Writing with hearing impairment

For a year, I've tutored a writer who grew up hearing impaired. The experience reaffirms my belief that grammar and spelling, while necessary for the craft, are not an indicator of whether someone can write. My student's novel includes well-developed characters, a good sense of timing, interesting conflict, and realistic dialogue. Yet his hearing impairment has affected his writing, and in his education he was held to a different standard than other students. Now, on his own and through his creative writing, he explores grammar and spelling issues in his work. Here is what I've learned as his tutor. 1) Sit to his side with the better ear so he can hear; it is not impolite to ask which side is preferable. 2) Read aloud, enunciate well, and yet read at a normal speed. 3) Sound-alike words cause more problems than usual; whereas any student might misspell threw/through, my hearing-impaired student also confuses as/has/and because they sound the same to him. When correcting these, focus on how the word is used in the sentence: This should be 'and' because it combines things, and here 'has' is part of the action while 'as' starts a descriptive phrase. 4) Read ahead a few paragraphs to understand the content of the story before discussing grammar. This way I learn what he intends to communicate story-wise and then we discuss how the sentences can better achieve his goals.