Six deaf adults defined quality of life (QOL) in personal interviews. Questions were based on an eight-domain QOL framework: physical well-being, emotional well-being, interpersonal relations, social inclusion, personal development, material well-being, self-determination, and rights (Schalock & Alonso, 2002). The interview process had three…

Adopting a social constructionist framework, the authors conducted a synthetic discourse analysis to explore how people living in Australia with deafness construct their experience of deafness. An online forum facilitated access and communication between the lead author and 24 widely dispersed and linguistically diverse forum contributors. The…

This paper summarizes, integrates and evaluates the literature on adventitious deafness. Issues explored include: a comparison of congenital and adventitious deafness, psychiatric problems among late-deafened individuals, effects of acquired deafness on identity and personal control, and adventitious deafness among the elderly. (Author/PB)

Reviews four articles that suggest consensus on the thesis that the deaf, as a minority culture, should provide information on deaf culture to helping professionals. Urges inclusion of relevant information about the deaf in the next revision of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." (Author/CR)

A study investigated the presence of three types of deaf identities (culturally deaf, culturally hearing, and bicultural) in 267 adults who are deaf. A subset of 56 people were interviewed. Qualified support was found for the prediction that people with culturally deaf and bicultural identities would have higher self-esteem. (Contains references.)…