The field of K-12 deaf education today continues to be fractured by ideological camps. A newcomer to the field quickly learns that the controversies related to language, communication, and instructional approaches continue to rage after almost 200 years of contentious debate. Much attention is given to auditory and speech development as well as…

Author and husband, Roger Williams, is hearing and signs fluently, and author and wife, Sherry Williams, is deaf and uses both speech and signs, although she is most comfortable signing. As parents of six children--deaf and hearing--they are determined to encourage their children to do their best, and they always set their expectations high. They…

Deaf students with significant disabilities face unique challenges with state standards and grade-level expectations. Their teachers, too, face unique challenges. Material making, breaking concepts and tasks down into component parts, providing time and motivational opportunities for developing background knowledge and foundational skills, and…

At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the Alaska State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASSDHH) was informed that they had met Alaska's Annual Yearly Progress as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for the first time ever. This was incredibly exciting and worth celebrating since teachers had invested so much "blood, sweat, and…

Learning to write is an arduous undertaking for every student; for deaf and hard of hearing students, it can be particularly difficult. Too often, they arrive in school with minimal literacy skills, experience subsequent difficulties in writing standard English, and, unfortunately, still graduate with reading levels below those of their hearing…

People cannot protect their children--hard of hearing, deaf, or hearing--from exposure to evil. The prevalence of evil, perhaps especially ordinary evil, is particularly high for those with disabilities, including hard of hearing and deaf people. Everybody bears witness to ordinary evil, or will do so in the not-too-distant future, despite good…

Bullying happens everywhere--in residential settings, schools, neighborhoods, and even at home with siblings or relatives. Bullying can occur within the deaf school community as well. Students can be victimized in the hallways and playgrounds, and residential students can be victimized in the dormitories. Bullies typically target children they see…