As a consequence of long-lasting experiences of communicative and social deprivation and exclusion, adults who are deaf and have intellectual disabilities must be considered a high-risk group for the development of mental health problems. A therapeutic living community model with special emphasis on social communication development that has been…

Information about cancer, the disease that kills more Americans than any other except heart disease, is essential. In some ways, information is our first line of defense. It allows us to identify individual risk factors, to note when a problem means we should see a professional, and to avoid activities that might put us at risk. However,…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a variety of teaching and learning strategies that were used within a classroom of Deaf adults participating in a high school English course as part of an upgrading program. The class was conducted in a bilingual manner; that is, being Deaf and communicating with American Sign Language (ASL) was not…

Hearing children from deaf families, Codas, represent a relatively invisible linguistic and cultural minority. Many hearing people are unaware of the fact that American Sign Language (ASL) is a separate language with its own grammatical structure unlike that of English. This misconception has led to an emphasis on oral education for deaf people in…

This article describes the development of identity in deaf persons. It examines how deaf people learn to live under special conditions. Data is based on conversations (interviews) with 22 deaf persons. A discussion, grounded in narrative theory, of how the development of self-identity is closely related to interactions with deaf and hearing people…

This article describes the impetus and rationale for the development of the Sign Language Skills Classroom Observation (SLSCO) assessment. The procedure for developing the SLSCO is discussed and the results of use of the SLSCO with National Technical Institute for the Deaf faculty (n=14) during a trial year are summarized. (Contains references.)…

This case study describes a 25-year-old Swedish woman with hereditary moderate hearing loss since birth who acquired both sign language and spoken language in her early preschool years and reached normal developmental milestones in each. Analysis revealed that her speech reading expertise is associated with cognitive functions such as high…

This paper describes the need for and the structure of a socialization program designed to provide a social environment for five deaf adults with developmental disabilities residing in two different group homes. The program was developed to address the isolation experienced by such adults living in a community with others who do not use sign…

The pilot six-week program helped five deaf-blind adults develop techniques for increased community participation including coping and problem solving, in-hand American Sign Language interpreting, Braille, Braille writers, tactilely marked appliances, mobility, and group sharing. (DB)

Language intervention approaches were built into a residential environment for 13 women with severe mental retardation. Two residents were assigned to an intensive signing program, two to an "Intro-talker and signing" group, and the remaining residents to various comparison-intervention and comparison groups. Increases in positive communicative…