D/deaf people typically are not employed, or work in menial jobs, although they have been through high1 school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The researcher has not observed them in professional careers. However, there is no empirical evidence why the D/deaf are excluded from the formal labour market after schooling. Understanding the underlying factors influencing such observations was important. The problem manifested in unemployment in the formal labour sector, but the researcher wanted to understand the root cause of this problem in depth. The aim of the study is to explore and critically analyse the D/deaf high school learners' construction of their careers and the supports available to them in constructing and realising their career aspirations. The international literature reviewed identifies knowledge gaps concerning career construction and supportive imperatives of D/deaf high school learners. The theory of career construction by Savickas (2005) frames this study and has been used throughout to guide and inform the study. This is a descriptive qualitative case study of career construction and support (Creswell, 2013). It was conducted in two of the five schools for the Deaf in two districts of the Eastern Cape. The learners came from rural, semi-rural and semi-urban homes. The schools (rural and semirural) were purposefully selected to participate in the study. The study population includes four participant groups; the deaf learners in high school (grade 10 -12), their parents, the teachers involved in the career guidance of the learners and members of the Department of Basic Education who were responsible for career guidance in deaf high schools. The data was collected using multiple methods: focus group discussions, individual interviews and document reviews. The findings indicate that careers are constructed under adverse conditions. These lead to learners' perceptions of limited support. The challenges with learning the school curriculum was a barrier to acquiring basic skills required for their careers. The challenges include an inability to use of South African Sign Language, a critical barrier affecting communication across participants (learners, teachers, Department of Education officials and parents). This impacted on teaching, learning, support, guidance and general communication. The contextual challenges and limited support structures negatively influence the way D/deaf high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province construct their future careers, their parents, the education system and the role played by organisations of Deaf people. The study shows that careers are constructed in a context of both positive and negative influences. The combination of both the negative influences and limited supports impacts more heavily on career construction than do the positive influences. D/deaf people in the Eastern Cape have limited opportunities to obtain employment in professional occupations because of the way the education system and society prepares them for such careers. The issues of colonialism and the previous apartheid regime still influence both the education system and the South African society.

The relationship between visual short term memory (as measured by the Memory for Designs Test) and speechreading ability (as measured by the Barley Speechreading Test) was investigated in a sample of twenty-seven hearing impaired geriatrics. Correlation analysis verified a statistically significant relationship between Memory for Designs Test scores and Barley Speechreading Test scores. Partial correlation revealed the relationship between speechreading scores and short term memory scores was rot influenced significantly by variance in chronological age or speech discrimination ability. Memory for Designs Test scores were shown to be accurate predictors of scores achieved on the Barley Speechreading Test. Results of this study suggest that development of different approaches (for evaluating speechreading ability of geriatrics) could prove more informative and useful than the speechreading tests currently in use. For example, development of a speechreading test, composed of several subtests (such as visual short term memory) which would evaluate specific factors related to speechreading ability, would optimize both clinical

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The deaf community face similar access barriers to health care services and information as do other linguistic minority groups. Amongst others, this includes limited access to English communication, misunderstanding of medical terminology, irregular contact with health care professionals of the same language and cultural background and the need to overcome the challenges experienced by using others as interpreters in a health care setting. Barriers to the written and spoken word limit access to health care information as deaf people cannot overhear conversations, have limited access to mass media and present with low literacy rates. The South African Constitution stipulates that every citizen has an equal right to health care services and should not be unfairly discriminated against, on the basis of language. Unfortunately, despite what is written in the Constitution, the reality is that many South Africans are denied equal access or receive compromised access to health care services because of language barriers. The lack of access to interpreters at health care facilities across South Africa inhibits patients from expressing themselves correctly and limits the providers’ professional ability to make a correct diagnosis and provide relevant information. The current study explores the barriers and facilitators to accessing health care services and health care information for people who are deaf in a relatively well-resourced setting. A sample of deaf participants from the National Institute for the Deaf in Worcester were interviewed to gain an understanding of problems experienced with accessing health care services and health care information. Participants reported communication and socio-economic factors as barriers to accessing health care services. The main barrier to accessing health care information was considered to be the inaccessibility of the mass media. Recommendations were made by participants on ways to improve access to health care services and health care information for the deaf population of South Africa. Keywords: Health care acces, Health care information, Deaf, Worcester, Barriers and facilitators to health care services. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die dowe gemeenskap ervaar soortgelyke struikelblokke as ander linguistiese minderheidsgroepe met toegang tot gesondheidsdienste en inligting. Dit sluit onder andere in beperkte toegang tot Engelse kommunikasie, wanbegrip van mediese terminologie, ongereelde kontak met mediese dienspraktisyne van dieselfde taal en kulturele agtergrond, en die uitdaging wat oorkom moet word om ander mense te gebruik as tussenganger en tolk in ’n mediese situasie. Hindernisse met geskrewe- en spreektaal beperk die toegang tot gesondheidsinligting. Dowe mense kan nie na gesprekke luister nie, het beperkte toegang tot massamedia en vertoon oor die algemeen 'n laer geletterdheidsprofiel. Die Suid Afrikaanse Grondwet stipuleer dat elke burger ’n gelyke reg tot gesondheidsdienste het en verbied onregverdige diskriminasie op grond van taal. Ten spyte van die Grondwet is die realiteit dat baie Suid Afrikaners nie gelyke toegang het nie en ’n laer vlak van mediese dienslewering ervaar as gevolg van taalprobleme. Die ontoereikende beskikbaarheid van tolke by gesondheidsfasiliteite reg oor Suid Afrika beperk die vermoë van pasiënte om hulself behoorlik uit te druk. Dit beperk daarom ook die mediese praktisyn se vermoë om ’n korrekte diagnose te maak en relevante inligting rakende die diagnose aan die pasiënt oor te dra. In die huidige studie is die struikelblokke en fasiliteerders vir toegang tot gesondheidsdienste en inligting ondersoek vir dowe mense in ’n relatief goed toegeruste omgewing. ’n Steekproef van dowe deelnemers is by die Nasionale Instituut vir Dowes in Worcester geselekteer. Deur middel van onderhoude is die probleme wat ondervind word met toegang tot gesondheidsdienste en gesondheidsinformasie geïdentifiseer. Deelnemers het kommunikasie en sosio-ekonomiese faktore as struikelblokke tot die toegang van gesondheidsdienste geïdentifiseer. Die grootste struikelblok met toegang tot mediese inligting was die beperkte toegang tot massamedia. Voorstelle is deur die deelnemers gemaak vir die verbetering van die toeganklikheid tot mediese dienslewering en gesondheidsinligting vir die dowe populasie in Suid Afrika.

Esta pesquisa tem como foco a aprendizagem colaborativa realizada por quatro alunos, sendo dois surdos e dois ouvintes, do curso de Letras: Libras da Universidade Federal de Goiás, que ensinaram suas línguas ao seu parceiro em um contexto de aprendizagem de tandem, durante um semestre letivo de 2017. A aprendizagem em tandem é um processo de trocas linguísticas e culturais entre indivíduos que possuem línguas diferentes e que se propõem a ensinar, de forma livre, sua língua a outra pessoa de modo colaborativo. Dessa forma, o participante surdo ensinou libras ao ouvinte, e o ouvinte ensinou ao surdo português escrito. Este estudo busca também investigar se a colaboração pode viabilizar a aprendizagem das línguas mencionadas, visto que são línguas de modalidades linguísticas diferentes. Busca também investigar quais são as estratégias utilizadas pelos pares para esse fim. Trata-se de um estudo de caso qualitativo em que os dados foram coletados por meio de gravação em vídeo das sessões de tandem e entrevistas, analisados sob a luz dos pressupostos da teoria sociocultural e da aprendizagem colaborativa. Os resultados mostram que os alunos usaram algumas estratégias que mediaram o processo de aprendizagem, tais como o uso de objetos e o uso de imagens. Os resultados também mostram que as oportunidades de interação dos alunos surdos com os alunos ouvintes, no contexto estudado, viabilizaram trocas culturais, e que o ensino eficaz para os alunos surdos se faz necessário ocorrer na língua de sinais. Com este estudo, pretendemos suscitar reflexões sobre a aprendizagem colaborativa no contexto de tandem quando temos línguas de modalidades linguísticas diferentes: português – uma língua oral; e libras – uma língua vísuo-espacial, bem como trazer algumas orientações para futuros professores de libras para ouvintes, ou de português para surdos, que venham a ensinar essas línguas em contextos semelhantes. / This study focuses on the collaborative learning between two deaf and two hearing students who take Libras as a major at Universidade Federal de Goiás. They had to teach their language to each other in a tandem collaborative learning processes. The study took place on the first term of 2017. Tandem learning is a process of cultural and linguistic exchanges among individuals who have different languages and are willing to teach each other their language in a collaborative way. Thus, the deaf participant taught Libras to the hearing peer and learned written Portuguese from him/her. This study also aims to investigate if collaboration in tandem context can favor the learning of Libras and Portuguese, since they are languages that have different linguistic modalities. It also investigates which strategies were taken by the participants to teach each other´s language and the perceptions they had about the collaborative learning process in tandem context. It is a qualitative case study whose data were collected through the video recording of the interactions and the interviews. Data analysis shows that the students used some strategies that mediated the learning process, such as the use of realia, the use of images, etc. The results also show that the interactions favored not only linguistic knowledge, but also cultural exchanges and that the deaf students ought to be taught by the use of sign language. This study aims to bring some reflections on the learning process in tandem context when the languages involved have different linguistic modalities, as well as bring some guidance to future language teachers who might teach those languages in similar contexts.

With 9 million people in the UK alone suffering from deafness or hearing impairment, there is a concerted effort to develop effective treatments. To address this, one strategy is to recruit mechanisms naturally occurring during inner ear development, but this first requires a clear picture of the normal molecular mechanisms underlying this developmental process. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are short-range extracellular signalling molecules, with Fgf3 and Fgf10 already shown to be critical for the earliest event of inner ear induction. Interestingly these ligands are also expressed in the inner ear itself, and mutations in both Fgf3 and Fgf10 have independently been linked to sensorineural deafness in humans. This project is focussed on unravelling the molecular mechanisms controlling their expression in the inner ear. Bioinformatic analysis of the Fgf3 and Fgf10 enhancer regions revealed the presences of putative binding sites for retinoic acid (RA). RA is a key signalling molecule in inner ear development with both excess and deficit leading to inner ear abnormalities. First, a novel, non-invasive method of RA administration via sugar pellet was tested and proved to be efficient and reliable alternative to gavage. Using an Fgf3-lacZ reporter mouse, the effects of RA excess on Fgf3 expression were investigated in detail. In addition, preliminary studies of the effects of RA on Fgf10 were also carried out. Both Fgf3 and Fgf10 were downregulated with high doses of RA, confirming previous in vitro studies. In addition, detailed analysis of Fgf3-lacZ embryos exposed to RA revealed that downregulation critically depends on the dose and time of administration. To further explore other direct regulators of Fgf10 expression, additional reporter constructs were also generated for functional analysis in mouse and in chick. To date, analysis of electroporated chick embryos shows that ear specific Fgf10 regulation may not be conserved between two species.

Diante da urgência em inserir a população na tomada de decisões quanto às questões socioambientais relacionadas à água no país e no mundo, da exclusão da comunidade surda na sociedade em geral e da falta de acessibilidade por este público quanto às informações e ao conhecimento, a presente pesquisa teve as seguintes questões norteadoras: como está ocorrendo atualmente o ensino dos surdos nas escolas regulares? Quais são as metodologias de ensino utilizadas? A pedagogia visual contribui para o processo de Educação Ambiental dos surdos? A água pode ser um tema gerador para tal processo? Durante seu desenvolvimento foram realizados um estudo de caso, a pedagogia visual e oficinas, visando auxiliar na reflexão e na produção de um material educomunicativo digital para surdos com a temática água. O referido produto tem como público alvo indivíduos e comunidades surdas, além de profissionais que atuam junto a esses sujeitos como intérpretes e tradutores de Libras, interlocutores de Libras, professores e educadores ambientais. Como resultados foram produzidos seis vídeos em Libras com legendas em português, abordando temáticas como: a água, bacia hidrográfica, mata ciliar, água virtual, contaminação das águas e a gestão compartilhada das águas. O estudo ocorreu entre 2017 e 2018 e espera-se que os materiais produzidos despertem a curiosidade de seus visualizadores, a sensibilização e conscientização quanto à água e que sirvam como ferramentas de estudo e para possíveis ações e projetos em Educação Ambiental, promovendo assim a gestão compartilhada das águas. / Due to the urge to include the population in the decision-making process regarding the socio-environmental issues related to water in the country and in the world, the deaf community exclusion in the society and the lack of accessibility by this public to information and knowledge, the present study presented the following guiding questions: how is the teaching of deaf people in regular schools currently taking place? What are the teaching methodologies used? Does visual pedagogy contribute to the Environmental Education process? Can water be a starter theme for such process? A case study, visual pedagogy and workshops were performed aiming to help in the critical thinking as well as the production of a digital educomunicative material for deaf people under the water theme. The material is dedicated to individuals and deaf communities, besides professionals working with these public as Libras interpreters and translators, Libras interlocutors, teachers and environmental educators. As a result, six videos in Libras were produced with Portuguese subtitles, addressing topics such as: water, watershed, riparian forest, virtual water, water contamination and shared water management. The study took place between the years of 2017 and 2018. Additionally, it is expected that the materials produced increase the curiosity of their viewers, as well as their awareness about water. Moreover, that it serves as study tools for possible actions and projects in Environmental Education, therefore promoting shared water management.

This study employs qualitative methods to explore the tensions experienced by deaf young people with hearing parents, hearing parents with little or no experience of deafness prior to the birth of their deaf children and language teachers with a lack of skills and knowledge of deafness in the implementation of an inclusive education system in Brunei Darussalam. The empirical evidence I used to develop and support my thesis involves data I have generated using a variety of data collection tools, and includes analysis of documents, interviews with 12 deaf people age 18-25 years old, 4 hearing parents and 4 teachers together with 8 hours of classroom observations. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify prevalent similarities in the participant’s responses. Underachievement among young deaf people was due to undeveloped language. Undeveloped language for communication is the major theme identified. This study argues that while certain barriers to participation in hearing inclusive classrooms and hearing environments may be being removed, perceptions of the deaf as being unable to communicate remain embedded in dominant disability discourse (Lang, 2001). The study’s conclusions are drawn within the context of proposing a framework for a holistic, integrated, community based educational support structure for Brunei Darussalam that meets the support requirements of deaf young people (DYP), parents and teachers within inclusive schools.

No description available.

Grounded in Green and Kreuter's (1991) flexible research framework (the PRECEDE model), the prime purpose of this doctoral research agenda has been to enhance our understanding of the frequently obscure psychosocial implications of ageing with hearing handicap (HH) in the audible world, by focusing on the dyadic perspectives of older New Zealand (NZ) ex-service personnel and their spouses. Glass and Balfour's (2003) Ecological Model of Ageing guided the multidisciplinary literature review, in order to accommodate the functional implications of age-related losses which could potentially exacerbate the social and emotional sequelae of ageing with HH and tinnitus. In addition, Cohen's (1992) Transactional Model of Stress (which integrates three social support constructs with Lazarus and Folkman's [1984] model describing adaptations to stressful events), illustrates how on-going social and emotional adjustments to hearing losses could potentially affect older adults' health-related quality of life (H-QoL). Infused by these transdisciplinary ecological perspectives, a composite model of Ageing with Hearing Handicap was proposed to explore older dyadic partner perspectives of NZ veterans' adjustment to ageing with hearing handicap; and to identify which factors exerted the most influence over the veterans' self-reported perceptions of HH and H-QoL. Methods: A purposive pilot study sample (N=51 veterans) initially guided the appropriate selection of ecologically relevant biopsychosocial variables and data collection methods (self-report mail out booklets) for two subsequent studies: (i) The main 'parent' study (referred to as the Hearing Aid Research Project [HARP]), which examined the predictors of hearing aid use in veterans aged 50 year and older; and (ii) The doctoral study, which explored dyadic perspectives of ageing with HH. The doctoral study's dyadic partner sample (N=671 dyads) comprised a subset of the 1249 HARP veterans. This subset met the doctoral study's inclusion criteria of male veterans aged 65 years plus, who had responded with a female partner/spouse residing in the same household. Only dyads with reasonably complete mail out survey response sets were selected. The dyadic partner response sets included social demographic details and responses to a number of constructs relevant to the doctoral research context including: aural rehabilitation, HH, H-QoL, emotional wellbeing, social support and memory in everyday life. Results: The results describe significantly different aural rehabilitation coping trajectories between the self-identified 'first time' and more experienced hearing aid users; and dyadic partner comparisons which highlight that the female partners were more acutely aware of the stigmatising impact of hearing losses on the veterans' social and emotional agency. Analyses of the intersecting structural and functional features of social support illustrated that increasing levels of the veterans' hearing handicap (HH) exacerbated both partners' social isolation. Wenger's (1994) support network typology illustrated how both partners' depressive symptoms and the veterans' frequency of forgetting increased significantly across a socially integrated to isolated support network continuum. The composite model of Ageing with Hearing Handicap accounted for 71.5% of the variation in the veterans' self-reported HH; 62.6% of their physical and 37.3% of their mental H-QoL. The multivariate analyses also demonstrated that HH produced a direct and negative impact on the veterans' mental H-QoL, by constraining their social and emotional agency; but only indirectly on their physical H-QoL, through reducing their energy levels and constraining their social participation. Conclusions: These transdisciplinary perspectives provide cross-sectional insights about the social and emotional wellbeing of veterans ageing with HH and their spouses, and suggest downstream links that affect their H-QoL. These findings highlight the importance of hearing health policy agendas and the communication contexts of health service delivery across all age groups. Moreover, by resolving the complex methodological and conceptual challenges inherent in focussing on older dyadic partners' everyday experiences, targets have become apparent for further investigation, to enhance and refine our understandings of engaging ecological perspectives when conducting health research.

Esta tese aborda com o tema ”A Experiência e a Pedagogia que nós surdos queremos”. Pesquiso as ferramentas dos Estudos Surdos, juntamente com o pensamento teórico pós - estruturalista de Derrida, da experiência de Joan Mèlich, fez-se criar as experiências dos professores surdos sobre a Pedagogia (dos Surdos), transcritas de filmagens, narradas: com o obstáculo e a volta epistemológica, que enfatiza-se com o desejo, os olhares e as necessidades. Com a conclusão enunciadas: Os surdos que estudam o Magistério de Ouvintes (Inclusão): “A formação vazia, não conheciam a História dos Surdos, nem Arte-Educação pois eram os currículos ouvicêntricos, baseados em Língua Portuguesa até os literários, com repetições monolíngüísticas ouvicêntricas. Rotulados de deficientes, retardados, coitados. Sentimentos de decepção e angustia pelos conhecimentos, de depressão, de vida vazia. Com o Magistério dos Surdos: Aprendiam observando os professores surdos (modelo identitário) comunicando em LS, ministrando a História dos surdos, Arte-educação e Didática de LS. Sentiam sem reclamações no currículo feito pela visão epistemológica dos surdos. Ficaram com os parceiros da mesmidade a construir a identidade surda. É a pedagogia que volta e reverbera permanentemente. Ainda sentem o desejo de traçar a Pedagogia Surda para o amanhã. / This thesis approaches with the subject ”the Experience and the Pedagogy that deaf we want”. I search the tools of the Deaf Studies, together with the theoretical thought post - structuralist of Derrida, of the experience of Joan Mèlich, one became to create the experiences of the deaf professors on the Pedagogy (of the Deaf people), solo transcribing of filmings, told: with the obstacle and the epistemological return, with that it is emphasized with the desire, the looks and the necessities. With the conclusion declared: The deaf people who study the Teaching of Listeners (Inclusion): “The empty formation, they did not know the History of the Deaf people, nor Art-Education therefore were the ‘listenercenter” curriculums, based in Portuguese Language until the literary ones, with “listenercenter” monolinguistics repetitions. Friction of deficient, been late, poor. Feelings of disillusionment and distress for the knowledge, of depression, empty life. With the Teaching of the Deaf people: They learned observing the deaf professors (identitary model) communicating in LS, giving the History of the deaf people, Art-education and Didactics of Sign Language. They felt without claims in the resume made for the “epistemological” vision of the deaf people. They had been with the partners of the identity to construct the deaf identity. It is the pedagogy that comes back and reverberates permanently. Still they feel the desire to trace the Deaf Pedagogy for tomorrow.