Deaf-Blind Children Research Articles

A community based model providing services for deaf and deaf-blind victims of sexual assault and domestic violence

Deaf and Deaf-Blind women and children are at risk of being long term victims of sexual assault and domestic violence without culturally and linguistically relevant services. While Deaf and Deaf-Blind victim issues do not differ significantly from the mainstream population, relevant and accessible services have not traditionally been available to the Deaf and Deaf-Blind communities. This article proposes a strategy for providing such services based on a model developed by the only Deaf-run agency in the United States.

Programs for deaf-blind children and adults.

Programs for deaf-blind children and adults.

Programs for deaf-blind children and adults.

Programs for deaf-blind children and adults.

盲ろう児の言語発達と教育に関する文献的考察 : 「読み」の指導と想像力の形成を中心に

盲ろう児の言語発達における基本的諸問題について、先行研究の整理を通して検討した。盲ろう児の発達遅滞は、第1にあらゆる外部情報の不足、第2に言語的経験の不足、第3に知的・情緒的発達の遅滞という三つの層からなる構造を持っていると思われる。そして、これら三つの層の遅滞を克服するためには、とりわけ、第2の層に関わる困難に取り組むことが重要だと考える。また、触覚を用いた探索行動と、「身振り語」の使用は、初期の言語発達を促進する上で、本質的な要因だと考える。次に、盲ろう児の言語発達における「読み」の教育の意義と困難さについて述べたが、これまでのこの分野の研究はほとんど行われていない。盲ろう児に対する「読み」の教育は想像力の発達と密接な関連を持っている。そして、「読み」の教育は、次の諸点を考慮しつつ構想されるべきだと考える。それらは、1.「読み」の理解を助けるための手段、2.「読み」の素材、3.素材と盲ろう児の経験との関係、4.盲ろう児の経験の質、についてである。

Programs for deaf-blind children and adults.

Programs for deaf-blind children and adults.

Assessment and treatment of self-injury in a deaf-blind child

This study addressed the assessment and treatment of high-rate self-injurious behavior in a child who was blind and deaf. The frequency of self-injury was assessed within different environmental conditions to identify potential influences on the behavior. Effective treatment was demonstrated in the form of a simple response interruption procedure that entailed physically blocking self-injurious behaviors. Subsequently, treatment was generalized successfully throughout the child's waking hours. The study provides an example of nonaversive treatment of a serious behavior disorder and the use of a functional assessment methodology to determine treatment selection.

Communicating with printed words to augment signing: case study of a severely disabled deaf-blind child

A clinical case study is outlined in which the learning of a printed word system of communication appeared to facilitate the development of a dual (signing/printed word) system of communication in a 13-year-old deaf-blind boy with severe intellectual disabilities. The introduction of the printed word reading program, and its subsequent systematic combination with training in Australasian sign, led to a substantially accelerated acquisition of signing skills in this child after he had failed to make progress with signing over a 5-year period. The features of the printed word system of communication, and the instructional technology that can be used to teach it, may endow it with much greater utility as a means of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) than had been previously realized.

Barriers to the Use of Assistive Technology with Children: A Survey

This article reports on the responses of 120 teachers and habilitative specialists of multiply handicapped blind and deaf-blind children in Massachusetts to a survey on their use of assistive technology. The respondents reported problems in all areas covered by the survey: knowledge of electronic mobility aids and communication devices; the availability, maintenance, and funding of devices; and adequate information about devices. They especially mentioned the need for resources to assess and match students to appropriate devices and to generate more training for themselves.

Hearing Assessment of Deaf-Blind Children Using Behavioral Conditioning

Hearing Assessment of Deaf-Blind Children Using Behavioral Conditioning

The Education of Deaf-Blind Children in Russia

The Education of Deaf-Blind Children in Russia

On understanding without words: Communication between a deaf-blind child and her parents

This paper is an empirical inquiry into the nature of human communication and understanding. It is organized into three sections. First, there is an overview of the ethnomethodological critique of mainstream social scientific research methodology and the relevance of this critique to clinical behavioral research. Second, the details of an ethnomethodological study of communication practices in a family with an alingual, deaf-blind child are provided. Third, implications of the case study are presented.

Meeting the needs of young deaf-blind children and their parents. Part 2.

In this paper the writer continues the theme of the deaf-blind child and focuses on the needs of the parents, by considering the needs of all parents with handicapped children and the specific needs of those with a deaf-blind child. The stages of grieving and the importance of time for adjustment are discussed, and also the necessity for practical help, advice and resources from those who really understand the problems and the value of contact with older parents who have come through the experience. Issues of education, hearing aids and a brief consideration of the underlying principles in programme planning for the deaf-blind child are also considered.

Behavioral Feeding Intervention with Deaf-Blind, Multihandicapped Children

This research evaluated the behavioral treatment of self-feeding deficits in two multihandicapped, deaf-blind children. Procedures were implemented by direct-care staff within a residential school program. Functional assessment was preformed using single-case reversal designs. For each child, treatment increased feeding responses substantially over baseline levels. The results extend the application of behavioral feeding interventions to an understudied clinical population.

Use of microswitch technology to facilitate social contingency awareness as a basis for early communication skills

Individuals with vision and hearing impairments in combination with severe orthopaedic impairments often fail to demonstrate any clear awareness of contingent relationships between their own behaviors and environmental outcomes. Without contingency awareness, it is not possible to engage in intentional communicative behavior. A single case design is presented involving a deaf-blind child with severe orthopaedic impairments who demonstrated no contingency awareness. The study was designed to examine the use of microswitch manipulanda to facilitate the awareness of social contingencies as a potential foundation for the development of intentional communicative behavior. Results indicated that the child increased the targeted motor behavior (activating a microswitch) under conditions involving the delivery of social contingencies, but not under conditions involving the delivery of nonsocial contingencies. Subsequent clinical applications are described to illustrate the direct impact of these findings on proce...

Technological devices for deaf-blind children: needs and potential impact

The authors provide a glimpse into the world of congenitally deaf-blind children and how the application of technology might enable them to lead more productive lives. They describe this population and then summarize the present status of efforts to educate and communicate with them. A review of technological devices presently usable and potentially usable to complement these efforts is given. The authors conclude with a list of technological tools that are needed for communication with deaf-blind persons.

The use of tactile aids with deaf-blind children

This paper will present the results of the first year of a 3-year study designed to compare the effects of a 2-channel (Tactaid II) and a 16-channel (Tacticon) aid on expressive and receptive communication skills of deaf-blind children. The Tactaid vibrators are worn on the wrist and the Tacticon is worn as a belt of electrical stimulators on the abdomen. Six children, ranging in age from 22 months to 18 years, from the San Francisco Bay area are participating in the study. A total of three communicative behaviors will be selected for each child (e.g., number of purposeful vocalizations). A single-subject design will be used to compare their communication behaviors in three experimental conditions—no device (control), 2-channel device, and 16-channel device. Only one behavior will be observed at a time, resulting in three separate sub-studies per child. This paper will present the results of Sub-Study ♯1. Despite the tactile defensiveness often exhibited by deaf-blind children, the partipants have been tolerating both devices. [This research is being supported by U.S. Dept. of Educ. Grant ♯G008630416.]

Pharmacological Assessment and Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention in a Case of Pediatric Self-Injury

The present study evaluated the effects of psychotropic medication in concert with comprehensive behavioral intervention on multiple forms of self-injury in a deaf-blind child. Treatment consisted of a combination of reinforcement for noninjurious behaviors, plus brief, response-contingent interruption/immobilization. In addition, the study included programming for cross-setting generalization, training parents as home interventionists, and evaluating maintenance of intervention effects. Using a modified multiple-baseline design, treatment was demonstrated to be successful in reducing self-injurious behaviors to near-zero levels, with results maintained at a 6-month follow-up, Therapeutic effects were established across program settings and within the child's home. Psychotropic medication did not have a positive influence on the control of self-injury. issues relevant to the comprehensive assessment and management of self-injurious behavior are discussed.

Book Review: Deaf-Blind Infants and Children

Book Review: Deaf-Blind Infants and Children

Perceptions of Tactile and Visual Iconicity by Blind and Sighted Groups

Signs selected from lists used in studies with mentally retarded and autistic children and previously rated for visual iconicity were presented tactilely to 13 blind persons. Visual and tactile ratings were found to be very similar across blind and sighted groups. Statements of relationship between signs and their meanings were also found to be very similar for blind and sighted groups, suggesting that signs easily learned through the visual channel will be the most easily learned through the tactile channel. Teaching strategies were suggested by blind participants for use with deaf-blind children. Sign rankings for iconicity and relationships between signs and their meanings are provided.

A ten-year follow-up study of deaf-blind children.

In the early 1970s, 49 deafblind children were evaluated for educational adjustment and communication level through a structured observational procedure. Ten years later, the examiners have used the national registry for the deaf-blind to relocate these children. A comparison of the children's general level of functioning then and now is reported in those instances where the two reporting tools are compatible.