Cued Speech is a system that manually codes the phonemic patterns of spoken languages for visual accessibility. Since its inception, this system has transitioned from a support for speech reading to the current use of home language and literacy development. While controversial in some sectors within the field of Deaf education and the Deaf…

The purpose of this research project was to design, deliver, and informally assess the content and methodology of an introductory online course for the educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students (N=20) that focused on the block-based coding language, Scratch. Prior work by The Playful Learning Lab examined various STEM resources and their…

This article concerns online data capture using survey methods when the target population(s) comprise not just of several different language-using groups, but additionally populations who may be multilingual and whose total language repertoires are commonly employed in meaning-making practices--commonly referred to as translanguaging. It addresses…

Social skills are a vehicle by which individuals negotiate important relationships. The present article presents historical data on how social skills in deaf students were conceptualized and studied empirically during the period 1990-2015. Using a structured literature review approach, the researchers coded 266 articles for theoretical frameworks…

Purpose: We present the first study of echolalia in deaf, signing children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We investigate the nature and prevalence of sign echolalia in native-signing children with ASD, the relationship between sign echolalia and receptive language, and potential modality differences between sign and speech. Method: Seventeen…

Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) is a thriving national sign language used by tens of thousands of signers in Kenya, and which emerged out of two deaf schools in western Kenya in the early 1960s. In this thesis, I provide a thorough description and analysis of the basic phonological components of the KSL lexicon used in the southwestern region of Kenya…

The transition to school can be a complicated process for families of children with exceptionalities (Janus, Lefort, Cameron, & Kopechanski, 2007). Little is known about the transition to school specifically for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). The aim of this study was to examine the communication that occurred among early…

The study examined the experiences of hearing managers of Deaf restaurant employees regarding accommodation and social integration. Deaf workers who use American Sign Language have diff erent social and accommodation needs than hearing coworkers, but most hearing managers are unfamiliar with these needs. Using stigma theory to frame issues of…

The view of sign languages as bounded systems is often important for deaf community empowerment and for pedagogical practice in terms of supporting deaf children's language acquisition and second language learners' communicative competence. Conversely, the notion of translanguaging in the American Sign Language (ASL) community highlights a number…

This qualitative study investigated the academic, community, and family experiences of adults who are profoundly deaf. The deaf adults were categorized as high-achieving by having attended college post-high school. The intent of this study is to give teachers, parents, and other deaf students, insight into the factors responsible for contributing…

Background: Deafness has an adverse impact on children's ability to acquire spoken languages. Signed languages offer a more accessible input for deaf children, but because the vast majority are born to hearing parents who do not sign, their early exposure to sign language is limited. Deaf children as a whole are therefore at high risk of language…

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…

Deaf children whose hearing losses prevent them from accessing spoken language and whose hearing parents have not exposed them to sign language develop gesture systems, called "homesigns", which have many of the properties of natural language--the so-called resilient properties of language. We explored the resilience of structure built…

Families with children who are deaf face many important decisions, especially the mode(s) of communication their children will use. The purpose of this focus group study was to better understand the experiences and recommendations of families who chose American Sign Language (ASL) as their primary mode of communication and to identify strategies…

Handshape works differently in nouns versus a class of verbs in American Sign Language (ASL) and thus can serve as a cue to distinguish between these two word classes. Handshapes representing characteristics of the object itself ("object" handshapes) and handshapes representing how the object is handled ("handling" handshapes)…