Hearing loss is a low-incidence disability, affecting 1 to 6 per 1,000 live births. Until recently, hearing loss was not diagnosed until 2 years of age or later. In the late 1990s, a push began for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening: the ultimate goal was that every newborn's hearing would be tested before leaving the hospital.Prior to widespread implementation of UNHS, some researchers found that hearing parents of deaf children had higher stress and atypical parent-infant interactions. More recent research, focused on parents of infants diagnosed through UNHS, is inconsistent. Some researchers have found that parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing (d/hh) children have significantly more stress than parents of hearing infants; however, some researchers have not found these differences.Because increased stress is linked to impaired parent-infant bonding, researchers have made conclusions about bonding based on assessments of stress. The purpose of the current study was to compare the bonding of hearing mothers to d/hh infants to hearing mothers of hearing infants. A second aspect was to assess the needs of mothers of d/hh infants and to evaluate, from mothers' perspectives, how early-intervention services could be improved.Results from the current study show that mothers of d/hh infants were not bonding abnormally. In addition, the bonding of hearing mothers to d/hh infants is not significantly different from the bonding of hearing mothers to hearing infants. On the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), mothers of hearing infants were significantly more likely to feel as if their babies cried too much. Interview results show that all mothers were worried about their children's future; however, mothers of d/hh babies had more specific worries, including those related to communication development. In addition, mothers discussed their experiences with early intervention and their valued qualities in an early-intervention provider.

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Researchers have studied the effects of modifying the physical environment in classrooms with high levels of disruptive behaviors in the general education setting. This study incorporates modifications used by previous researchers yet in a residential school with students who have a hearing loss. The results of the study show a functional relationship between the physical environment and levels of disruptive behavior and academic engagement. The present study confirmed that by modifying the classroom environment to minimize visual and auditory distractions, disruptive behaviors decreased and academic engagement increased with students who have a hearing loss. A multiple baseline across settings design was used to examine the efficacy of the intervention in three classrooms. Social validity ratings by the teachers indicated high acceptability of the intervention. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

This research aims to build upon existing literature and explore the experiences of d/Deaf and HoH people who grew up in Southern Ontario and were raised outside of the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, and/or without access to sign language. / Throughout the literature, there is existing research on the experiences of people in the Deaf community from a culturally Deaf perspective and from a medicalized perspective of the condition of hearing loss; however, there is very literature on the experiences of people who do not fall within either of these binary views of what being d/Deaf and HoH is. This research aims to build upon existing literature and explore the experiences of d/Deaf and HoH people who grew up in Southern Ontario and were raised outside of the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, and/or without access to signed language. This research is theoretically underpinned by critical disability theory and deaf critical theory—otherwise known as deaf crit—to broadly understand the nuances of how d/Deaf and HoH people are impacted by structural, systemic, and interpersonal experiences of audism, power, and oppression. This study relied on Photovoice as the research methodology to best center the perspectives of the participants through visual and textual analysis. Three participants participated in four virtual Photovoice workshops where they shared photographs in response to different prompts about their experiences as d/Deaf and HoH people. The ensuing discussion found the key themes: 1) the ability to explore their self-identity as d/Deaf and HoH people; 2) the importance of developing pathways to community early on in life; 3) the need for multiple supports when receiving care. This research contributes to the literature that centers the nuanced perspectives of those who are d/Deaf and HoH but raised without access to Deaf culture, community, and/or sign language and makes suggestions for future practice and policy that centers diverse needs and desires for support. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

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This study aimed to describe the educational experiences of deaf adolescent learners attending a school for the deaf in South Africa. The specific objectives of the current study included: (a) obtaining a detailed description of the educational experiences of deaf adolescent learners; (b) establishing with which rhetoric (medical vs. cultural) the deaf adolescents could best identify; (c) establishing the potential influence on individual identity development of the established affiliations with the opposing models of deafness. Ten deaf adolescents ranging between 14 and 16 years, attending a single school for the deaf were selected as participants for the current study. A basic research design and a qualitative approach, embedded within the theory of social constructivism were employed. Two pilot studies were conducted in order to establish the feasibility of the current study. Thereafter, interviews as per the ‘interview guide approach’ were administered. Field observations within the school context and file reviews were also conducted. Thematic content analysis was employed and the identified themes were described qualitatively. Results revealed the emergence of three themes. Within these themes, the adolescents’ experiences included: limited SASL role models both at home and at school, negative educational encounters as well as positivity and hope for the future. Experiences characteristic of the medical model and socio-cultural model of deafness were reported and factors affecting these affiliations were described. The researcher concluded that a level of affiliation with both the medical and the sociocultural models of deafness existed for the participants. The impact of these affiliations on identity construction was explored and a model of identity development, the multiculturalexperience model, was proposed. The education of deaf individuals in South Africa shows room for significant growth. By adjusting government education policies for deaf education as well as supporting the goals of early intervention, deaf learners can reach their full potential regardless of the mode of communication favoured.

Students who are deaf and use sign language frequently have language delays that affect their literacy skills. Students who use American Sign Language (ASL) often lack fluent language models in both the home and school settings, delaying both the development of a first language and the development of literacy in printed English. Mediated and scaffolded instruction presented by a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO; Vygotsky, 1978, 1994) may facilitate acquisition of a first foundational language. Repeated viewings of fluent ASL models on DVDs paired with adult mediation has resulted in increases in vocabulary skills for DHH students who used ASL (Cannon, Fredrick, & Easterbrooks, 2010; Golos, 2010; Mueller & Hurtig, 2010). Classifiers are a syntactic sub-category of ASL vocabulary that provides a critical link between ASL and the meaning of English phrases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teacher-mediated repeated viewings of ASL stories on DHH students’ classifier production during narrative retells. This study included 10 student participants in second, third, and fourth grades and three teacher participants from an urban day school for students who are DHH. The researcher used a multiple baseline across participants design followed by visual analysis and calculation of the percentage of non-overlapping data (PND; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & Casto, 1987) to examine the effects of the intervention. All students increased their classifier production during narrative retells following a combination of teacher mediation paired with repeated viewings of ASL models.

Promoting student self-determination has been identified as best practice in special education as an effective way to promote goal attainment and successful post school outcomes for students with disabilities. There have been, however, limited evaluations of the effects of interventions to promote self-determination with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. This study reports finding from a quasi-experimental switching replication study examining the impact of intervention using the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on student self-determination and goal attainment for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Findings within this study using the current research design and limited sample do not support the efficacy of the model for differential goal attainment and goal attainment facilitation by Group assignment but students who are classified as DHH were able to set goals and attain these at a better than expected level of progress. Measures of self-determination used in this study proved to have good internal reliability with students who have various levels of hearing loss and who use various modes of communication.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act mandate all children be included in state and district assessments to measure their progress. IDEA, NCLB, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require students have access to accommodations necessary for their participation in mandated testing. Due to problems secondary to their disability, students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) may have difficulty participating in testing programs designed for the general population. In order to have equal access to standardized testing, D/HH students may need to use testing accommodations.The purposes of this study were to: a) document the use of testing accommodations by students who are D/HH, b) identify the types and frequency of testing accommodations required by D/HH students attending general education classes in Arizona public schools, and c) to analyze the relationships between type and degree of hearing loss and SAT-9 achievement for students who are D/HH in Arizona public schools.The participants included 62 students in the first year of the study, and 53 students in the second year. All participants had diagnosed hearing losses and attended general education classes with support from teachers of the D/HH and/or other support personnel.Extended Time was the most frequently required accommodation. Principal components analysis resulted in clustering of accommodations variables into three components in 2002: Time and Administration, Presentation, and Student Directed, and four components in 2003: Presentation and Administration, Time and Materials, Response, and Student Directed. The accommodations used and their clustering were similar to those reported in the literature. Type of hearing loss was found to significantly affect reading achievement even when controlling for testing accommodations. The interaction between type and degree of loss significantly affected language achievement. Results demonstrated the reading and language achievement performance of students with mild and high frequency hearing loss fell behind students having greater levels of hearing loss. The use of testing accommodations resulted in mixed effects on student reading and language achievement performance. Changes in language scores, but not in reading scores, were found.