Evidence is presented for the qualitative similarity hypothesis (QSH) with respect to children and adolescents who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. The primary focus is on the development of English language and literacy skills, and some information is provided on the acquisition of English as a second language. The QSH is briefly discussed within…

Literatures is both a rich resource and a blunt instrument in conveying the complexities of identity, in particular, the elusive "deaf identity". The rarity of the fully realized deaf person in memoir and fiction shapes the way readers regard deaf people and throws up fresh challenges in redesigning stories of deafness free of the taint of…

The standard epistemology requires the use of hard science to gain knowledge and discover the truth. In contrast, Deaf epistemology relies heavily on personal testimonies, personal experiences, and personal accounts to document knowledge. In recent years, a number of deaf schools have adopted deaf-centric policies shaped by Deaf epistemology in an…

Epistemology is examined from two different perspectives within the framework of a broader evolutionary epistemology. Within this framework, reality is not absolute, and truth is a relative concept. People construct individual or personal epistemologies through their experiences, and develop or receive group or socially constructed epistemologies…

Deaf epistemology constitutes the nature and extent of the knowledge that deaf individuals acquire growing up in a society that relies primarily on audition to navigate life. Deafness creates beings who are more visually oriented compared to their auditorily oriented peers. How hearing individuals interact with deaf individuals shapes how deaf…

Infants enter the world prepared to learn about their environments and to become effective social partners, while most parents are equally prepared to support these early emergent skills. Through subtle, non-conscious behaviors, parents guide their infants in the regulation of emotions, language acquisition, and participation in social exchanges.…

The author profiles the prevalence, severity, and characteristics of victimization among a group of youths with hearing loss presenting to substance abuse treatment. Intake data on 111 deaf and hard of hearing youths (42% female) were analyzed and compared with data from a weighted, gender-matched sample of hearing youths. After gender is…

In Brazil, recent regulations require changes in private and public health systems to make special services available to deaf patients. In the present article, the researchers analyze the perceptions of 25 sign language-using patients regarding this assistance. The researchers found communication difficulties between these patients and health…

Vocabulary is essential for communicating, reading, thinking, and learning. In comparison to typical hearing peers, students who are deaf or hard of hearing demonstrate vocabulary knowledge that is quantitatively reduced. The authors review and summarize research studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1967 and 2008 focusing on…

The position of deaf people in the Swedish labor market is described and analyzed. A population of 2,144 people born from 1941 to 1980 who attended special education programs for the deaf was compared to 100,000 randomly chosen individuals from the total Swedish population born during the same period. Data on these individuals consisted of…

The authors describe and compare how physical education classes and healthy lifestyle concepts are taught in selected Czech and U.S. schools for the deaf. Professionals who participated in the study included principals and teachers employed by 4 schools for the deaf. Data from schools were collected during the summer and fall semesters, and…

Deaf adults' access to smoking cessation programs is limited due to cultural, linguistic, and geographic barriers. Web-based stop-smoking interventions have demonstrated cessation rates comparable to other interventions. The Internet is widely used by Deaf adults, but difficulties with online English text remain. We found no published accounts of…

Specific characteristics of early literacy environments support hearing children's emergent literacy. The researchers investigated these characteristics' role in emergent literacy in young deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, using the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO; M. W. Smith, Dickinson, Sangeorge, &…

An orientation to autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), also known as autism, is provided, and the specific syndrome of autism and deafness is addressed. The two conditions have in common a major problem: communication. Case histories are provided, the development of treatment for autism is discussed, and the separate disorders that make up ASD are…

Mounting evidence points to joint attention as a mediating variable in children's adaptive behavior. Joint attention in interactions between hearing mothers and congenitally deaf (n = 27) and hearing (n = 29) children, ages 18-36 months, was examined. All deaf children had severe to profound hearing loss. Mother-child interactions were coded for…