to listening. A summary of the findings is presented in this paper.