For families and educators, understanding and working with children who experience a combination of deafness and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be challenging. Yet both understanding and work are crucial. For children with ASD to succeed, parents and educators need to understand them and to be able to work together to implement successful…

This study investigates the personal communication memories and experiences of adult deaf people during their childhoods in their homes. In order to obtain relevant information in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty four Cypriot deaf individuals between the ages of 19 to 54 years with different family and school…

It often comes as a surprise to people that many deaf people refer to themselves as being members of Deaf culture. The American Deaf culture is a unique linguistic minority that uses American Sign Language (ASL) as its primary mode of communication. This tipsheet provides a description of Deaf culture and suggestions for effective communication.

Communication strategies essential to make lesson content clear and visible when using sign language with deaf students are described. The strategies include getting students' attention, not overloading students with confusing visual stimuli, allowing students time to absorb visual information thoroughly, and carefully differentiating between…

This guide to teaching speechreading skills to deaf elementary grade children offers an experiential, synthetic (rather than analytic) approach to acquisition of receptive spoken language through realistic and meaningful activities. Introductory material considers the importance of practice in speech reading, ways to individualize the activities…

This paper offers a rationale for the use of conversational approaches to teach language to deaf students, encourages teachers to reexamine how they teach and how they structure their classrooms and curriculums, and describes activities that teachers can use to encourage conversation in their classrooms. (Author/JDD)

The curriculum was developed to help hearing impaired high school students understand hearing loss and its effects on communication skills as well as to develop strategies and find resources for building communication skills. Course materials are divided into six sections: (1) sound and hearing (concepts of sound, the anatomy and physiology of the…

This article describes a dialog writing project which has involved hundreds of deaf students exchanging journals with hearing peers. A class of hearing-impaired students is paired with students from a general classroom, and dialog journals are physically exchanged. Practical pointers for developing and implementing the program are given. (DB)

Problems faced by deaf students developing social skills are discussed, and suggestions are provided for what teachers can do to specifically cultivate these skills. Teacher modeling, cooperative learning, and the integration of social skills lessons into other class lessons and activities are recommended, with sample activities and references to…

This collection of conference presentation handouts covers various aspects of helping parents of deaf children to become facilitators of conversational skill development. The handouts include: definitions of "pragmatics" and "conversations"; a listing of characteristics of a successful adolescent conversationalist; an…

This digest uses a question-and-answer format to address issues that parents should consider when thinking about the total communication (TC) approach for a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Total communication is explained as the use of any/all modes of communication (manual, oral, auditory, and written) depending on the needs of the child.…

This article dispels myths about deafness and provides teachers with a list of academic accommodations for students who are deaf. The accommodations primarily emphasize the visual aspects of communication that are important when teaching students irrespective of their level of hearing loss. World Wide Web resources are also provided. (Contains…

This digest discusses hearing loss in children. Topics covered include: (1) the causes of hearing loss and the three major types of hearing losses, conductive loss, sensorineural loss, and central auditory processing disorder; (2) the federal definitions of "deaf" (hearing loss which adversely affects educational performance and which is…

This in-service training package is designed to assist disability services staff, faculty, and staff members of postsecondary institutions in serving students with hearing impairments. It explains hearing loss and its effects on a student's education, demonstrates assistive technologies, and offers communication strategies. The package includes:…

This resource guide for classroom teachers provides an overview of the needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Topics include: (1) range of hearing loss, educational implications, and sample audiograms; (2) preparing to teach students who are hard of hearing or deaf; (3) needs of learners who are hard of hearing or deaf; (4) sample…