Vygotsky's (1993) "Fundamentals of Defectology" is a radical's handbook of deaf and disability studies. Vygotsky's overall research program views disabilities, including deafness, from an integrated biosocial and critical theory standpoint. In two movements, I introduce an "American Annals of the Deaf Special Issue" on…

The African worldview of Ubuntu predates Vygotskian theory, but the Ubuntu view that the community defines the person aligns uncannily with Vygotsky's biosocial proposition and contemporary conceptions of deaf ontology and epistemology. Unlike prevailing Euro-American thought, Ubuntu accentuates the view that it is not any physical or…

Deaf education research and practice have not always lived up to the ideal of improving deaf students' lives. Consequently, we have constructed novel arguments supporting deaf pedagogy using pragmatic ethics, the aim of which is to increase benefit and decrease harm to individuals and society. The ideal of "harm reduction" asks the…

Children, including those who are deaf, become aware of and learn about their environments through playing and social and cultural interactions. For most deaf children, preschool classrooms are optimal spaces for these interactions to occur, but only if they can fully engage with this environment. We discuss the need for and constituent aspects of…

In U.S. deaf education, disablement results from a normative interpretation of disability in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. However, Vygotsky's "Fundamentals of Defectology" (1993) allows educators to view current deaf education pedagogical practices through a sociocultural-constructivist lens and reject the current…

Lev Vygotsky (1993) described deaf ontology as dynamic interactions that uniquely but inexorably synthesize biology and society. The "deaf biosocial condition" is a deceptively simple theory. Principally, it clarifies imbricated issues of axiology, power, and knowledge by centering positive adaptive compensations that sublate deafness.…

In this concluding article of an "American Annals of the Deaf" Special Issue, we draw on Vygotsky's "Fundamentals of Defectology" to argue that the essence of deaf pedagogy is not centered on constructing deaf students' hearing abilities but on a biosocial orientation that considers the whole multimodal child with unfettered…

This study investigated writing achievement in a Canadian cohort of school-aged deaf learners (N = 64). In the current context, in which most students are educated in inclusive settings and use hearing technologies, the goal was to establish whether outcomes approach those of hearing-age peers and identify demographic factors (e.g., gender, grade,…

The language wars have driven decision-making and educational options for D/deaf and hard of hearing children for over a century, yet we still have not made sufficient progress in closing the linguistic and educational gaps between D/deaf and hard of hearing children and their hearing peers. Perhaps it is time to abandon the bifurcated approach…

The literacy development of d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) children has always been a matter of grave concern among educators, and grammatical knowledge is said to constitute a major component such development. The present article reports on a study that examined the development of Chinese grammar among groups of d/Dhh and hearing children who…

Deaf and hard of hearing (d/DHH) students are often labeled with one or more educationally significant disabilities in addition to their hearing loss. According to the Gallaudet Research Institution's most recent Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Youth (2013), almost 40% of d/DHH students nationwide receive special education…

The discussion on the role of American Sign Language (ASL) in deaf students' reading development has been long and contentious. The students' limited knowledge of English has been commonly perceived as a culprit in making reading difficult. However, a more nuanced explanation of reading performance and its relationship with competence in ASL's…

Few studies exist on the reading habits of the deaf population, and most of those that do were published more than 20 years ago. Hence, changes in reading habits due to the availability to the deaf population of online reading material and portable electronic devices have likely occurred. Additionally, in the hearing population, confinement causes…

For much of the history of deaf education, spoken language bilingualism was not considered a viable goal. It was believed that given the challenges of meaningful auditory access, age-appropriate development in even one language would be daunting. However, implementation of universal newborn hearing screening during the early 2000s, along with…

The authors examine the effects of American Sign Language (ASL) on English reading achievement and English reading comprehension. A systematic review of relevant primary research and researchintegrated journal articles was conducted. Based on interpretations of a few salient articles and other sources (e.g., books) selected in a professional…