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Cochlear implantation in children with hearing impairment (HI) have demonstrated significant outcomes in the areas of spoken language development and education. However, it has been reported that children with cochlear implant (CI) have variable performance in regular educational settings. Therefore, the aim of study is to understand the issues related to classroom performance in children with cochlear implant from a teacher's point of view. Children with cochlear implant placed in mainstream education were recruited for the study. The class teacher filled out a questionnaire that was developed which included 14 domains that was identified based on previous literature. The results indicated significant lacunae in the areas of communication, listening, and social interaction, use of appropriate compensatory strategies, test taking skills, reading, and writing. Children with CI exhibited considerable deficits in mainstream education. However, the study highlighted the potential areas that required professional support to cope with mainstream education. The results of the study can also help to enhance teacher education and thereby facilitate better learning opportunities for children with CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failing to acquire language in early childhood because of language deprivation is a rare and exceptional event, except in one population. Deaf children who grow up without access to indirect language through listening, speech-reading, or sign language experience language deprivation. Studies of Deaf adults have revealed that late acquisition of sign language is associated with lasting deficits. However, much remains unknown about language deprivation in Deaf children, allowing myths and misunderstandings regarding sign language to flourish. To fill this gap, we examined signing ability in a large naturalistic sample of Deaf children attending schools for the Deaf where American Sign Language (ASL) is used by peers and teachers. Ability in ASL was measured using a syntactic judgment test and language-based analogical reasoning test, which are two sub-tests of the ASL Assessment Inventory. The influence of two age-related variables were examined: whether or not ASL was acquired from birth in the home from one or more Deaf parents, and the age of entry to the school for the Deaf. Note that for non-native signers, this latter variable is often the age of first systematic exposure to ASL. Both of these types of age-dependent language experiences influenced subsequent signing ability. Scores on the two tasks declined with increasing age of school entry. The influence of age of starting school was not linear. Test scores were generally lower for Deaf children who entered the school of assessment after the age of 12. The positive influence of signing from birth was found for students at all ages tested (7;6-18;5 years old) and for children of all age-of-entry groupings. Our results reflect a continuum of outcomes which show that experience with language is a continuous variable that is sensitive to maturational age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores on the informal educational systems or deaf education in Israel. It highlights the characteristics of oppressive education based on human rights and the recognition of deaf culture as well as sign language in education. It examines the unequal opportunity for deaf students including prejudices, labeling and stereotyping.

The article offers information on the Manitoba Institute of the Deaf and Dumb (MIDD) located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Topics include the work of Duncan Wendell McDermid, the history of education for the deaf in Canada, and its transition from funding from private and religious charities to public funds. Other topics include the 19th-century advocacy for childhood education for the prelingually deaf and hearing-impaired and the development of institutes for disabled individuals.

Subject of this article are the three main forms of education of children with special educational needs - the individual, differentiated and integrated forms. Focusing on the most important positive and negative characteristics of these forms, the idea is being defended that they are interrelated, complementary and should be used in combination but not opposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study assessed Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in a group of oral deaf children and in their hearing mothers using a battery of ToM tasks. It also investigated the connection between mother and child in ToM performance. Participants were: 17 oral deaf children (aged 5 to 14 years) were paired by gender, age, and mental age with 17 hearing children; 17 hearing mothers of deaf children and 17 hearing mothers of hearing children. Compared to the hearing children, the deaf children faced difficulties in all ToM tests, and the hearing mothers of the deaf children were less capable than the mothers of the hearing children in all the ToM tests. Further, a specific ToM interaction model was found between the hearing mothers and the deaf children. The results confirmed ToM poor performance faced by the oral deaf children, showed the ToM level of hearing mothers of deaf children, and the ToM style of hearing mothers-deaf children dyads. Also, findings underline some educational implications related to the socio-relational origin of the ToM deficit in oral deaf children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Imagens da Educação is the property of Universidade Estadual de Maringa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hearing-impaired children need extra help when learning new words and concepts. Because they cannot truly understand and perceive all the information they hear or read, a very effective method is to use images and sign language during the learning process. aSIGNment helps in pro- viding an education for hearing-impaired children, starting from preschool, by using technology to bring a new way in meeting their needs during the learning process and in obtaining the supervision of a qualifed educator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article profiles the speech-language pathology program at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. The program was developed in order to provide specialty training for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who work with hearing impaired and deaf infants, toddlers and children. The author describes the interdisciplinary educational approach used by the program which includes specialists in practice areas including early intervention, social work, audiology, special education and listening and spoken language.

The article profiles the master's degree speech-language pathology program at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. The program was designed to provide specialty training for speech-language pathologists working with deaf and hard of hearing children. The author briefly describes the history, curriculum and the philosophy of the program. Speech-language pathologists who attend the program are better able to work with culturally diverse children who are deaf or hard of hearing and in particular, those who use cochlear implants and have differing experiences with spoken language.

In this article the author discusses specialty training programs for professionals in the field of deaf education and listening and spoken language therapy. The author describes the history of early education intervention programs for deaf children in Canada and the role that families of deaf and hearing impaired children played in the development of training programs for deaf education specialists. The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Program at the University of Ottawa is briefly described.

The article profiles the Center for Teacher and Therapist Education at Fontbonne University in Missouri. The program promotes a collaborative approach to deaf education, focusing on speech-language pathology and early intervention. The history of the program is described as well as the core curriculum requirements. The program helps graduate students develop competence in subjects including pediatric audiology, auditory technology, language development, the education of children with disabilities and literacy development.

Pediatric audiologists play a vital role in detection, diagnosis, and intervention for young children with hearing loss and their families. Preparing the next generation of pediatric audiologists necessitates a creative approach that balances the requirements of a broad curriculum with the special skills needed to serve a unique and varied population of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. Fortunately, many university programs across the United States have developed specialty tracks, and a growing number are working in partnership with government and other agencies to improve and expand personnel preparation in pediatric audiology. They are joined in this effort by a cadre of talented students who are genuinely committed to working with this population. Still, many challenges remain, among them the sustained financial resources needed to support graduate training programs and students. There is also a need to substantially increase the diversity of our work force in pediatric audiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in deaf education are influencing teacher preparation programs, which are facing challenges in meeting the critical need for highly qualified teachers. Of approximately 65 teacher preparation programs in the United States, II programs focus primarily on preparing teachers to work with children who are deaf or hard of hearing and who use listening and spoken language, and 54 programs focus primarily on visual communication strategies. Advances in technology, changes in the population of children served, and shifts in educational placements and certification requirements are trends that impact teacher preparation programs. Challenges to these programs include issues related to faculty, university support, curriculum development, student recruitment, and recognition of the profession's value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, students who are deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH) are required to participate in high-stakes standardized assessments under No Child Left Behind reforms. In 2006–2007, states added science to reading and mathematics as a tested content area. Many SDHH participate in these assessments using testing accommodations, but teachers have few evidence-based resources to draw upon when making accommodations decisions. Two research questions guided this study: (a) What were patterns of SDHH 2006–2007 test accommodations use in state standardized assessments in mathematics, reading, and science? (b) What evidence did teachers use to determine the effectiveness of accommodations for SDHH? A total of 290 participants described their assessment practices with SDHH via an online and paper-and-pencil survey. Extended time, small group, and test directions interpreted were the most frequently used accommodations by SDHH, but there were some different patterns in science for accommodations that included changes to the test items. Teachers reported both student satisfaction and test score validity epistemologies of accommodations’ effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, we will describe the development of an assessment instrument for Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN) for deaf children in bilingual education programs. The assessment instrument consists of nine computerized tests in which the receptive and expressive language skills of deaf children at different linguistic levels (phonology, vocabulary, morphosyntax, and narration) are assessed. We will describe how the instrument was developed and normed, and present some psychometric properties of the instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cadernos de Pesquisa is the property of Fundacao Carlos Chagas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article documented spoken language outcomes for pre-school children with hearing loss and examined the relationships between language abilities and characteristics of children such as degree of hearing loss, cognitive abilities, age at entry to ea:early intervention, and parent involvement in children's intervention programs. Participants were evaluated using a combination of the Child Development Inventory, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Preschool Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals depending on their age at the time of assessment. Maternal education, cognitive ability, and family involvement were also measured. Over half of the children who participated in this study had poor language outcomes overall. No significant differences were found in language outcomes on any of the measures for children who were diagnosed early and those diagnosed later. Multiple regression analyses showed that family participation, degree of hearing loss, and cognitive ability significantly predicted language outcomes and together accounted for almost 60% of the variance in scores. This article highlights the importance of family participation in intervention programs to enable children to achieve optimal language outcomes. Further work may clarify the effects of early diagnosis on language outcomes for preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Action theory and the qualitative action-project method are used in this study to address and illustrate the complexity of parenting children who have received cochlear implants (CIs) as well as the intentionality of parents engaged in that process. "Action" refers to individual and joint goal-directed and intentional behaviors. Action theory has the advantage of using the perspectives provided by manifest behavior, internal processes, and social meaning in the analysis of action. Two cases are used to describe the individual and joint actions and projects, as related to parents' involvement in the habilitation process of children's postcochlear implantation. These joint projects are described at the levels of meanings/goals, functional processes, behaviors, structural support, and resources. From the rich descriptions and analysis of the cases, we draw potentially illuminative implications for the "current thinking" in relation to parenting children with CIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of mode of acquisition (MoA) of word meanings in reading comprehension: children acquire word meanings using perceptual information (e.g., hearing, seeing, or smelling the referent) and/or linguistic information (e.g., verbal explanations). A total of 72 deaf and 99 hearing children between 7 and 15 years of age performed a self-paced reading task. Comprehension scores increased with age in both groups, but reading speed increased over age only for the hearing participants. For both groups, reading times on linguistically acquired words were longer than on perceptually acquired words. Although deaf children scored lower than hearing children in both conditions, comprehension scores for both groups were lower on linguistic items than on perceptual items. Thus, MoA influences reading comprehension, but the deaf show difficulty on both the perceptual and the linguistic items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) creates a high-stakes environment by holding schools accountable for how all students perform on state assessments, including students with disabilities and students who are English Language Learners. The focus of this article is on the impact of NCLB on students who are deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH). The SDHH have diverse linguistic characteristics and are served in a range of educational settings. The purpose of this article is to explore the hidden benefits and consequences of NCLB policy on SDHH in two areas: assessment and accountability. Drawing on findings from the author's program of research, the article illustrates areas where policy may differentially affect students depending on their state of residence and educational setting. The discussion ends with a summary of benefits and hidden consequences of NCLB for SDHH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1999, Mary Brennan wrote "By recognising the child as, in effect, a 'little linguist' we are also recognising the power and effectiveness of the child's linguistic capacity" (Brennan, 1999). The recognition of the power and effectiveness of deaf children's linguistic capacity needs to be taken a step further. Focus should be on the conditions in the children's environments necessary to develop their linguistic capacity to its fullest potential and to enhance the use of this capacity in academic and social learning. This leads to the issue of the identification of the right language and instructional mix for deaf children, the topic that is addressed in this article. Essential in this process of identification are the educational objectives parents of deaf children have and the choices they make. This is related to a second issue, that of professional advice. Both issues are characterized by several dilemmas. These dilemmas are illustrated and directions are put for- ward that will enable educators to negotiate these dilemmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, empowerment and resource orientation have become vital guidelines for many of the sciences. For the field of deaf education, it is also highly important to look carefully at these guidelines if we are to acquire a better understanding as regards both the situation of the parents involved and the development of the deaf and hard of hearing children themselves. A resource-oriented approach to deaf education has therefore proved especially helpful. If both the theoretical and practical aspects of educating deaf and hard of hearing children are to benefit, research on parental experience with deafness and research on the socioemotional development of the children must always be combined and studied in the context of resource availability. In a study of 213 mothers and 213 fathers of deaf and hard of hearing children, we used an array of different questionnaires (PSI, SDQ, SOC, F-SozU, etc.) to examine the correlation between parental resources, sociodemographic variables, parental stress experience, and child socioemotional problems by way of a path analysis model. The results show that high parental stress is associated with frequent socioemotional problems in the children, thus emphasizing the importance of a resource-oriented consulting and support strategy in early intervention, because parental access to personal and social resources is associated with significantly lower stress experience. Child development seems to profit enormously from a resource-oriented support concept. In addition, the results confirm two earlier findings: parents with additionally handicapped children are especially stressed and the child's communicative competence makes for a more sound prediction than its linguistic medium (spoken language or sign). The path models for mothers and fathers agree in all essential factors. The results are discussed with a view to their meaning for pedagogical practice, and recommendations for further research are given (longitudinal data, more representative samples, cochlear implant). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature on emergent literacy in young deaf children, focusing on the nature and course of both emergent reading and emergent writing. Beginning with definitions and background information concerning emergent literacy as a field of study, it examines instructional approaches that support emergent literacy learning. The review of the literature is organized into four major sections that reflect the body of work to date. The article concludes with an eye toward the future of emergent literacy in pedagogy, theory, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Deficits in vocabulary have a negative impact on literacy and interpersonal interaction for deaf children. As part of an evaluation, an outcomes assessment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a computer-based vocabulary tutor in an elementary auditory/oral program. Participants were 19 children, 16 profoundly deaf and 3 hearing. The vocabulary tutor displays line drawings or photographs of the words to be learned while a computer-generated avatar of a “talking head” provides synthesized audiovisual speech driven from text. The computer system also generates printed words corresponding to the imaged items. Through audiovisual reception, children memorized up to 218 new words for everyday household items. After 4 weeks, their receptive vocabulary was tested, using the avatar to speak the name of each item. Most of the students retained more than half of the new words. The freely available vocabulary tutor, whose characteristics can be tailored to individual need, can provide a language-intensive, independent learning environment to supplement classroom teaching in content areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideological basis for education of deaf children has changed during the last few decades. In Norway, the new curriculum is emphasizing bilingual and bicultural ideas. In many ways, this can be regarded as an example of what Charles Taylor calls the “politics of recognition.” Taking an excerpt of an interview with a deaf student as a point of departure, this article discusses problems when heavily emphasizing a cultural approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To learn more about normal language development in deaf children, we have developed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory for American Sign Language (ASL-CDI), a parent report that measures early sign production. The ASL-CDI is an inventory of sign glosses organized into semantic categories targeted to assess sign language skills in children ages 8 to 36 months. The ASL-CDI uses a recognition format in which parents check off signs that their child produces. The form has demonstrated excellent reliability and validity. To date, normative data have been collected from 69 deaf children with deaf parents who are learning sign language as a first language. We discuss the development of the ASl-CDI and preliminary cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from this early data collection with particular focus on parallels with spoken language acquisition. We also discuss the acquisition of first signs, negation, wh-questions, and fingerspelling with developmental patterns provided based on age, as well as vocabulary size. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research shows that deaf children have inferior achievement in simple arithmetic compared to their hearing agemates. The reported study investigates whether the reasons for deaf children‘s poor achievement can be sought in their strategy development. As this is a central issue, the strategies used by deaf children when solving symbolic addition and subtraction problems are identified, classified and compared to findings from earlier research, involving both deaf and hearing children. The effect of Sign Language in strategy invention and use is the main concern in this study. One result from the present study is that structural aspects of Sign Language counting may influence deaf children‘s thinking in a way that does not lead to a developed conceptual knowledge base, but instead to refined procedural competence. This is a development in simple arithmetic that is compatible with that of less able hearing children. The counting procedures used by the deaf children involve both oral counting and Sign Language counting. Due to the small sample size, and the shortcomings of the research design, the results are more suggestive than conclusive. Thus, further studies are needed in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines theories of literacy development for what is fundamental to becoming literate. Description and analysis of written products of the author's deaf daughter, Elena from age 3 to 7; Development of hypotheses on writing forms; Knowledge of phoneme-grapheme relationships.

Presents information on the effects of tokens contingent on response latency of two students in a deaf education resource room. Reasons for the using of tokens contingent; Results of the use of the tokens.

Focuses on a study which examined the American Sign Language-based (ASL) literacy practices in a residential school for deaf third-graders, with emphasis on culture, while highlighting their school skills and ability to engage in literacy activities. Observations made in the classroom; Information on the ways native competence in ASL works; Detailed information on the school.

Concludes that education of deaf children and youth has generally failed to accomplish its purpose of preparation for successful life adjustment. Characteristics of a deaf youth; Academic achievements of the hearing impaired; Plans on the establishment of vocational guidance centers for deaf young adults.

The article presents information about the public school system in Kansas City, Kansas. Open-air schoolrooms are provided for children with tuberculosis. The Kansas City school system provides educational opportunities for physically and mentally handicapped children. There are special schools for deaf children. In schools in Kansas City, special attention is given to the teaching of music. The schools also conduct several art education programs.

Background There is great importance in support services for successfully addressing the barriers to learning optimally or learners who are deaf. The study, though conducted in South Africa, has national and international appeal. Objectives The aim of the study was to identify educator reflections on support services needed for them to address barriers to learning of learners who are deaf. Method The study used a qualitative design for collecting data in natural settings. A sample size of 11 educators of learners who are deaf was purposively selected from two provinces of South Africa. The study used an open ended individual interview questionnaire. Results Data was analysed using qualitative content analysis considering the context of the schools in which the study was carried out. Results showed that there was: limited curriculum support in special schools; lack of support and inadequate teaching and learning materials; overcrowding in one school and; limited support of multidisciplinary professionals in most schools. Conclusion The study provided a framework for support services important for research, policy and practice. Of significance was the relevance of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) theoretical framework in implementing support services programmes in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors discuss some of the topics contained in the preceding articles in the journal. They note that the monograph provided a summary of North American educational programs for specialists in the field of deaf education, speech-language pathology and audiology. The authors discuss some of the challenges facing professional preparation programs going forward including how to respond to advances in hearing technology, how to incorporate pharmaceutical and medical interventions for hearing loss and how to accommodate the growing interdependence between educators and practitioners.

Presents an article on teaching students with hearing disability. Things that can be learned through teaching; Determination of a student to succeed academically despite hearing impairment; Effect of the presence of student with hearing impairment on the teaching style of a teacher.

Reports on a program designed to improve the writing skills of children who are deaf. Use of a process writing approach; Focus on the nature of process writing, procedures for topic selection and ways to improve substantive feedback to young writers; Measurement of improvement using holistic scoring and indices of grammatical complexity.

This article examines the mothering experiences of college educated Deaf women and connects this to their identities as part of the Deaf community. Using feminist life history interviews with ten Deaf women, the analysis focuses on their work as mothers and the connections with "maternal thinking," difference, and sameness. Findings include an analysis of the various strategies that these mothers used in their mothering, which include teaching the skills of lifetime educators and self-advocates to deaf children, sending their hearing children to Kids of Deaf Adults (KODA) camps and incorporating their activism and volunteering in their mothering. The author argues that an analysis of ability along with gender is useful to further current theorizing about gender and mothering as a kind of work and that an analysis of the role of language allows us to question the idea that mothering is an innate quality of women. Instead, the author argues that, due to the social context of their life situations, "maternal thinking" and language choice are learned practices that these women negotiate in their work as mothers. This article addresses the experiences of mothers who are Deaf and how they navigated their positions as being part of the larger Deaf community while raising their children. The analysis addresses the struggles they faced when encountering school systems and how, particularly in the hearing world, they were often put in positions to portray themselves as legitimate mothers. What can these women's experiences tell us about the concepts of motherhood, ability, and disability? Overall, the author seeks to use this research to question the work of mothering as something that is innate and instead illustrate how these Deaf women, especially when confronted with decisions about language choice, are responding to the social contexts that they are placed in as part of their daily lived experiences as mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the very beginning of formal approaches to deaf education, the development of literacy has been a priority issue. The history of educational initiatives in this area is entwined with the history of prevailing attitudes and practices toward the impact of deafness on the development of deaf children more generally. In particular, arguments about whether a visual input (reading) can take the place of a diminished auditory input and whether educators should accommodate or seek to ameliorate the effects of the special linguistic characteristics of deaf learner-readers have resulted in a wide variety of practices and perspectives. These varied practices and perspectives continue to have impacts on current educational debate and practice. This article provides a brief historical overview of these educational endeavors, noting the enduring questions and issues that remain for the field to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I review the literature on reading and deafness, focusing on the role of three broad factors in acquisition and skilled reading: the method of encoding print; language-specific knowledge (i.e., English); and general language knowledge. I explore the contribution of three communication systems to reading: spoken language, English-based sign, and American Sign Language. Their potential contribution to literacy is mediated by four parameters on which they differ: codability, structural isomorphism, accessibility, and processibility. Finally, I discuss the implications for additional research as well as for education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we consider the difficulties of children who have a specific reading comprehension problem. Our earlier work has shown that good and poor comprehenders, differ, in particular, in their ability to make inferences, integrate information in text, understand story structure, and monitor their understanding. We outline some studies that illustrate the poor comprehenders' problems and present two studies that use a comprehension-age match design to explore the direction of causality between comprehension skill and other abilities. We also present data from the first and second stages of a longitudinal study, when the children were 7 to 8 and 8 to 9 years old. Multiple regression analyses show that a number of factors predict significant variance in comprehension skill even after 'general ability' factors such as IQ and vocabulary have been taken into account. These findings suggest that, not only can children have comprehension problems in the absence of word recognition problems, but that distinctly different skills predict variance in word recognition and variance in comprehension. The data support the view that single-word reading skills and the ability to build integrated text representations make independent contributions to overall reading ability. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of children's problems in text comprehension, for deaf readers, and for remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]