Deaf Experience Research Articles

The Deaf History Reader

Deaf History Reader presents nine masterful chapters that bring together a remarkably vivid depiction of the varied Deaf experience in America. This collection features the finest scholarship from a noteworthy group of historians, including Reginald Boyd, Barry A. Crouch, Mary French, Brian H. Greenwald, Harlan Lane, Harry G. Lang, Kent R. Olney, Richard Pillard, Jill Hendricks Porco, Michael Reis, and volume editor John Vickrey Van Cleve. The incisive articles collected here include an exploration of the genesis of the Deaf community and early evidence of the use of sign language; a comparison of a failed, oralist school for deaf students in Virginia to the success of the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut; the development of Deaf consciousness among people who carried a dominant gene for deafness; a biographical sketch of Mary Ann Walworth Booth, an accomplished deaf woman who lived on the Western frontier; an account of Deaf agency in the Indiana Institution and the Evansville Day School; the early antecedents of mainstreaming deaf children despite the objections of their parents; a profile of Alexander Graham Bell that contrasts his support of eugenics to his defense of Deaf rights; the conflicting actions of supervisors of the Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf; and finally, the critical role played by deaf people in the Chicago Mission for the Deaf s success in maintaining the Deaf community for more than five decades. The remarkably rich range of topics treated in Deaf History Reader assure its future status as a standard resource for all Deaf scholars and students.

The experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland University: 1985–2005

This article reports on the experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland university, which offers an extensive deaf student support program. Seventy‐two current students and graduates since the program’s inception twenty years ago completed a survey about their experiences, highlights, challenges and use of communication tools and support services at university. Findings indicate, both quantitatively and qualitatively, that students valued the specialised support services they received, although challenges in accessing the academic curriculum remained for many students. In the important area of social factors, many students reported enjoying satisfying friendships and a sense of belonging with other deaf people, often for the first time, while others experienced feelings of social isolation in a largely hearing peer group. Overall, deaf and hard of hearing students who had attended Griffith over the 20 years had a high rate of graduation, comparing favourably with other university students.

The Construction of Deaf Children as Marginal Bilinguals in the Mainstream

The political discourse of Deaf ethnolinguistic identity has empowered Deaf people in recent decades to deconstruct a pathological model of deafness and the deficit pedagogy that centres on acquisition of speech and social assimilation. The engagement of Deaf community members in consultation and employment in the New Zealand (NZ) education system has progressed the ideological recognition of Deaf claims for a bilingual identity and pedagogy in the education arena. However these priorities sit uneasily within the special education discourse which assumes an individual needs-based approach to accommodating diverse learners in regular school settings. The recognition of sign language and Deaf experience as valid cultural capital raises questions about the sociolinguistic status and educational needs of deaf children individually enrolled in mainstream schools, contexts which do not currently afford the interactional conditions for a sign bilingual education. Based on a larger study of deaf children in NZ mainstream primary schools, this paper analyses an illustrative case study of a 10-year-old deaf boy with a cochlear implant, to critically consider the extent to which mainstreamed deaf learners are constructed as potential bilinguals in the discourse that defines and addresses their needs. Analysis shows this learner to be positioned as a marginal bilingual or defective monolingual by the aggregation of beliefs, decisions, interactions and resources that construct his educational context. Finally, the paper reports the vision of Deaf informants working in the mainstream school system for changing learning outcomes, from a construct of deaf children as members of a collective with a heritage of cultural adaptations that should inform appropriate educational responses.

Shattering the Hearing Wall

Shattering the Hearing Wall

Toward a Cultural Perspective and Understanding of the Disability and Deaf Experience in Special and Multicultural Education

This position paper provides a rationale for infusing cultural perspectives and understandings of the Disability and Deaf experiences into special and multicultural education teacher preparation programs. Substantial evidence of well-established features of the Disability community and Deaf community that meet definitional criteria for culture as conveyed in the multicultural education literature is presented. The extent that Disability and Deaf cultures have been reflected in special and multicultural education textbooks is addressed to validate the need for the incorporation of cultural perspectives of Disability and Deaf experiences into teacher preparation programs. A conspicuous absence of discussion about the culture of Disability and Deafness from the perspectives of members of these communities is reported. Implications of these findings for teacher preparation programs and for educational policy, practice, and research are discussed. Recommendations for the acknowledgement and support of cultural perspectives and understandings related to the Disability and Deaf experiences are offered.

Towards a Cultural Understanding of the Disability and Deaf Experience: Implications of a Content Analysis of Introductory Special and Multicultural Education Textbooks

This paper summarizes and discussing the findings of two content analyses of introductory textbooks to special education and multicultural education conducted to determine the extent to which disability and Deaf culture are represented and discussed. Findings of both studies indicated minimal discussion of Disability and Deaf culture, a heavy reliance on perspectives of persons who are not disabled or Deaf about the Disability and Deaf experience, and inaccurate representations and information about Disability and Deaf culture. This paper is a follow-up discussion of the implications of the findings of these studies. A rationale and recommendations for supporting a cultural understanding of the Disability and Deaf experience are presented. In addition, recommendations are suggested for engaging disabled and deaf persons about their shared and collective experience and for promoting cultural competence and proficiency with respect to the Disability and Deaf experience.

Towards a Cultural Understanding of the Disability and Deaf Experience: A Content Analysis of Introductory Multicultural Education Textbooks

This paper reports the findings of a simple normative content analysis of 11 multicultural education textbooks to determine the extent to which disability and deaf culture are represented. In addition, this study examines multicultural education textbooks to assess the extent to which perspectives of members of the disability and deaf communities are represented in the discourse about disabled and deaf persons. Results indicate that on average less than 1% of the total pages of text reviewed addressed or mentioned disability or deaf culture. Of these, it was found that on average about 6% of the pages addressed disability or deaf culture. In addition, inaccurate information was presented and perspectives were often not informed by a substantial body of literature that has emerged in the field of disability studies. It was found that multicultural education textbooks rely heavily on information about persons with disabilities from Special Education that may not be widely accepted by disabled or deaf persons. A follow-up paper examines the implications of the exclusion of disabled and deaf persons and their perspectives from the discourse about the shared and collective disability and deaf experience in favor of a dominant perspective widely held by the nondisabled professional community. Questions are raised about whether this is consistent with the values and goals of multicultural education and teaching. A rationale and recommendations are proposed for engaging disabled and deaf persons about their shared and collective experience and for promoting cultural competence and proficiency with respect to the disability and Deaf experience in multicultural education.

Inside Deaf culture

Carol A. Padden & Tom L. Humphries, Inside Deaf culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. 224. Hb $22.95.Since its publication in 1988, Padden & Humphries's book Deaf in America: Voices from a culture (Harvard University Press) has been an important resource for people studying American Sign Language, Deaf studies, and the linguistics of signed languages. The book sheds light on the Deaf experience and on how American Deaf people construct themselves through stories and language play, including poetry and jokes. It is a positive, at times humorous window into Deaf culture and identity. Harvard University Press has just released the authors' much-anticipated second book, reviewed here. Although it is just as informative, engaging, and well-researched as their first book, Inside Deaf culture examines a much bleaker aspect of Deaf America: its encounter with hearing hegemony.

Reflections on Biographical Research and Writing

Reflections on Biographical Research and Writing Harry G. Lang (bio) Good morning. I am very happy to be here with you at this conference. I look forward to sharing a few personal experiences in narrating Deaf lives. Through these experiences in biographical writing I have seen how such work can inspire young deaf people, entertain, open minds, educate, and make a difference in the quality of our lives today. I have only about thirty minutes to summarize thirty years of research and writing, however, so the main purposes of this presentation will be to show the excitement of conducting this kind of research and to tell you how rewarding it can be. First, let me briefly describe the kind of biographical work I have done. Writing each book has been a uniquely different experience. As I will show, there are various approaches to narrating Deaf lives and a variety of challenges in publishing this work. For each book I wrote, a balance had to be struck between my purpose in writing and the publisher's purpose in marketing. Along the way to publication there were many sacrifices and surprises. My first book, Silence of the Spheres: The Deaf Experience in the History of Science, began as an ambitious project to narrate the lives of deaf scientists, mathematicians, inventors, engineers, and physicians. I sought to add a new dimension to the field of Deaf studies in describing the barriers these men and women faced, as well as to emphasize their very worthy contributions. I first signed a contract with a university press in the Midwest. They saw the potential of this book but requested that I write it from the perspective of an "angry" [End Page 141] scientist. That is, I should rewrite the book with a focus on the mistreatment of deaf men and women in the history of science. I refused. First, I am not an angry person. I recognize the issues of medicalization of deafness and recognize that some authors choose to focus on victimization. I am aware of how deaf people have been marginalized in history, but I am more interested in how Deaf men and women have found ways to live in both the hearing and deaf worlds and contribute meaningfully to their fields. Narrating Deaf lives, to me, has been a process of focusing on inspiring a new generation of Deaf leaders. Thus, the teacher in me has greatly influenced my "writing voice." I have experienced success with this positive approach to what I do. The editor for the university press liked my book and was not happy when the board would not publish it. She personally suggested another publisher well known for reference books, especially biographical dictionaries. I sent the manuscript to this publisher and waited out the review process again. This experience shows that, as authors, we can choose different approaches to narrating Deaf lives. The message in our books can be shaped by our personal views on deafness. Perhaps this is why it is important to have the variety of biographical materials that we see today. Now, however, I was faced with a completely different situation. The second publisher liked the biographies I had written of the deaf scientists, but they asked me to expand the book to include other fields. They were less interested in my general analyses of barriers such as prejudice, eugenics, and communication. That is, they wanted a dictionary. I agreed to expand the biographies only if they would publish a separate book related to the barriers. They agreed to this proposal. This left me with the daunting challenge of finishing two books instead of one. In publishing Silence of the Spheres, I embedded the narration of Deaf lives in the analyses of the barriers. I found parallels in the lives of hundreds of men and women who lived at different times in history and in different countries and who contributed to different [End Page 142] fields, including astronomy, physics, chemistry, engineering, and medicine. Their collective impact on these and other areas was certainly deserving of inclusion in Deaf studies. My goal had been met. Meanwhile, my wife, Bonnie Meath-Lang, has great interest in theater and the...

Meeting Global Deaf Peers, Visiting Ideal Deaf Places: Deaf Ways of Education Leading to Empowerment, An Exploratory Case Study

In a flemish case study, deaf role models revealed a moment of awakening, indicated by the Flemish sign WAKE-UP Contact with deaf cultural rhetoric made them wake up, and deconstruct and reconstruct their lives, a process represented by a circle of deaf empowerment. Flemish deaf leaders mentioned acquiring this rhetoric during visits to deaf dream worlds (in Flemish Sign Language, WORLD DREAM): places with ideal conditions for deaf people. Such global deaf encounters (Breivik, Haualand, & Solvang, 2002) lead to the "insurrection of subjugated [deaf] knowledges" (Pease, 2002, p. 33). Whereas deaf education had never provided them with deaf cultural rhetoric and was depositing upon them oppressive societal conventions (Jankowski, 1997), a common sign language (Mottez, 1993) and global deaf experience (Breivik et al., 2002; Murray, in press) in barrier-free environments (Jankowski, 1997) provided deaf ways of deaf education (Erting, 1996; Reilly, 1995).

Living with late deafness: Insight from between worlds

The psychosocial impact of ‘late’ deafness in adults has received little research attention. The aim of this study was to examine the views of people with experience of late deafness living in the UK. Eight participants (six male; age range 33 to 60) were interviewed by a researcher who had undergone appropriate communication skills training. In-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed. Data were analysed using framework analysis to identify themes. Becoming deafened was a devastating experience for many participants who experienced severe psychological, social, and employment consequences. They no longer felt they belonged in the hearing world, and neither did they belong in the prelingually deaf world. Onset of deafness had left them in a twilight zone between worlds and had robbed them of their identity. Whilst the support received from health and social care professionals was mixed, all participants valued the peer support and training received on an intensive rehabilitation programme delivered by deafened people. Findings provide insight into deafened peoples’ psychosocial experiences and emphasize the need for support and advice.

‘Hate English! Why? . . .’ Signs and English from deaf children's perception. Results from a preliminary study of deaf children's experiences of sign bilingual education

‘Hate English! Why? . . .’ Signs and English from deaf children's perception. Results from a preliminary study of deaf children's experiences of sign bilingual education

A Comparative Perspective on the Experiences of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals as Students at Mainstream and Special Schools

Integration of individuals categorized as having special educational needs in mainstream schools has become a dominant policy in many countries. Changes in recent years in the field traditionally called "special education" have significantly influenced the education of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. The movements against segregation and toward integration and, more recently, inclusion, have created the conditions for educational changes, not only in mainstreaming but in special education. The article brings to light the views and experiences of deaf and hard of hearing people as students at special schools and mainstream schools, in order to compare the two systems from the viewpoints of those involved and to explore the possible implications of these views and experiences for the development of the educational system in Cyprus regarding inclusive education. Particular attention is given to improvement of the education of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Alone in the Mainstream: A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School (review)

Alone in the Mainstream:A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School Gina A. Oliva and Donald F. Moores Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC, 2004, ISBN 1563683008. 207 pages "I was the only one." Oliva begins her book with this quote, which she reports she has heard over and over again during her 30 years at Gallaudet University. She then proceeds to integrate her experiences as a person who spent her entire academic career as the only deaf or hard of hearing student in a regular school from kindergarten through her junior year in college with the experiences of other deaf and hard of hearing individuals, to whom she has given the designation "Solitaire." The author chronicles her growth and development from a young girl with a progressive hearing loss, moving from being hard of hearing to deaf to Deaf to d/Deaf through different stages of her life. She interweaves her autobiographical story with the responses of 60 participants in her Solitary Mainstream Project. I was particularly struck by Oliva's opening sentence and related to it strongly, even though, on the surface, the perspective of a hearing man would seem to be quite different from that of a d/Deaf woman. However, we both are Gallaudet professors, we both grew up in ethnic neighborhoods in Connecticut, and we both have been involved in research with deaf and hard of hearing individuals who have spent most or all of their academic careers primarily with hearing classmates. Over the years, I have been impressed by the growing numbers of Gallaudet undergraduate and graduate deaf students who are educated in mainstream, usually oral, environments, sometimes even through their undergraduate years, and then decide to enroll in a university with a majority of deaf students, often against the wishes of family members. Many of these students have grown up in families in which the emphasis is on speech and integration into a hearing world, where there is little or no contact with other deaf or hard of hearing children or adults, and where a hearing loss may be considered a mark of shame to be denied. I, too, probably in common with most Gallaudet faculty members, have heard and seen students state, "I was the only one." What motivates such students to seek out an education and social experience outside the mainstream? Oliva describes her epiphany, which occurred in the cafeteria during lunchtime in her junior year at Washington College in Maryland. Because of difficulties following group conversations, she usually busied herself with lunch while the other girls talked away. She happened to look up, and noticed a group of young men "engaged in the most animated conversation I have ever seen in my life," and thought, "Oh my people!" They were members of the Gallaudet soccer team at the college for a game. She writes, "To this day, I marvel at the depth of feeling that I had for this group of strangers. I had never seen anyone signing ASL before. And yet, I knew instinctively that I had an indelible bond with them. They were like me. I was like them." This experience led her to spend her senior year at Gallaudet and to enter the Deaf culture. She describes the process as helping her experience the best of both worlds and refers to herself as both deaf and Deaf, or d/Deaf. The process was not an easy one, and Oliva was motivated to investigate the experiences of other deaf and hard of hearing individuals who had had the same kind on mainstreaming experiences in the elementary and secondary grades. This effort culminated in the Solitary Mainstream Project. Although the sample represented a range of backgrounds and opinions and there were frequent exceptions, several themes emerged. The most common and most powerful was what might be designated the academic/social gap. In general, respondents expressed satisfaction with their academic opportunities, but reported a sense of social isolation, a lack of connectedness with teachers and fellow students. The academic satisfaction is somewhat of a surprise given reports of teachers who did not want to deal with a deaf child, who would talk while facing the blackboard, who made derogatory comments, or who...

Auditory cortical activation and speech perception in cochlear implant users: Effects of implant experience and duration of deafness

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between outcome following cochlear implantation and auditory cortical activation. It also studied the effects of length of implant use and duration of deafness on the auditory cortical activations. Cortical activity resulting from auditory stimulation was measured using [ 18F]FDG positron emission tomography. In a group of 18 experienced adult cochlear implant users, we found a positive correlation between speech perception and activations in both the primary and association auditory cortices. This correlation was present in a subgroup of experienced implant users but absent in a group of new implant users with similar speech perception abilities. There was a significant negative correlation between duration of deafness and auditory cortical activation. This study gives insights into the relationship between implant speech perception and auditory cortical activation and the influence of duration of preceding deafness and implant experience.

Mathematics and Deaf Children: An Exploration of Barriers to Success

Consistent evidence from research studies between 1980 and 2000 indicates that deaf children lag behind hearing peers (by 2 to 3.5 years) in mathematics. This study seeks to explore the reasons for this persistent underachievement by focusing on results from the National Mathematics tests taken in the UK by all 14 year olds. The study analysed a sample of test papers with the aim of identifying ways in which deaf and hearing responses to the test items differed and possible explanations for these differences in terms of access to the mathematics teaching, assessment and curriculum provision. Findings from the project led to preliminary conclusions regarding the range of national test entry levels for deaf pupils, the types of linguistic issues they encounter, the learning strengths they demonstrate and their experience of mathematics curriculum provision. The concluding analysis raises significant questions about deaf pupils' access to mathematics educational provision and more specifically about the deaf experience of mathematics learning and how they perceive themselves as mathematicians.

Auditory cortical activation and speech perception in cochlear implant users: effects of implant experience and duration of deafness

Auditory cortical activation and speech perception in cochlear implant users: effects of implant experience and duration of deafness

How can we best deliver an inclusive health service?

A national survey of the health care experience of deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK showed the extent of communication failuresbetween health professionals and this patient group. Chris Underwood from RNID highlights the changes needed

Hypnotic deafness: a cross‐paradigm analysis

AbstractThis study compared responses to a deafness suggestion amongst subjects administered one of three conditions: hypnosis and suggestion (i.e. reals), simulating instructions (i.e. simulators), or the suggestion alone without hypnosis (i.e. cognitives). Reals and simulators were administered a hypnotic induction, followed by a unilateral, left‐ear deafness suggestion and the cognitive group was given the unilateral deafness suggestion without a hypnotic induction. All subjects were administered the Stenger Test of Audition (Stenger, 1907) during the deafness trial, and again on a final post‐deafness trial. The Stenger Test is designed to assess the degree and veracity of deafness reports. Reported changes in deafness levels were indistinguishable amongst high‐reals, low‐cognitives and high‐cognitives; all three of these groups reported lower levels of deafness compared to the simulating group. The latter demonstrated a pattern of response consistent with faking deafness, a response for which the Stenger Test is designed to measure. The findings lend support to the hypothesis that deafness does not uniquely characterize highly suggestible hypnotized subjects. In addition, the differences between reals and simulators reflect contextual demands on real subjects to report their deafness experience accurately. Copyright © 2004 British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis

Psychotherapy with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored the subjective experiences of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in psychotherapy. Which culturally syntonic considerations are necessary for effective psychotherapy with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals? The findings support the literature on multiculturalism and deafness that entail effective communication, empowerment processes, cultural sensitivity, therapist role flexibility, the imparting of information, and the development of a positive therapeutic relationship. The data focuses on the experience of communicating rather than focusing solely on the acquisition of content as well as the understanding the clinical dynamics of the transcultural relationship in order to make effective use of the social work relationship in treatment. The findings of this study add richness and depth to the existing literature on psychotherapy, with emphasis on the experiential processes of treatment.