bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using the TOEFL to Measure the Reading Proficiency Levels of Deaf College Applicants
Authors: LoMaglio Larry J.
Published: April 2013

The TOEFL is widely used by colleges and universities in the United States and Canada to measure the English language proficiency levels of hearing international applicants. At the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a faculty committee recommended that this popular test instrument be used to measure the English reading skills of deaf international applicants to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. This study examined the merits of using the TOEFL to measure the English reading ability of hearing post-secondary international students seeking admission to English-based colleges and universities. Forty-one hearing foreign students were tested in the fall of 1989 at the English Language Institute at SUNY Buffalo. The instruments chosen were both the TOEFL and the California Achievement Test of reading ability. The majority of the research subjects who scored between 400 and 500 on the TOEFL achieved a grade level of less than 8.0 on the California Achievement Test.
Some Concerns About Using Whole Language Approaches With Deaf Children
Authors: Dolman David
Published: April 2013

The whole language philosophy is having an impact not only in general education but in the education of deaf children as well. Many of the practices derived from this philosophy are beneficial for all children. Yet, because most deaf children have tremendous difficulty in acquiring English literacy, a more direct approach to teaching them may be warranted in many cases. The field of deaf education would be better served if, rather than moving from one trend in general education to another, we first took into account the special needs of deaf learners and then worked systematically and deliberately to build a knowledge base of the most effective practices for promoting literacy.
Terminology and Methods in the Education of the Deaf: Questions for the Experts
Authors: Peffley Sybil
Published: April 2013

As an outsider interested in the methodologies currently used to educate deaf children, I have many questions about the ambiguous terminology, continuing controversies, and lack of unbiased, scientific research. The questions concern issues such as the difference between Deaf and deaf , the feasibility of the ASL/ESL proposal, and the disappointing lack of definitive answers and unbiased evidence favoring any one particular method.
The Implications of Congenital Deafness for Working Memory
Authors: Chalifoux Lisa M.
Published: April 2013

A model of the working memory of the congenitally deaf was built based on Baddeley's model. Following an examination of the literature pertaining to encoding used by the congenitally deaf, I concluded that a model of the working memory of the deaf must include subsystems for articulatory, sign, and visual encoding. By highlighting the inherent flexibility of a model such as Baddeley's, the proposed model allows for applications to the deaf, other special, and hearing populations.
Narrative Abilities in Hearing-Impaired Children: Propositions and Cohesion
Authors: Griffith Penny L. , Ripich Danielle N. , Dastoli Sondra L.
Published: April 2013

Two linguistic microstructures, propositions and cohesive devices, were analyzed in story recalls by 11 primary and intermediate level hearing-impaired students. The students were enrolled in total communication, public day classes, and had severe-to-profound hearing losses. Four story conditions were presented: (1) easy structure-T.C.; (2) complex structure-T.C.; (3) complex structure with pictures-T.C.; and (4) create-a-story-pictures. Students watched and then retold or made up a story to a friend. Recalls were videotaped and transcribed by a deaf adult and the first investigator. Recalls of hearing-impaired students were significantly shorter than those found earlier for hearing students. When stories are very simple, hearing-impaired students generate mostly complete propositions, however as complexity increases, semantic errors result in fewer complete propositions.
Using Immediate Recall to Assess Language Proficiency in Deaf Students
Authors: Akamatsu Carol Tane , Fischer Susan D.
Published: April 2013

We used an immediate recall paradigm to study the effects of list organization and semantic and grammatical features of printed stimuli on working memory capacity in deaf students with differing English language abilities. Thirty lists of five organizational types (random words, semantically related words, semantically paired words, scrambled sentences, and grammatical sentences) were presented to two groups of deaf students who differed in their proficiency in the English language. The students were required to recall the lists in writing. The results indicate that, overall, the students with higher levels of English language proficiency recalled significantly more than those with lower levels. Additionally, semantic and syntactic organization of the lists had different effects on the two groups of students. Semantic pairing aided the low-level group significantly more than the high-level group, whereas the syntactic organization of the grammatical sentences aided the high-level group significantly more. Implications for assessing language ability in deaf students are discussed.
The Effects of Adjunct Questions in Prose for Deaf and Hearing Students at Different Reading Levels
Authors: Dowaliby Fred J.
Published: April 2013

In two studies, the author investigated interactions among adjunct question position, reading ability, and direct versus indirect learning outcomes for deaf postsecondary and hearing middle-school students. Adjunct questions were inserted immediately preceding or following brief sections of instructional prose for the purpose of focusing and cognitively activating the readers. Different effects were observed for deaf and hearing readers and for different levels of assessed reading ability. The findings are discussed in terms of reading ability, adjunct activities while reading prose, and direct versus indirect instructive effects.
Teachers and Artificial Intelligence: The Logo Connection
Authors: Merbler John B.
Published: April 2013

This article describes a three-phase program for training special education teachers to teach Logo and artificial intelligence. Logo is derived from the LISP computer language and is relatively simple to learn and use, and it is argued that these factors make it an ideal tool for classroom experimentation in basic artificial intelligence concepts. The program trains teachers to develop simple demonstrations of artificial intelligence using Logo. The material that the teachers learn to teach is suitable as an advanced level topic for intermediate- through secondary-level students enrolled in computer competency or similar courses. The material emphasizes problem-solving and thinking skills using a nonverbal expressive medium (Logo), thus it is deemed especially appropriate for hearing-impaired children. It is also sufficiently challenging for academically talented children, whether hearing or deaf. Although the notion of teachers as programmers is controversial, Logo is relatively easy to learn, has direct implications for education, and has been found to be an excellent tool for empowerment—for both teachers and children.
Interpreter's Wrist: Repetitive Stress Injury and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Sign Language Interpreters
Authors: Stedt Joe D.
Published: April 2013

Forty interpreters attending a regional Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf conference completed a questionnaire regarding symptoms related to repetitive stress injury (RSI), a generic classification of problems that occur after extensive, repetitive motion. RSIs, including the most prevalent form, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), were surveyed. The vast majority (87.5%) of the interpreters in the sample reported that they had at sometime experienced at least two symptoms associated with RSI. Some (12.5%) who had CTS reported that they had been misdiagnosed. When asked how many other interpreters they knew with RSI problems, they reported, on average, that they knew more than four others. The data indicate that RSI is a severe problem among sign language interpreters and warrants immediate action. The term interpreter's wrist may best describe the malady.
Adjunct Questions in Prose: A Question Position-by-Reading Ability Interaction
Authors: Dowaliby Fred J.
Published: April 2013

Immediate factual learning performance of profoundly deaf postsecondary students was compared as a result of pre-, post- or no adjunct questions interspersed throughout a passage of prose. Analyses revealed a position-by-reading ability interaction. While pre-questions yielded the highest learning performance for low ability readers, post-questions resulted in significantly greater learning performance for high ability readers. Findings are discussed in terms of question position, student's reading ability, and text difficulty
Modifying Attitudes Toward Persons With Hearing Impairments: A Comprehensive Review of the Research
Authors: Strong Carol J. , Shaver James P.
Published: April 2013

Negative attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments adversely affect their opportunities and self-concepts. Thus, modifying such attitudes is of concern to educators and researchers. An exhaustive search of the literature yielded 12 reports of research on modifying attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments. The research results were mixed—some studies even yielded negative attitude outcomes—and the quality of the studies was not high. Of the treatments studied, properly structured contact in particular showed promise for improving attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments.
Recall Performance on a Central-Incidental Memory Task by Profoundly Deaf Children
Authors: Bebko James M. , Lacasse Martha A. , Turk Helen , Oyen Anne-Siri
Published: April 2013

Bebko (1984) reported that deaf children tend not to use spontaneously active memory strategies such as rehearsal in tasks requiring recall of ordered, temporal information. The present study investigated whether this tendency is task specific or generalized to other experimental paradigms. A central-incidental paradigm was used with profoundly deaf children and hearing children 6 to 13 years of age. The results for the hearing students replicated previous studies: central recall increased with age, but incidental recall changed little. For the deaf children, the results initially appeared very similar to those of the hearing children. However, on closer examination, the rehearsal strategies of the deaf students seemed less effective in mediating their recall. They apparently compensated for these difficulties by capitalizing on unique spatial features of the task, leading to recall levels comparable to those of the hearing students. Therefore, similar performance may not have been the result of equal strategy use but, rather, of the use of additional strategies by the deaf students. This study reinforced the need to provide additional training for deaf students in the use of memory strategies such as rehearsal when information is to be remembered in a sequential manner.
Teachers' Use of Simultaneous Communication: Effects on the Signed and Spoken Components
Authors: Hyde M. B. , Power D. J.
Published: April 2013

We examined the correspondence between spoken and signed English when used simultaneously by teachers in Australia to determine whether the difficulties reported with other systematic sign systems are also relevant for the Australasian version. The teachers, all experienced in working with deaf students, were found to be more than 90% accurate in reproducing on their hands what they were saying, but at some cost to the oral aspects of the simultaneous communication. We also discuss the implications of the findings for the use of simultaneous communication with deaf students.
The Effectiveness of Dialogue Journal Writing in Improving the Writing Skills of Young Deaf Writers
Authors: Kluwin Thomas N. , Kelly Arlene Blumenthal
Published: April 2013

Various claims have been made for the usefulness of dialogue journal writing for improving the writing of less proficient users of English such as deaf writers of English or speakers of English as a second language. However, the bulk of the research has focussed on either student attitudes towards writing or very limited samples of student writing. In a one year project involving the exchange of dialogue journals between 204 pairs of deaf and hearing students in 10 public school districts, the authors sought to evaluate the utility of dialogue journals for improving the writing skills of the deaf writers. The age of the correspondents ranged from 10 to 18 years old in grades 4 through 12. Among the deaf writers, the average hearing loss was 89 dB in the better ear with a range of from 45 dB to 120 dB. The journal entries of 153 of the deaf students were evaluated for both changes in content and syntactic complexity. When the pair of writers maintained a relationship over time, there was an improvement in the quality of the writing of the deaf student and a change in the nature of the contents of the deaf student's entries. Results suggest that for some young deaf writers an exchange of dialogue journals with hearing peers can both improve the writing skills of the deaf writer and develop a relationship between the correspondents. Suggestions for implementing such a program are included.
Conversational Strategies of Teachers Using Three Methods of Communication with Deaf Children
Authors: Power D. J. , Wood D.J. , Wood H.A.
Published: April 2013

Teacher control over conversations with deaf pupils using oral/aural only, signed English or cued speech communication, was related to pupil response, including taking initiative in conversations, misunderstanding the teacher, and length of contributions to the conversation. As teacher control over the conversation and repair of "wrong" contributions increased, pupil initiative and length of contribution decreased and misunderstanding of teachers increased. Different methods of teacher communication produced few differences in response; those that did occur mostly favored pupils of teachers using signed English. Few significant differences were found in the distribution of different types of conversational moves among teachers using the different methods of communication.
Skills Needed for Teaching Hearing-Impaired Adolescents: The Perceptions of Teachers
Authors: Luckner John L.
Published: April 2013

To date, very little research has focused on the preparation of teachers who work with hearing-impaired adolescents. In this study, a survey was developed to glean information on what secondary level teachers judge to be the essential competencies for working with hearing-impaired adolescents. In addition, the questionnaire asked teachers to indicate the degree of training they had received in the competency areas. The surveys were returned by 487 teachers. They indicated that 18 competencies should be considered essential for teaching adolescent students. For 15 of those 18 competencies, however, they indicated that there was a significant difference between the importance of the competency and the degree of training that they had received in the area. Implications for teacher preparation programs and state certification agencies are discussed.
Complete Signed and Cued French: An Original Signed Language-Cued Speech Combination
Authors: Charlier Brigitte L.
Published: April 2013

Over the past 11 years, the Center Comprendre et Parler and the associated Ecole Intégrée of Brussels have developed an original combination of Cued Speech and signs called Complete Signed and Cued French (CSCF). CSCF uses the advantages of both methods while avoiding their drawbacks. The purpose of this practice is to enable deaf children to progress simultaneously in signed and spoken language. The approach is flexible, respects each child's learning rhythm, and ensures that expressive skills do not lag too far behind comprehension abilities. It avoids polemical issues and irrational choices of exclusivity (oralism vs. signs) and prepares access to bilingualism.
Enhancing Parents' Use of SEE-2: Progress and Retention
Authors: Luetke-Stahlman B. , Moeller Mary Pat
Published: April 2013

This study documented the changes in spoken and signed input of five hearing parents to their hearing-impaired children over a 12-month time period. Two baseline sessions per parent were videotaped and analyzed (Moeller & Luetke-Stahlman, 1990), and then two intervention sessions and one retention session were filmed. Parents were seen individually by one author of this study after each session and given feedback on specific characteristics of their communication abilities. Transcription sheets, graphs, and their child's IEP (Individual Educational Plan) objectives were used to help parents target goals for improvement. All parents improved in at least one linguistic area of need, and several parents changed impressively in form, content, and use of Manually Coded English. These improvements allowed the parents to completely and consistently provide comprehensible messages to their children.
Informing Parents About Educational Options: How Well Are We Doing?
Authors: Bernstein Mark E. , Martin Julia
Published: April 2013

This study explores an aspect of information delivery to parents by focusing on those who have chosen residential school placements for their children. Although most parents choose to send their deaf children to special programs in regular public schools, some do opt for residential school placements. Little is known about the foundations on which such decisions are made, and this study is a preliminary attempt to better understand parents' motives and expectations and to assess the adequacy of information provided to them. In 128 surveys from a sample of parents nationwide, a surprising number reported that they were not given information about placement options. Of those who were, many said they were dissatisfied with the information. A large proportion of the parents were satisfied with the residential school. The relationships among their reasons for this placement, their views of the advantages and disadvantages, and the information provided to them are discussed.
Comparing Two Causal Models of Career Maturity for Hearing-Impaired Adolescents
Authors: King Suzanne
Published: April 2013

Conte (1983) suggested that existing theories of career development are inadequate for disabled populations because they fail to take into consideration the special life events and characteristics of people with a disability. The purpose of this study was to determine if Conte's reservations about contemporary theories could be supported by data. To this end, two causal models of career development were developed: one with five variables unique to the experience of the hearing impaired and the other without Using data collected from 71 hearing-impaired adolescents, path analyses were conducted and the two models were compared for their ability to explain variance in career maturity. The results suggest that, although the second model may be more descriptive of the career development process for the deaf, it is no more powerful than the first in explaining variance in career maturity
How Successful Deaf Teenagers Experience and Cope With Isolation
Authors: Charlson Elizabeth , Strong Michael , Gold Ruby
Published: April 2013

This study examined isolation among a group of deaf high school students who were nominated as "outstandingly successful" by their schools in a stratified random sampling from across the United States. From the data contained in 23 case studies, we determined that most of the students, whether from mainstream or residential programs, experienced some degree of isolation from peers or family or both. Nevertheless, most of the students had developed, or had at their disposal, positive strategies for coping with their isolation. These strategies are discussed and implications are drawn for teachers and parents.
Developing the Ability of Hearing-Impaired Students to Comprehend and Generate Question Forms
Authors: LaSasso Carol J.
Published: April 2013

Hearing-impaired students have trouble with question forms, a fact that is well-documented. To date, the implications of this linguistic difficulty on their reading comprehension have been virtually unexplored. This article discusses the importance of questions as a means of acquiring and clarifying information and as a way to develop independent learning processes. The article also discusses roadblocks to learning faced by hearing-impaired students who have difficulty comprehending question forms, especially WH-question forms. Strategies for diagnosing and developing students' ability to understand questions are described, and the importance of parents and teachers working together is explained.
National Survey on Telephone Services and Products: The Views of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People
Authors: Bowe Frank G.
Published: April 2013

A national study of 128 deaf and hard-of-hearing adults aged 18 to 70 years found that they are willing to pay as much as $15 per month for new telephone-based information services, in part because they are frustrated with what they regard as inadequate access to the nation's telecommunications network. The services they most want are "enhanced 911," fire, police, and other life and safety services. A majority wants the telecommunications network equipped with speech recognition capabilities as soon as the state-of-the-art permits, so that they can gain full access to network-based services. These findings suggest that changes in the national telecommunications policy might enhance the lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing adults. Policy changes might also permit them, as well as younger deaf Americans, to benefit more from the recently enacted Americans with Disabilities Act and to benefit more from other rights and services promoting access to work, education, and independent living.
Attitudes Toward Deafness: A Collegiate Perspective
Authors: Coryell Judith , Holcomb Thomas K. , Scherer Marcia
Published: April 2013

The Rochester Institute of Technology is a unique environment; a large number of hearing-impaired students are enrolled on a predominately hearing campus. The authors of this article explored the integration of deaf and hearing students on the campus and the attitudes surrounding deaf-hearing relationships. The major factors that hearing students identified as contributors to positive interaction between the two groups included awareness of cultural diversity, communication sensitivity and development of effective communication skills, structured opportunities for interaction, and mutual accommodation and respect.
Can SEE-2 Children Understand ASL-Using Adults?
Authors: Luetke-Stahlman Barbara
Published: April 2013

Signing Exact English or SEE-2, is one of several invented sign systems currently being used with hearing-impaired children in the United States. The system parallels the morphology of written English and differs from American Sign Language both in terms of the configuration of many of the lexical signs and in grammatical word order. The current study investigated whether students accustomed to an invented sign system could comprehend ASL signed by deaf adults. One group of subjects was exposed to SEE-2 in their day school classrooms. The other group attended residential programs and was exposed to Signed English, PSE and ASL. Both groups observed three videotaped short stories and answered questions following each. Both groups answered approximately 25 percent of the written comprehension questions correctly; their mean scores did not differ significantly. Results of the study suggest that students exposed to SEE-2 and lacking experiences with deaf adults were able to comprehend ASL as well as their peers who attended residential schools.
Students' Perceptions of Communication Ease and Engagement: How They Relate to Academic Success
Authors: Long Gary , Stinson Michael S. , Braeges Judith
Published: April 2013

The extent to which students' self-perceptions of communication ease and engagement relate to their academic achievement was assessed in a study of 95 high school students enrolled in a large urban school for the deaf. Four dimensions of classroom communication were measured: students' understanding of teachers, students' understanding of peers, and positive and negative feelings about communication at school. Engagement , the extent students report being excited and actively involved in the classroom, predicted only teacher-assigned grades when the variance of background variables such as residual hearing and IQ was removed. However, communication ease made a significant contribution to the prediction of the three standardized achievement test scores, as well as grades, when background variance was removed. The results suggest that students are more likely to learn if they perceive themselves as being effective in communicating and have positive feelings about the communication that occurs.
Deaf Adolescents' Metacognitive Knowledge About School-Related Reading
Authors: Strassman Barbara K.
Published: April 2013

Twenty-nine prelingually and profoundly deaf adolescents were interviewed individually to assess their metacognitive knowledge about school-related reading. A descriptive analysis of the data indicated that the students' schemata for school-related reading were largely skillbased and passive. The schemata apparently lacked mature metacognitive knowledge that would enable the students to gain the most from their reading instruction and become more sophisticated independent readers. Further research on classroom reading instruction is needed.
Looking Into a Deaf Child's Future: A Brief Treatment Approach
Authors: Harvey Michael A. , Green Christine L.
Published: April 2013

This article describes the brief psychotherapeutic treatment of a hearing mother who reported obsessional thoughts about her deaf child's future. The article was written jointly by the therapist and the client. Clinical hypnosis was used to modify the mother's negative images of her child's future. Structured meetings between the mother, a vocational counselor, and deaf adults affirmed and expanded the more positive images. Theoretical descriptions and personal sentiments are offered.
Reading Comprehension Test Item Difficulty As a Function of Cognitive Processing Variables
Authors: Garrison Wayne , Dowaliby Fred , Long Gary
Published: April 2013

This study reports the results of a componential analysis of items comprising Sections A and C of Form Z of the reading comprehension portions of the California Achievement Tests (CAT) (Tiegs & Clark, 1963). A set of problem components or attributes characterizing the test items in terms of manifest content, psychologically salient features, and processing demands was developed, including methods for their quantification. The contributions of these components to task difficulty were then evaluated using linear regression methodology. Item difficulty indices were transformations of the familiar proportion-correct item score, obtained from data gathered during the spring of 1989 from 158 deaf examinees. Variation in the item difficulty values was substantially accounted for in terms of a small number of predictor variables (R 2 ≥.90). Implications of the results for construct validity and interpretation of test scores are discussed.
Reading, Writing and the Texas Supplement to the Essential Elements for the Hearing Impaired
Authors: Cowan Shalia H.
Published: April 2013

Students need educational programs which foster maximum development of their personal knowledge, skill, and competence. To accomplish this, they should have access to a well-balanced curriculum, effective instruction and opportunities to succeed. In accordance with this philosophy, the 67th and 68th Legislatures of the State of Texas (1981-1984) established rules and procedures for the implementation of a state basic curriculum. Under this mandate, school districts are required to implement the provisions of these rules in "a manner which will enable all students to participate actively in a well-balanced curriculum and master, to the best of their ability, the knowledge, skills, and competencies established through the essential elements," in order to become accredited by the Texas Education Agency. To meet these requirements and make the goals wholly appropriate for hearing-impaired students in Texas, the Division of Services for the Deaf of the Texas Education Agency developed an in-depth expansion of these state-mandated essential elements in the area of English Language Arts, grades K-8. This expansion, the Supplement to the Essential Elements for the Hearing Impaired (SEE-HI) includes the original language arts essential elements as well as supplemental goals and sub-goals necessary for students who have language deficiencies, especially those caused by hearing loss.
Improvements in the Signing Skills of Hearing Parents of Deaf Children
Authors: Meyers John E. , Bartee James W.
Published: April 2013

Most deaf children are born to hearing parents. Yet, many hearing parents are unable to communicate clearly and unambiguously with their deaf offspring. This study looked at changes in the number of parents of deaf offspring who learn sign language, and the signing skills of those parents. It found that over the years the signing skills of these parents have been improving. Of the younger deaf offspring in this study, 73% reported that their parents knew some sign language. Younger offspring rated their parents' signing skills higher than did older offspring. These results may indicate that more parents are now learning sign language.
Influence and Adaptability in Families With Deaf Parents and Hearing Children
Authors: Rienzi Beth Menees
Published: April 2013

This study assessed the influence of individual family members in functional families, primarily to determine whether hearing children of deaf parents have more influence than do hearing children of hearing parents. Eight families with deaf parents and a hearing child and eight all hearing families were videotaped while planning a family meal together. It was found that deaf-parented families share many traits with hearing families. However, there were some differences. The hearing children of deaf parents had a greater number and percentage of their ideas accepted than did the hearing children of hearing parents. Differences were also noted between the deaf fathers and the hearing fathers. The deaf-parented families were more adaptable, as measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale. The observed difference in child influence, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad. Deafness of one family member, in an auditory dependent environment, may require a more flexible family power structure. Professionals assessing deaf-parented families should be sensitive to the special adaptive needs required for healthy functioning of the family.
An Investigation of Parents' Attitudes and the Communication Skills of Their Deaf Children
Authors: Hadadian Azar , Rose Susan
Published: April 2013

The reciprocity and consequences of parent-child interactions are an important subject of inquiry in child development literature. The majority of studies on deaf children with hearing parents focus on differences in parent-child interactions, which emanate from a number of factors including parental attitudes toward deafness and acceptance of alternative modes of communication. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental attitudes toward deafness and the communication skills of their hearing-impaired children. Whereas the majority of researchers in interactional studies have focused on mothers, both parents were included in this investigation. Significant correlations were found between fathers' scores on the Attitude to Deafness Scale and the language comprehension scores of their deaf children. No significant differences in attitudes were found between mothers and fathers. Similarly, no significant differences were found between the parents of boys and the parents of girls.
Deaf Adolescents Who Drop Out of Local Public Schools
Authors: Kluwin Thomas N. , Kelly Arlene Blumenthal
Published: April 2013

This paper looks at correlates of school attrition in local public school programs. A preliminary survey of attrition and background data on a national sample of 451 deaf adolescents concluded that many of the same factors, including individual ability, local educational values, and certain demographic traits, that predict attrition in general education also apply to deaf education. The movement of students out of their original programs for whatever reason was primarily a regional phenomenon. Programs in the Southeast and the Southwest lost more of their original groups of students than did programs in the Northeast, Midwest, or Far West. The regional variations noted in our data suggest that local values about schooling will influence school attrition in local public school programs for the deaf.
The Prevalence of Boredom Proneness and Depression Among Profoundly Deaf Residential School Adolescents
Authors: Watt John D. , Davis Faith E.
Published: April 2013

We investigated boredom proneness and depression among 50 profoundly deaf residential school adolescents using the Boredom Proneness (BP) scale and a version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) that has been modified for use with deaf subjects. Consistent with previous research, the deaf students had a significantly higher incidence of depression than the hearing students. In addition, the deaf students were found to be significantly more boredom prone than the hearing subjects. The results suggest that deafness not only increases a person's vulnerability to mild levels of depression, but also tends to augment one's tendency toward experiencing boredom. Implications for educational settings and areas for future research are discussed.
The Career Status of Deaf Women: A Comparative Look
Authors: MacLeod-Gallinger Janet E.
Published: April 2013

Discrepancies in labor force, occupation, and earnings outcomes were observed between men and women in a follow-up study of 4,900 deaf high school graduates who had responded to annual surveys conducted from 1982 to 1989. Reasons for the disparities were sought by further examination of the postsecondary programs undertaken, degrees earned, labor force activities, jobs held, and socioeconomic status. Despite efforts to expand career awareness and postsecondary programs for deaf people, deaf women continue to pursue a relatively narrow range of programs, leading to stereotypical female careers. Moreover, when women earn less than a bachelor's degree, they experience high underemployment and unemployment relative to deaf men and hearing peers. Without concerted intervention, this condition may be exacerbated as the labor market demands that workers be more professionally and technically trained in career areas where deaf females are yet underrepresented.
The School-to-Community Transition of Hearing-Impaired Persons With Developmental Disabilities: A Review of the Empirical Literature
Authors: Davis Cheryl , Bullis Michael
Published: April 2013

This article summarizes empirical studies of the school-to-community transition of hearing-impaired persons with developmental disabilities that have been published since 1975. Forty-three sources were located. In addition to summarizing each source, this article discusses the issues related to data collection and interpretation and makes recommendations for future research, development, and evaluation. Analysis of the sources revealed gaps in both the type and focus of the research. Recommendations include conducting more research on this population and publishing more of the results in deafness-related journals, attending to the different needs of mildly versus severely impaired persons, identifying the adult population in need of services, clarifying the terms used to describe the population, scrutinizing assessment data, and developing curriculum materials on transition specifically for this population.
Improving the Validity of the PSNI in Assessing the Performance of Deaf Parents of Hearing Children
Authors: Mallory Barbara L. , Schein Jerome D. , Zingle Harvey W.
Published: April 2013

The content validity of the Parental Strengths and Needs Inventory (PSNI) for evaluating the child-rearing performance of deaf adults was assessed by replicating and extending an earlier cross-sectional descriptive study. Three types of subjects—deaf parents, hearing offspring, and hearing grandparents—provided the research data. The interview responses of 15 parent-child dyads were triangulated with grandparent questionnaire responses to identify parental issues not tapped by the closed-ended PSNI format. The content validity of the PSNI in its present form was found to be inadequate for assessing the strengths and needs of deaf parents. Recommendations for modifying the PSNI for use with deaf parents of hearing children are advanced.
Application of Coping Strategies Developed by Older Deaf Adults to the Aging Process
Authors: Tidball Kaye
Published: April 2013

Adjustment to deafness in early life and its influence on adjustment to the aging process was a major premise for this study. Early life experiences, peer group relationships, social relations, feelings of discrimination and stigmatization, and treatment as a minority group which together have led to the development of adaptive strategies were examined. Using ethnographic research, data was gathered from 22 deaf adults aged 55 to 84. Results indicated the educational programs they attended as children had ramifications throughout their lives. The type of program they had attended was of paramount importance in the participants' development of adaptive strategies, particularly their peer-based society and lifetime friendships which maximized sociability. Participants reported feelings of discrimination, stigmatization and minority group treatment. Nonetheless, their early acceptance of their disability appeared to carry over as the deaf adults approached the aging process.
Intuitive Parenting As a Model for Understanding Parent-Infant Interactions When One Partner Is Deaf
Authors: Koester Lynne Sanford
Published: April 2013

This paper reviews the concept of intuitive parenting, with particular focus on its applicability to parent-infant dyads in which the parent or child is deaf. Although the conceptual model discussed in this paper was developed primarily from observations of hearing dyads, it has the potential to contribute to our understanding of early adaptive processes in other populations as well. Examples of nonconscious or intuitive parental behaviors are presented in terms of the ways they help infants adapt to the postnatal environment and in the later transition from preverbal to verbal stages of development. In addition, implications are drawn for difficulties in parent-infant interactions that may occur as a result of deafness in the parent or child.
Making Adult Education Accessible to the Deaf: A Model of Direct Instructor Communication in ASL
Authors: Berkay Paul J.
Published: April 2013

The purpose of this study was to develop a model of direct communication in American Sign Language for mainstreamed adult education courses. The model uses an individual instruction format with limited lecture time. Data were collected for 23 students (12 hearing and 11 deaf) newly enrolled in a mainstreamed word processing class. They were compared on average hours required to complete an exercise, average rates of attendance, and weekly drop rate. Attendance and drop rates were compared for new and returning students in the mainstreamed class (34 students) and 25 hearing students from a nonmainstreamed class. In addition, the average number of hours required to complete the exercises was compared for 10 new hearing students from the mainstreamed class and 11 new hearing students from the nonmainstreamed class. No significant differences were found in any of the comparisons. The study recommends further research to compare this Direct Instructor Communication Model with other more traditional deaf education models.
Vision Problems Among Students in Schools and Programs for Deaf Children: A Survey of Teachers of Deaf Students
Authors: Prickett Hugh T. , Prickett Jeanne Glidden
Published: April 2013

Vision problems are more common among deaf people than among the general population. Eight percent of the students in schools and programs for deaf children can be expected to have vision problems. We sent questionnaires to institutions and programs for deaf children, requesting information about the extent of vision problems among their students and about their teachers' levels of preparation in the area of vision impairment. Responses were received from 490 teachers. The data confirm that significant numbers of deaf students also have vision problems, and that teachers do not receive adequate training and information to meet the needs of this population.
Cumulative Trauma Disorders Among Educational Interpreters: Contributing Factors and Intervention
Authors: DeCaro James J. , Feuerstein Michael , Hurwitz T. Alan
Published: April 2013

Upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders became a potentially significant occupational hazard among sign language interpreters at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in the 1988-89 academic year. The following case control study was conducted to identify factors that might play a role in developing, exacerbating, and maintaining upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders among interpreters. Investigations were conducted to determine whether medical status, physical capacities, interpreting styles, pain, fatigue, and job stress differed among NTID's sign language interpreters. This report provides a general summary of selected findings as well as a conceptual framework that should help clarify the factors associated with upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders in sign language interpreters. The results indicated that the upper extremity cumulative trauma disorder diagnosed most often is tendinitis rather than a nerve entrapment syndrome (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome). Analysis of the frequency of potential biomechanical risk factors indicated that those reporting pain demonstrated higher frequency of hand and wrist deviations from the neutral position, higher frequency of the upper extremities leaving a predefined workspace, fewer rest breaks during interpreting sessions, and higher evaluator ratings of pace of finger and hand movements. Specific features of interpreting styles were associated with increased pain and fatigue.
Characteristics That Contribute to Effective Simultaneous Communication
Authors: Mallery-Ruganis Dominique , Fischer Susan
Published: April 2013

Simultaneous communication (SC) is commonly used in deaf education. Since it is not always totally successful, it is important to determine what characteristics influence its success. In an earlier study, Stinson, Newell, Castle, Mallery-Ruganis, and Holcomb (1989) identified a number of characteristics deemed important for comprehension, based on interviews with deaf professionals. Our study followed up on the earlier study. Three videotapes used in the previous study were independently measured and evaluated on the basis of the characteristics that had been identified as important Our study largely confirmed the previous findings. What seemed to contribute most to successful SC were clear lip movement, fingerspelled support for potentially ambiguous signs, eye contact, communication of mood and attitude, modality match, and grammatical facial expression. Equally important was the need to match the semantically appropriate sign to the particular sense of an English word rather than use a superficial one-to-one correspondence. In addition, the results suggest that with deletions, the types rather than the number are crucial in determining comprehension and comfort It was also found that the perception of pace does not always match actual pace and that the perception of pace can be influenced by other factors.
Time Engaged in Reading: A Critical Factor in Reading Achievement
Authors: Limbrick E. A. , McNaughton S. , Clay M. M.
Published: April 2013

The reading achievement of deaf children may be low not only as a result of factors related to the hearing loss, such as a lag in language development. Environmental factors such as the quantity and quality of reading instruction, for example, may also cause low reading achievement. This study looked at the amount of time spent reading and the types of teacher interactions during reading instruction in classrooms at a school for deaf children and associated satellite classes in New Zealand. It was found that the deaf children spent very low levels of time engaged in reading and were subjected to teacher interactions that may inhibit the development of meaning-based reading skills. The quantity and quality of reading instruction for deaf children may differ from that experienced by most hearing children in New Zealand.
A Method for Transcribing Signed and Spoken Language
Authors: Johnson Jeanne M. , Rash Shannon J.
Published: April 2013

Transcribing sign communication used simultaneously with spoken English presents investigators with a unique problem: the singular quality of the bimodal communicative interactions cannot be accurately depicted using accepted conventions for recording either spoken or signed language samples. This article proposes guidelines for transcribing such data. The need for guidelines arose during an earlier study of the language development of a hearing child of deaf parents. To meet the immediate needs of that study, rules and conventions from previous studies were combined with newly generated ones, resulting in the guidelines proposed in this article. The guidelines can be applied to data in which intermodal linguistic influence is suspected.
Are We Ready for PL 99-457?
Authors: Bernstein Mark E. , Morrison Melissa E.
Published: April 2013

Public Law 99-457 has renewed interest in providing preschool education for hearing-impaired children. It is not clear, however, whether we're ready for this mandate to expand services to an ever-younger population and its families. This study presents a "snapshot" of the trends in preschool programs and of the availability of programming to students in various parts of the country. We obtained lists of programs from a sample of state level special education offices, and then sent the programs detailed questionnaires. The returned surveys provided a snapshot of the instructional approaches used in many preschool programs and indicated that there may still be some problems in the availability of preschool programming and in the ability of programs to uniformly provide the sorts of quality comprehensive services mandated by the law.
From Drill to Practice?: A Question of Generalization
Authors: Schneiderman Ellen
Published: April 2013

The current study examined the relationship between hearing-impaired students' ( N = 20) ability to write syntactically correct sentences (Noun+Verb+Where and Noun+Verb+Noun) in two formats, one structured and one unstructured. Two sentence-generating tasks were administered as operational measures of the structured format. A story-writing task was administered as an operational measure of the second format. A comparison of student performance across the two formats indicated that students generated more syntactically correct sentences in the structured than the unstructured format. There were very low correlations between the performance on the two formats. The widespread use of structural teaching activities which utilize metalinguistic sentence patterns are discussed. Implications of these findings are discussed in relationship to this widespread practice.