Par le passé, les Sourds des îles de l’actuelle Polynésie française semblent s’être « culturellement » fondus dans leurs terres et groupes d’appartenance, franchissant les siècles sans laisser de traces, ni dans les mythes et légendes, ni dans les sources ethnologiques. Aujourd’hui, invisibles et silencieux, ils tentent de sortir de l’anonymat et de se construire sur d’autres bases que celle de la déficience auditive. Au moyen d’une longue étude de terrain, cette thèse en anthropologie construite sur les concepts de vulnérabilité, de handicap et d’inclusion, interroge les revendications collectives et individuelles d’une identité culturelle sourde dans ces îles. Dans une Polynésie française contemporaine elle-même en quête de redéfinition culturelle, sur quelles représentations les espaces sociaux tissent-ils les relations avec ces personnes « différentes » ? Comment les Sourds se définissent-ils ? Quelle est ou pourrait-être leur langue des signes? / Across the past centuries, the Deaf people of what constitutes now French Polynesia seem to have blended into the "cultural background" of their lands and their community without leaving trace, neither in myths and legends, nor in the ethnological literature. Today, invisible and silent, they are nevertheless trying to emerge from anonymity while socially constructing themselves on bases other than sole hearing deficiency. By the means of an extensive field study, this anthropology thesis built around the concepts of vulnerability, disability and inclusion, explores the claim, whether collective or individual, of a deaf cultural identity in those islands. In contemporary French Polynesia, a place in search of cultural redefining, what are the representations upon which social spaces weave the relations with these "different" people? How do Deaf people define themselves? What is or what could be their sign language?

South Africa has a dearth of deaf appropriate assistive resources – giving rise to deaf adolescents leaving school early and poor adult outcomes. These factors are negatively influenced by the interaction of other elements such as the inadequate cultural and social nurturing and lack of support. Approached from a bio-ecological model, to pro-actively address the support needed by deaf and hard-of-hearing persons to empower them to develop the capacity to withstand the challenges they have to endure, to stand up to and resist the negative ideas about what they are capable of. In this study, major risk factors were identified as communication deprivation and unpreparedness of parents to raise a deaf child appropriately where mediating factors were identified as social-emotional competence and deaf teaching assistants at South African Schools for the Deaf. The main findings of this study were that the need for early training of parents, access to Sign Language, deaf role models and social-emotional training in SA schools for the Deaf are proposed pathways to well-being. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)