A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Audiology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg March 2016. / Only a small number of Deaf school-leavers in South Africa enter higher education institutions (DeafSA, 2009). There does not seem to be an incentive to encourage Deaf school-leavers to enter higher education which contributes to the 90% unemployment rate of Deaf adults in South Africa (DeafSA, 2009). Deaf learners do not always seem to have opportunities for further study due to poor literacy skills. Deaf school leavers appear inadequately prepared for further education and employment when they leave high school and experience difficulty with communication and socio-emotional adjustment in the hearing world. This study explored the preparedness of young deaf adults for further education and employment within the Western Cape by describing the reflections of Deaf school-leavers regarding their transition from school to higher education and vocation. Focus group interviews and in-depth individual interviews were conducted with 19 Deaf participants between the ages of 21 and 25 who use SASL as their primary mode of communication and have attended a signing school for the Deaf in the Western Cape. The services of two SASL interpreters were used and the data collected were analysed using a thematic analysis. The findings of this study point to possible strategies that may facilitate the transition of the Deaf school leaver to higher education and vocation in the Western Cape. The data obtained in this study indicated a need for improved academic preparation of Deaf learners; an increase in educators of the Deaf that are fluent in SASL; an increase in SASL interpreters at higher education institutions and stronger transition programs at schools for the Deaf in the Western Cape. Moreover, participants in this study indicated a need for financial assistance for Deaf students to further their education and expressed the need for Deaf awareness and sensitization training of employers, employees, lecturers and fellow students of the Deaf in the Western Cape. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggested assistance from job placement officers with regard to integration and socialization of deaf employees in the workplace. / GR 2017

While the approaches for providing aural rehabilitation to the hearing impaired are well documented, no research and only a few articles addressed the comprehensive application of these approaches in the private sector. Therefore, a survey of audiologists was conducted to determine how extensively the approaches are being utilized in this setting and what, if any, unmet client needs may exist. Sixty certified, dispensing audiologists who work in the private sector and reside in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming participated in the study. Participants were identified from membership lists provided by the five states' Speech-Language and Hearing Associations. A questionnaire was constructed to determine the extent that 14 topics, 32 methods, and 18 barriers, which were identified in the literature, are being used or encountered when providing services to these clients. The survey results indicated that once the standard hearing aid evaluation has been completed, 45% of the respondents are spending less than 60 minutes in providing aural rehabilitation to each client. Only 5% of the respondents were dissatisfied with this amount of time, indicating that 40% believed that comprehensive aural rehabilitation services can be provided satisfactorily in less than one hour. Eighty-six percent of the topics listed in the questionnaire are being discussed with a majority of the respondents' clients. On an average, the respondents discussed topics relating to Audiogram Results, Hearing Aid Orientation, and Expectations for Hearing Aids with over 90% of their hearing impaired clients. They discussed Trouble Shooting and Communication Enhancement with 76-83% of their clients, and they also discussed Hearing Loss Information and Listening Devices with 58-60% of them. Community Resources was discussed with only 33% of this clientele. Only 25% of the methods listed in the questionnaire are being utilized with a majority of the respondents' hearing impaired clients. On an average, respondents utilized methods relating to Oral Instruction with 99% of these clients. They utilized Counseling, Skill Practice, and Support with between 49-64% of them. Respondents utilized the remainder of the methods, including Written Materials, Visual Aids, Referral, Audio-Visual Aids, Structured Classes, and Programmed Instruction, with less than 30% of this clientele. Sixty-three percent of the methods that respondents estimated using with a majority of their clients rely solely upon the ability to hear and comprehend the spoken word, and only 37% of these provide opportunities for repeated exposure to the educational concepts being conveyed. None of the barriers listed in the questionnaire were perceived by respondents as having a high degree of influence on the services they provide. Only 1/3 of the barriers were perceived as having a moderate degree of influence, including audiologists' lack of time to research or develop instructional materials and clients• a.) denial, b.) vanity or self-consciousness, c.) lack of interest, d.) reluctance to participate in an aural rehabilitation program, and e.) ability to afford a hearing aid.

Inclusion is the practice of serving the needs of all students, with a full range of abilities and disabilities, in the general classroom with appropriate in-class support. Using qualitative case studies, this thesis explores the inclusive placement of three students with a hearing impairment. The students came from non-English speaking backgrounds, used hearing technology to access the class program and were eager to attend their local primary school. They had different types of hearing losses and were the only hearing-impaired students enrolled at their school. Five variables were examined which influenced the success of the inclusive placement. These included the student's academic, social and physical performance, the school environment and parental/family support. The constant comparative method was used to analyse data collected in each case study. Findings from the case studies identified strengths and weaknesses in the students' inclusive placement, and also provided data for future research and discussion on inclusive education / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis examines the development of and interrelationships among organisations in the Australian Deaf community during the early part of the 20th Century, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s. It focuses on those organisations which Deaf people attempted to establish themselves, or with hearing supporters, in response to their rejection of the philosophy and practices of the existing charitable organisations such as Deaf Societies and Missions. It also analyses the responses of the Societies and Missions to these moves. The thesis adopts a social history perspective, describing events as much as possible from the perspective of the Deaf people of the time. These developments within the Deaf community were influenced by wider social movements in Australian society during these decades, such as the articulation of minority groups as 'citizens', and their search for 'advancement', autonomy and equal rights. Australia's first schools and post-school organisations for Deaf people were closely modelled on 19th Century British institutions. The thesis describes the development of these early Australian institutions and argues that Deaf people had active or contributing roles in many of them. During the early 20th Century most of these organisations came under closer control of hearing people, and Deaf people's roles became marginalised. During the late 1920s many Deaf adults began to resist the control of Societies and Missions, instead aspiring to 'manage their own affairs'. In two states, working with hearing supporters, they successfully established alternative organisations or 'breakaways', and in another state they engaged in protracted but unsuccessful struggles with the Deaf Society. Australian Deaf people established a national organisation in the 1930s, and this led to the creation of an opposing national organisation by the Societies. Most of these new organisations did not survive beyond the 1930s, but they significantly affected the power structures and relationships between Deaf and hearing people in Australia for several decades afterwards. These events have been largely ignored and even strategically suppressed by later generations, possibly for reasons which parallel other episodes of amnesia and silence in Australian history.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-83). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Phil. Communication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Science in Audiology

This qualitative, exploratory study describes and interprets the perspectives of giftedness of twelve teachers who work with Deaf and hard of hearing students in a variety of educational settings across Canada. Using in-depth interviews, the resulting twenty-five hours of audio tapes were transcribed and analyzed line by line using procedures suggested by Giorgi and Marton. The supporting literature came from four major areas: (a) the construct of giftedness; (b) giftedness among the disabled population; (c) giftedness among the Deaf and hard of hearing population; and (d) theory related to teachers' knowledge and perspectives. Analysis of the data resulted in presentation of the findings from two perspectives: teachers' understandings of the meanings of giftedness and the process through which these teachers appeared to have gained their knowledge. Teachers' practical knowledge was portrayed in detailed stories of forty-three hard of hearing or Deaf students whom they believed to be gifted and in the way they described the students' achieving, learning and behaving in classroom interactions. The teachers' conceptually oriented knowledge was described as they reflected upon the meanings they associated with giftedness. The teachers' knowledge of giftedness was compared to that found in the gifted literature at both the practical and theoretical levels. Through interpretations derived from daily interactions with students and drawing on knowledge gained from personal experience, these teachers constructed perspectives of giftedness. The process that emerged illustrated the teachers' use of comparison groups as ways of gaining insight about the students and teachers' ideas about the use of labeling. The teachers' perspectives suggest that Deaf and hard of hearing students are gifted in ways similar but not identical to hearing students. The abilities of these students appear to be different from others in the "handicapped-gifted" literature and their needs are unique. The teachers' more conceptually oriented ideas also appeared to be similar but not identical to theoretical definitions of giftedness. The findings support collaboration between teachers and researchers to explore ways in which teachers come to recognize and understand gifted students. Future research must also explore the special educational needs of students who are dealing with the effects of having a hearing loss and being gifted.

No description available.