Diversity In Deaf Education

Deaf children are not hearing children who can't hear. Beyond any specific effects of hearing loss, as a group they are far more diverse than hearing peers. Lack of full access to language, incidental learning, and social interactions as well as the possibility of secondary disabilities means that deaf learners face a variety of challenges in academic domains. Technological innovations such as digital hearing aids and cochlear implants have improved hearing and the possibility of spoken language for many deaf learners, but parents, teachers, and other professionals are just now coming to recognize that there are cognitive, experiential, and social-emotional differences between deaf and hearing students likely to affect academic outcomes. Sign languages and schools and programs for deaf learners thus remain an important part of the continuum of services needed for this diverse population. Understanding such diversity and determining ways in which to accommodate them must become a top priority in educating deaf learners. Through the participation of an international, interdisciplinary set of scholars, Diversity in Deaf Education takes a broad view of learning and academic progress, considering "the whole child" in the context of the families, languages, educational settings in which they are immersed. In adopting this perspective, the complexities and commonalities in the social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic mosaic of which the deaf child is a part, are captured. It is only through such a holistic consideration of diverse children developing within diverse settings that we can understand their academic potentials.

Co-enrollment programming in deaf education refers to classrooms in which a critical mass of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students is included in a classroom containing mainly hearing students and which is taught by both a mainstream teacher and a teacher of the deaf. It thus offers full access to both DHH and hearing students in the classroom through "co-teaching" and avoids academic segregation of DHH students, as well as their integration into classes with hearing students without appropriate support services or modification of instructional methods and materials. Co-enrollment thus seeks to give DHH learners the best of both (mainstream and separate) educational worlds. Described as a "bright light on the educational horizon," co-enrollment programming provides unique educational opportunities and educational access for DHH learners comparable to that of their hearing peers. Co-enrollment programming shows great promise. However, research concerning co-enrollment programming for DHH learners is still in its infancy. This volume sheds light on this potentially groundbreaking method of education, providing descriptions of 14 co-enrollment programs from around the world, explaining their origins, functioning, and available outcomes. Set in the larger context of what we know and what we don't know about educating DHH learners, the volume offers readers a vision of a brighter future in deaf education for DHH children, their parents, and their communities.

This edited book presents an detailed analysis of the experience of deaf people as a bilingual-bicultural minority group in America. An overview of mainstream research on bilingualism and biculturalism is followed by specific research and conceptual analyses which examine the impact of cultural and language diversity on the experiences of deaf people. The book ends with poignant personal reflections from deaf community members. The contributors include prominent deaf and hearing experts in bilingualism, ASL and Deaf culture, and deaf education.

"This contributed volume provides a global view of recent theoretical and applied research that focuses on literacy education for deaf learners"--

Deaf people are usually regarded by the hearing world as having a lack, as missing a sense. Yet a definition of deaf people based on hearing loss obscures a wealth of ways in which societies have benefited from the significant contributions of deaf people. In this bold intervention into ongoing debates about disability and what it means to be human, experts from a variety of disciplines—neuroscience, linguistics, bioethics, history, cultural studies, education, public policy, art, and architecture—advance the concept of Deaf Gain and challenge assumptions about what is normal. Through their in-depth articulation of Deaf Gain, the editors and authors of this pathbreaking volume approach deafness as a distinct way of being in the world, one which opens up perceptions, perspectives, and insights that are less common to the majority of hearing persons. For example, deaf individuals tend to have unique capabilities in spatial and facial recognition, peripheral processing, and the detection of images. And users of sign language, which neuroscientists have shown to be biologically equivalent to speech, contribute toward a robust range of creative expression and understanding. By framing deafness in terms of its intellectual, creative, and cultural benefits, Deaf Gain recognizes physical and cognitive difference as a vital aspect of human diversity. Contributors: David Armstrong; Benjamin Bahan, Gallaudet U; Hansel Bauman, Gallaudet U; John D. Bonvillian, U of Virginia; Alison Bryan; Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Gallaudet U; Cindee Calton; Debra Cole; Matthew Dye, U of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign; Steve Emery; Ofelia García, CUNY; Peter C. Hauser, Rochester Institute of Technology; Geo Kartheiser; Caroline Kobek Pezzarossi; Christopher Krentz, U of Virginia; Annelies Kusters; Irene W. Leigh, Gallaudet U; Elizabeth M. Lockwood, U of Arizona; Summer Loeffler; Mara Lúcia Massuti, Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Donna A. Morere, Gallaudet U; Kati Morton; Ronice Müller de Quadros, U Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Donna Jo Napoli, Swarthmore College; Jennifer Nelson, Gallaudet U; Laura-Ann Petitto, Gallaudet U; Suvi Pylvänen, Kymenlaakso U of Applied Sciences; Antti Raike, Aalto U; Päivi Rainò, U of Applied Sciences Humak; Katherine D. Rogers; Clara Sherley-Appel; Kristin Snoddon, U of Alberta; Karin Strobel, U Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Hilary Sutherland; Rachel Sutton-Spence, U of Bristol, England; James Tabery, U of Utah; Jennifer Grinder Witteborg; Mark Zaurov.

Education for deaf learners has gone through significant changes in recent decades, and the needs of many have changed considerably. Meanwhile, the population of deaf learners only has become more diverse. This volume adopts a broad, international perspective, capturing the complexities and commonalities in the development of deaf learners.

Languages and Languaging in Deaf Education offers a profound vision for deaf education and studies, as author Ruth Swanwick offers bold contributions towards a new pedagogical framework. With a primary focus on the language and learning experiences of deaf children, this book creates a crucial dialogue between the field of deaf education and studies and the wider field of language education and research. Swanwick's fresh perspective on languages and languaging in deaf education brings new understandings of children's language repertoire, and further extends the meaning and application of dynamic plurilingual pedagogies. Ruth Swanwick addresses two major questions essential to the field: How do we understand and describe deaf children's language use and experience in terms of current concepts of language plurality and diversity? And, how does knowledge of, and a different perspective on, deaf children's language diversity and pluralism inform pedagogy? In this latest addition to the Professional Perspectives on Deafness series, Swanwick presents a new framework to imagine the classroom, synthesizing multilingual language practices, translanguaging, research, and practice.

Biliteracy, or the development of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking competencies in more than one language, is a complex and dynamic process. The process is even more challenging when the languages used in the literacy process differ in modality. Biliteracy development among deaf students involves the use of visual languages (i.e., sign languages) and auditory languages (spoken languages). Deaf students' sign language proficiency is strongly related to their literacy abilities. The distinction between bilingualism and multilingualism is critical to our understanding of the underserved, the linguistic deficit, and the underachievement of deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) immigrant students, thus bringing the multilingual and immigrant aspect into the research on deaf education. Multilingual and immigrant students may face unique challenges in the course of their education. Hence, in the education of D/HH students, the intersection of issues such as biculturalism/multiculturalism, bilingualism/multilingualism, and immigration can create a dilemma for teachers and other stakeholders working with them. Deaf Education and Challenges for Bilingual/Multilingual Students is an essential reference book that provides knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teaching multicultural, multilingual, and immigrant deaf and hard of hearing students globally and identifies the challenges facing the inclusion needs of this population. This book fills a current gap in educational resources for teaching immigrant, multilingual, and multicultural deaf students in learning institutions all over the world. Covering topics such as universal design for learning, inclusion, literacy, and language acquisition, this text is crucial for classroom teachers of deaf or hard of hearing students, faculty in deaf education programs, language instructors, students, pre-service teachers, researchers, and academicians.