Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are just like other students except they do not hear as well. They come in all shapes and sizes and call themselves by many names such as: deaf, hard of hearing, or hearing impaired. Just remember the student is a person first--and should be treated the same as anyone else. The biggest issue a residence…

The development of the oral interpreter for speechreading assistance to deaf and hard of hearing individuals is reviewed; desired characteristics and skills are outlined (including attitudes, knowledge, and curriculum offerings); and a seven-item code of ethics developed by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf is presented. (CL)

The article reviews a study of interactions among deaf children, their parents and teachers which points out the need for developing early and ongoing contact with the deaf community. It is stressed that English and American Sign Language be given equal status in the classroom. (CL)

This paper examines the special considerations involved in selecting a speech perception test battery for young deaf children. The auditory-only tests consisted of closed-set word identification tasks and minimal-pairs syllable tasks. Additional tests included identification of words in sentences, open-set word recognition, and evaluation of…

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…

Reviewed is the historical development of tactile aids to supplement speechreading by hearing-impaired individuals, from early use of bone conduction vibrators driven by hearing aids, to multichannel tactile aids representing the full speech spectrum and tactile speechreading aids complementing visual cues. Adequate training in use of tactile…

The aim of this booklet is to: (1) help prepare British teachers for the challenge of having a hearing-impaired child in regular classes; (2) provide practical advice for these teachers to use in the classroom; and (3) suggest further sources of information and reading. Chapters provide information on: support services for hearing impaired…

Eye disorders most likely to be experienced by a hearing-impaired person are described, with an explanation of how speechreading performance might be impacted. Recommendations are offered to assist visually impaired speechreaders, through consideration of optimal viewing angles, lighting conditions, use of low vision aids, etc. (JDD)

Hearing-impaired speechreaders use linguistic context to compensate for the poor visibility of some speech movements. Constraints on spoken language enhance speechreading performance and help compensate for the paucity of sensory data. The largest effects come from linguistic constraints imposed by sentence context--syntactic, semantic, and…

Communication competence for hearing-impaired individuals who use speechreading involves understanding nonverbal cues, making communication needs known, using alternative strategies, and using component skills effectively. Speechreading training should include real-life simulations, situational role-playing, and modeling of difficult situations…

This paper, discussing use of electrical stimulation by postlingually deafened adults to supplement speechreading, focuses on: information conveyed by vision, acoustic information needed to resolve visual confusions, basic psychophysical abilities of cochlear implant patients, auditory-alone and audiovisual perception by cochlear-implant patients,…

Based on a program developed to help the integration of deaf persons into the world of work, this manual is intended to familiarize adult basic education (ABE) teachers with the special needs of deaf persons. Information is provided to answer questions such as: (1) What is so different about deaf students? (2) What is "deaf culture"? (3)…

This paper explains how the hearing loss of deaf persons affects communication, describes methods deaf individuals use to communicate, and addresses the role of interpreters in the communication process. The volume covers: communication methods such as speechreading or lipreading, written notes, gestures, or sign language (American Sign Language,…

This booklet presents knowledge, attitudes, and educational ideas on how to give deaf children the support they need to develop. It focuses on the fundamental and comprehensive needs of deaf children, using methods and ideas that can be adjusted to countries without great technical resources. The first chapter examines the importance of language…