scholarly journals Signing and the Brain: The Importance of Early Education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaimie Hong ◽  
Rosemari Nam ◽  
Elizabeth DeMott
Keyword(s):  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Universal Language ◽  
Poor Outcomes ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
The Brain

Language skills are developed as one is exposed to auditory input from birth to adolescence. However, a majority of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals do not receive adequate—or appropriate—guidance from their parents at an early age. Since the brain develops significantly during the early years of childhood, children need robust and persistent instruction to develop the ability to recognize language. DHH children who lack the ability to perceive audio and spoken language, the universal language format, have poor outcomes in the future. In fact, hearing-disabled Americans are more likely to be unemployed, imprisoned, or have poor physical health. This paper will discuss the obstacles DHH people face in society as well as introduce a program to improve the standard of living for the deaf community. It will focus on preventative methods, most importantly, the adoption of a visual language, to protect DHH children from facing major neurological issues that would intrude on their ability to communicate with others fluently. 

Establishing a Bimodal Bilingual Co-Enrollment Program in Germany: Preconditions, Policy, and Preliminary Data

2019 ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
Johannes Hennies ◽  
Kristin Hennies
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Preliminary Data ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
The Political ◽  
Bilingual Programs ◽  
Regular School ◽  
Schools For The Deaf ◽  
Hearing Children

In 2016, the first German bimodal bilingual co-enrollment program for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students, CODAs, and other hearing children was established in Erfurt, Thuringia. There is a tradition of different models of co-enrollment for DHH children in a spoken language setting in Germany, but there has been no permanent program for co-enrollment of DHH children who use sign language so far. This program draws from the experience of an existing model in Austria to enroll a group of DHH children using sign language in a regular school and from two well-documented bimodal bilingual programs in German schools for the deaf. The chapter describes the preconditions for the project, the political circumstances of the establishment of bimodal bilingual co-enrollment, and the factors that seem crucial for successful realization.

scholarly journals Adoption of the sign language with deaf and hard of hearing preschool children

Bastina ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 513-535
Author(s):  
Tamara Kovačević ◽  
Ljubica Isaković
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
The Family ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Hearing Children

This study analyses the process of adopting of the sign language with deaf and hard of hearing preschool children in the context of the result of linguistic and psycholinguistic research. The importance of the sign language is emphasized and its historical development is analyzed. It is pointed to the significance of the critical period for the adoption and the learning of the sign and spoken language with deaf and hard of hearing preschool children. The sign language is natural and primary linguistic expression of deaf children. Deaf and hard of hearing children are exposed to the sign and spoken language, they have better understanding and linguistic production than the children who are only exposed to the spoken language. Bilingualism involves the knowledge and the regular use of the sign language, which is used by the deaf community, and of the spoken language, which is used by the hearing majority. Children at the preschool age should be enabled to continue to adopt the language they started to adopt within the family (the sign language or the spoken language). Children will adopt the best both linguistic modalities through the interaction with other fluent speakers (the adults and children).

Deaf Studies in Learning and Cognition

2020 ◽  
pp. xviii-17
Author(s):  
Marc Marschark ◽  
Harry Knoors
Keyword(s):  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Individual Family ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Cognition And Learning ◽  
Learning And Cognition ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
The Brain

The intersection of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience with regard to deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals recently has received increasing attention from academic and educational audiences. Research and pedagogy associated with this nexus have focused largely on questions about whether DHH children learn in the same ways as hearing children, how signed languages and spoken languages might affect different aspects of cognition and cognitive development, and ways in which hearing loss influences the way that the brain processes and retains information. Frequently overlooked are interactions among various developmental and cognitive factors, as well as ways in which they are influenced by various individual, family, and environmental factors. This chapter addresses several areas of research on cognition and learning among DHH individuals, identifying gaps in our knowledge, illuminating some faulty assumptions, and pointing out broader implications of similarities and differences in DHH and hearing individuals of theoretical and practical interest.

scholarly journals The Effect of Syntactic Impairment on Errors in Reading Aloud: Text Reading and Comprehension of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 896
Author(s):  
Ronit Szterman ◽  
Naama Friedmann
Keyword(s):  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Reading Aloud ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Syntactic Movement ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Reading Errors ◽  
Text Reading ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Parallel Texts

Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children show difficulties in reading aloud and comprehension of texts. Here, we examined the hypothesis that these reading difficulties are tightly related to the syntactic deficit displayed by DHH children. We first assessed the syntactic abilities of 32 DHH children communicating in spoken language (Hebrew) aged 9;1–12;2. We classified them into two groups of DHH children—with and without a syntactic deficit according to their performance in six syntactic tests assessing their comprehension and production of sentences with syntactic movement. We also assessed their reading at the single word level using a reading aloud test of words, nonwords, and word pairs, designed to detect the various types of dyslexia, and established, for each participant, whether they had dyslexia and of what type. Following this procedure, 14 of the children were identified with a syntactic deficit, and 15 with typical syntax (3 marginally impaired); 22 of the children had typical reading at the word level, and 4 had dyslexia (3 demonstrated sublexical reading). The main experiment examined reading aloud and comprehension of 6 texts with syntactic movement (which contained, e.g., relative clauses and topicalized sentences), in comparison to 6 parallel texts without movement. The results indicated a close connection between syntactic difficulties and errors in reading aloud and in comprehension of texts. The DHH children with syntactic deficit made significantly more errors in reading aloud and more comprehension errors than the DHH children with intact syntax (and than the hearing controls), even though most of them did not have dyslexia at the word level. The DHH children with syntactic deficit made significantly more reading errors when they read texts with syntactic movement than on matched texts without movement. These results indicate that difficulties in text reading, manifesting both in errors in reading aloud and in impaired comprehension, may stem from a syntactic deficit and may occur even when reading at the word level is completely intact.

Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Multilingual Learners

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Crowe
Keyword(s):  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Transnational Mobility ◽  
Therapy Services ◽  
The Impact

With nearly 8,000 languages used in the world and increasing levels of transnational mobility, the cultural and linguistic heterogeneity of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) learners accessing education and therapy services has never been greater. This growing diversity creates a challenge for educators and clinicians who work with these children and their families, especially where DHH learners are exposed to or acquiring more than one spoken language. Spoken language multilingualism in DHH learners is an area in which research knowledge is gradually increasing but evidence-based practices for intervention and education are rarely described. This chapter presents information describing the increasing linguistic diversity and spoken language multilingualism of DHH learners and research concerning the advantages and disadvantages of multilingualism. The current research describing the speech and language skills of multilingual DHH learners is discussed with reference to the impact of multilingualism on learners’ outcomes.

The Influence of Signs on Spoken Word Learning by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian van Berkel-van Hoof
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Communication Aids ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Schools For The Deaf ◽  
Hearing Children

This chapter focuses on factors that support word learning for both hearing and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. Vocabulary development is first discussed in hearing children and then DHH children. The chapter suggests several interventions for improving DHH children’s language skills and reviews studies on the efficacy of sign-supported speech for word learning. Sign-supported speech is frequently used in schools for the deaf in the Netherlands. Professionals working with DHH children indicate that this helps the children to better understand the spoken message; however, it is unclear whether this mode of communication aids spoken word learning. Implications for educational practice and future directions are discussed.

Discussion of Issues Related to Assessing Signed or Spoken Language in Children with Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 185-192
Author(s):  
Carol-Anne Murphy ◽  
Pauline Frizelle ◽  
Cristina McKean ◽  
David Quintos-Pozos
Keyword(s):  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Issues regarding assessment of the deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) child with developmental language disorder (DLD) have implications for the assessment of the child with DLD who is not D/HH. Of note are suggestions regarding literacy, the potential for semantic fluency assessment to contribute to the identification of DLD, the use of standardized protocols to support assessment at the conversational level, and the necessary skills of those completing assessments. Similarly, issues in assessment and identification of children with DLD who are not D/HH have implications for practice with children who are D/HH. These include the shift from exclusionary approaches to identification and recognition of co-occurring conditions, addressing the impact of development over time and considering the contribution of dynamic assessment. This chapter is a joint discussion of key items related to the assessment of deaf and hearing children with a developmental language disorder that were presented in Chapters 5.1 and 5.2.

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