The authors report on a national survey of administrators and program specialists at 43 state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies concerning the impact of federal employment legislation and rehabilitation policies on the provision of services to consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing. The article focuses on 5 initiatives enacted to enhance…

This article urges fundamental educational change for children with hearing impairments. It offers a new paradigm based on legal recognition of the primacy of communication in any educational delivery system. Components of such communication-based delivery systems are identified and applied in a hypothetical case. Advantages and cost benefits of…

The paper specifies standards for personnel and school programs of the Conference of Educational Administration Serving the Deaf providing assessment and education for hearing impaired children. Major sections address background and definitional concerns; qualifications for professionals; assessment needs; program options and patterns; and…

The incidence of hearing impairments caused by meningitis (8.7% of which 63% have profound hearing loss) suggests that universal vaccination at age 18 months could prevent at least 115 cases of hearing loss anuually in the United States. Reported prevalence rates were higher for blacks and for males. (Author/DB)

A nationwide survey examined the attitudes and opinions of 203 professionals regarding parent-professional involvement in the planning and implementation of goals and services for hearing-impaired infants and toddlers and their families, as required under Public Law 99-457, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments (1986). Respondents…

An outsider to the field of deaf education questions the seeming ambiguousness in terminology, lack of scientific research, continuing controversies, and lack of definitive answers. Questions concern such issues as the difference between "Deaf" and "deaf" and the feasibility of the American Sign Language/English-as-a-Second-Language proposal.…

The article examines the depressed academic achievement of deaf children from Black and Hispanic minority groups and notes implications concerning educational assessment, placement, student expectations, curriculum development, staffing, and policymaking. Demographic data are also provided. (Author/DB)

This survey of 39 state boards of education and state schools for the hearing impaired found that policies regarding HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) vary in comprehensiveness from brief paragraphs to detailed instructions. Many policies were judged to provide insufficient guidance for the residential…

This article documents the wide variation in terminology used by the U.S. Department of Education and the 50 states in gathering data on deaf and hard-of-hearing children and in determining eligibility for services. Recommendations for achieving uniformity in defining and applying the terms "deaf" and "hard of hearing" are offered. (Author/DB)