Specially designed instruction (SDI) is the special education service(s) a student needs, in addition to
general education, because of an identified disability. The SDI is tailored specifically to address the
impact the disability has on a student’s learning. It is designed to ensure access of the child to the
general curriculum and to enable the child to meet Individualized Education Program (IEP) annual
goals. The Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee develops SDI for each student. A hearing loss can cause inconsistent and decreased perception of incidental language and learning. A hearing loss has a high likelihood of impacting a student's skill development in one or more areas of academic achievement and/or functional performance. In this session, participants will define the specially designed instruction for students who are deaf or hard of hearing including development, implementation, and progress monitoring of SDI in deaf education.