Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1918. / Cover title. "Reprint from the Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine, St. Louis, vol. IV, no. 4, January, 1919." Bibliography: p. 18.

Thesis (M.A.)--Washington State University, August 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-61).

The first documented case of improved hearing following chiropractic adjustment was by D.D. Palmer in 1895 in which he restored Harvey Lillard’s hearing. Mr Lillard had been deaf for seventeen years. This brought about the birth of a new profession called chiropractic (Terrett 2002). It has been postulated that dysfunction or spinal joint motion restrictions of the cervical spine may lead to irritation of the sympathetic nervous system which may cause decreased blood flow to the auditory nerve via the labyrinthine artery (also known as the internal acoustic artery or internal auditory artery), which in turn may lead to a decrease in hearing acuity (Hawley 1964). The purpose of the dissertation was to determine whether cervical spine joint adjustment had an effect on the hearing acuity in individuals with some level of sensorineural hearing loss. Thirty symptomatic patients of either gender participated in this study. These patients were recruited by the use of advertisements placed in the Chiropractic Day Clinic, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein Campus and by word of mouth. The inclusion criteria required the patients to present with some level of sensorineural hearing loss, be over the age of fifty years and have no contra-indications to chiropractic adjustments. Objective data was obtained by the Interacoustics Diagnostics Audiometer AD 229b, which determined the level of auditory acuity before and after chiropractic treatment was administered. Middle ear function and acoustic reflex was also tested with the GSI 38 Auto Tymp acoustic reflex machine. The objective results demonstrated that there was no statistically significant increase in auditory acuity following either the chiropractic treatment, or the detuned ultrasound treatment. In conclusion, it was shown that chiropractic adjustments in some patients presenting with sensorineural hearing loss, in the same subjects, exhibited a clinical improvement in hearing acuity however, not a statistically significant improvement following the treatment protocol discussed in the chapters that follow. These improvements suggested that the adjustment resulted in a decrease in sympathetic nervous system stimulation and an increase in blood flow through the labyrinthine artery, and therefore an increase in auditory acuity. These improvements were noted to a larger degree in individuals with a greater sensorineural hearing loss and not across the entire sample population. / Dr. M. Moodley Dr. S.M. Wilcox

There is a dearth of literature about the lived experiences of hearing children of Deaf adults (CODAs) within the South African context that this study attempts to address. Most African publications examining issues of Deafness focus on the experience of Deaf people themselves. Not much attention is given to the fact that children of Deaf adults may have their own experiences which are tied to the Deafness of their parents. Through a critical examination of my own experiences as a CODA, I sought to answer the following question: In which ways has my position in my family as a CODA, my identification as a Coloured person, my gender, and the context of Apartheid South Africa influenced my sense of self? Aim: The aim of the study is to provide the reader with rich, first-person information regarding the social, political and cultural circumstances of my formative years, in the context of being female, coloured, and having parents who are Deaf, against the backdrop of the South Africa of the 1980s. I draw attention to the intersections within my life as a bicultural, Coloured female in South Africa. Using a qualitative research method, auto-ethnography (specifically an evocative ethnographic method) to generate and analyse data, I endeavour to connect my story to wider cultural, political and social processes. The analysis was informed by literature from d/Deaf studies and a conceptual framework that included models of disability, the notion of intersectionality, and theoretical ideas concerning identity formation. Objectives: I explore: i) the key elements of context that combined to shape my experience of being raised as a CODA; ii) my experiences of identity formation; iii) the ways in which the intersection of various social life attributes that include race, gender, bicultural identity, and disability have intersected to frame my lifeworld as a CODA. Methodology: I used the auto-ethnographic approach and specifically, evocative autoethnography. I drew upon the thematic analysis method to analyse the data. Findings: The auto-ethnographic material depicts my lived experience as a CODA. A key finding relates to bicultural identity formation in a context of South Africa that has been profoundly shaped by Apartheid. While negotiating a terrain that is characterised by rampant racial discrimination and the difficulties that surround an identity that is both of the Deaf and hearing worlds, my story shows up a number of active responses to my life-world, rather than a passive acceptance and internalisation of its contradictions. Conclusion: This study supports the use of auto-ethnography as a way of exploring the experience of identity formation in CODAs in a context where the ambiguities of life as a CODA are complicated by identity intersections with race, gender and culture.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-201)

published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy