The Education of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: Perspectives on Language and Literacy Development

• Main Author: Paul, Peter V. (auth)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2020
• Subjects: Psychology; english learner (EL); English language development; cued speech; reading interventions; age of acquisition; language; deaf multilingual learner (DML); reading instruction; assessment; language development; demography; professional literature review; signing systems; d/Deaf and hard of hearing children with additional disabilities; learning disabilities; deaf with disabilities; autism spectrum disorder; deafness; simple view of reading; cochlear implants; d/Deaf and hard of hearing children; sign bilingualism; biopsychosocial systems theory; writing interventions; d/Deaf and hard of hearing students; inclusive education classroom; literacy; reading development; d/Deaf and hard of hearing; d/Deaf and hard of hearing multilingual learners; critical period for language; English literacy development; American Sign Language; deaf; writing development; developmental framework; language and literacy; intellectual disabilities; spoken language development; simple view of writing; writing instruction; deafblind; listening and spoken language; cognition; d/Deaf multilingual learners; developmental similarity hypothesis; hard of hearing; ableism; deaf education; American sign language assessment; digital hearing aids
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

A significant number of d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) children and adolescents experience challenges in acquiring a functional level of English language and literacy skills in the United States (and elsewhere). To provide an understanding of this issue, this book explores the theoretical underpinnings and synthesizes major research findings. It also covers critical controversial areas such as the use of assistive hearing devices, language, and literacy assessments, and inclusion. Although the targeted population is children and adolescents who are d/Dhh, contributors found it necessary to apply our understanding of the development of English in other populations of struggling readers and writers such as children with language or literacy disabilities and those for whom English is not the home language. Collectively, this information should assist scholars in conducting further research and enable educators to develop general instructional guidelines and strategies to improve the language and literacy levels of d/Dhh students. It is clear that there is not a 'one-size-fits-all' concept, but, rather, research and instruction should be differentiated to meet the needs of d/Dhh students. It is our hope that this book stimulates further theorizing and research and, most importantly, offers evidence- and reason-based practices for improving language and literacy abilities of d/Dhh students.