• Aristotle: no speech, no knowledge
• IQ: lack of understanding English
• Religious salvation: deaf kids must read and write
• 1st school: Benedictine monastery in Spain - San Salvadora de Ona; Pedro Ponce de León (monk, silent, signs) – “1st teacher” of Valesco brothers (Pedro & Francisco).  Fingerspellingàwritingàspeech
• Abbé de l’Epée: French priest, methodical signs, shared methods freely
• Abbé Roch: Ambroise Sicard (successor); student: Jean-Massieu (head assistant); Paris
• Thomas Braidwood: Great Britain; based work off of William Holder, John Wallis, and Henry Baker (1st professional teachers in England); Edinburg private school; family business; secrecy
• T.H. Gallaudet: Alice; Connecticut; Europe trip to learn methods; Braidwoods resisted; met Laurent Clerc; back to USA; ASD in 1817, Hartford, Conn.; E.M. Gallaudet (son of T.H.); strong emphasis on ASL; “Combined Method”
• Oralism: 1680; George Dalgarno: “eyes can compensate for lack of hearing;” repetitive exposure to English;
• AGB: deaf mother; invented telephone for language instruction of the deaf; outlawed deaf marriage to deaf; teachings based on Dalgarno; spread his teaching methods in the American Annals of the Deaf in 1883; Oral schools in US around 1860s; eliminate segregation, sign language, and deaf teachers (1884)
• OralismàManualismàIntuitive ApproachàRochester MethodàCued SpeechàTotal CommunicationàSEEàNatural Signs (bi-bi)àAuditory Verbal TherapyàASL
• Structured, Natural, and Combined methods: pages18-24
• Advances in Medical Technology: voice recognition technology, CI, hearing aids
• Culture is an important part of language learning
• ASL allows for complete communication access
• Legislation: Education for ALL Handicapped Children Act (EHA), free, appropriate, public education (FAPE), IDEA, IEPs, IFSPs, LRE, ADA
• Summary: 4 influential countries (Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany)

 

Chapter 2
“Language Acquisition in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing”

• Innate ability to learn language
• Delays as a result from their inability to understand through audition
• Deafness is not the most debilitating aspect; lack of language is.
• Speech is only a tool for language
• “We are biologically equipped to use language, we are not biologically limited to speech” (Meier, p. 6)
• Representation: enactive, iconic, sensation, and symbolic
• Languages are arbitrary
• Linguistics: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics
• Principles of Language Instruction
• Multiple Influences Principle: many factors influence development
• Meaning and Ideational Principle: language is symbolic
• Categorization Principle: objects, events experiences, feelings, thoughts, etc. are organized into categories
• Relationships Principle: meaning comes from relationships; a word is meaningless unless it relates to something else
• Systematic Rules Principle: linguistic rules
• Socialization Principle: culture shapes language
• Integration Principle: 1-6 must be smooth
• Stages of language development: pages 42-43
• Critical period, Motherese, babbling, pointing, Fingerspelling, development of vocabulary, single and complex word combinations, early semantic and pragmatic development, and adult-like language skills.
• Bi-bi approach is necessary

 

Chapter 3
“Multiple Pathways to Language Learning”

• Theories: information/linguistic processing theory (computer; see page 69); neuropsychological theory (internet; see page 71); cognitive socialization theory (maturation; time-traveling machine)
• CCCE model: cognition, codification, communication, and expression
• What is known vs. what is done (teaching/learning style)
• Deaf population is heterogeneous
• Deaf of Deaf vs. Deaf of Hearing: significant differences in language acquisition
• Cochlear Implants: success rate is variable, not constant
• Case studies
• Hard of hearing students: under identified and overlooked; unilateral loss
• Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD): ear is fine, but the brain stem is damaged; therefore, auditory information cannot be processed.
• “Issues such as maternal input, the child’s temperament, global IQ, style of information processing, basic neurological functioning, and completeness of language code are absolute outcome-determining preconditions to success” (Easterbrooks & Baker, p. 96)
  

Chapter 5
“From Theory to Practice”

• Deaf/HOH students are diverse: backgrounds, linguistic abilities, styles of learning; some monolingual, some bilingual or more
• Teachers need to be aware of this fact and determine the most efficient and effective way of teaching each individual student
• It is crucial to teach a child through his/her fastest pathway
• Teacher should be proficient in the language that he/she is teaching
• Careful assessment is key

 

Deaf Plus: A Multicultural Perspective
Edited By: Kathee Christensen

Chapter 1
“Building a Multicultural Curriculum: Issues and Dilemmas”
By: Olga M. Welch

• Lack of agreement on goals
• Support is key
• The way society views us affects how our achievements and failures are perceived (majority vs. minority, gender, age, ethnicity, etc.)
• Educationally disadvantaged students
• Implementation of a multicultural curriculum is a must
• Equal education
• Goal: highly interactive strategies, active student involvement, and activities that require students to join in personal, social, and civic action to make their world more just.
• Result in reflection and social activism
• Students should understand their role and other ethnic perspectives on contemporary history
• Development of cross-cultural competency
• Avoidance of cultural encapsulation by providing alternatives
• Better understanding of what it means to be human
• Mastery of essential reading, writing, and computational skills
• All forms of oppression are interconnected; confront oppression
• Dilemmas: balancing emotional and cognitive components, acknowledging and supporting the individual, attending to social relations within the classroom, using reflection as a tool, and valuing personal growth.

 

Chapter 2
“How are we doing?”
By: Gilbert L. Degado

• Progress on meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners (Deaf) is slow
• Projected U.S. Census shows that 53% will be White, 25% Hispanic, 15% Black, 1% American Indian, Eskimo and Aleut, and 9% Asian and Pacific Islander.  That’s a huge increase in the Hispanic population.
• Legislation: Captioned Films for the Deaf Act (P.L. 85-905, 1958); IDEA (doesn’t mention anything about NES disabled children); Bilingual Education Act (Section 504)
• Commission on Education of the Deaf (COED): toward equality
• Children still seem to fall between the cracks (they do not fit into any specific law)
• Bi/bi is the new big thing
• Cultural and linguistic diversity is still not really recognized
• Federal legislation provides little assistance to those who do not “fit”
• Suggestions: long-term educational changes need to be made; we need to educate members of Congress and other legislators as well; educators need to meet at the national, state, and local levels to develop educational goals & laws

Chapter 3
“Emerging Literacy in Bilingual/Multicultural Education of Children Who Are Deaf: A Communication-Based Perspective”
By: Kathee M. Christensen

• Multiple Intelligence Theory: at least 7 difference areas of intellect work together in the development of a literate individual
• “Johnny’s” ability to read (1960s)
• Research about literacy is still being debated to this day
• Parents play a huge role in language acquisition (research by Catherine Snow)
• Semantic Contingency: Learning to read, write, comprehend, and speak English takes time, and consistent comprehensible input from the environment.
• Scaffolding: ex: learning the alphabet, working together (Mom & kid)
• Routines: highly predictable; tests the child’s prediction
• Literacy in the home: easier with parents who read to their kids often
• Language acquisition: research shows that two spoken languages can be acquired from birth on, in a parallel manner, without interference (p. 49)
• Importance of context
• Acceptance of Ebonics, acceptance of ASL
• Professional collaboration and ongoing dialogue are critical elements to the success of Deaf Education

 

Chapter 10
“Teacher Expectations and Their Implications for Ethnically Diverse Deaf Students”
By: Reginald Lee Redding

• “Students of color are over-represented in lower academic skills classes and continue to underachieve” (Christensen, 2000, p. 253).
• Impact of teacher expectations for ethnically diverse deaf student (too low or too high)
• Student-teacher relations
• High dropout rates; less achievement
• Educators should be highly trained
• Recommendations for training teachers: planning and organizing instruction; educational assessment; classroom management; motivational techniques; textbook selection.

 

Educating deaf children bilingually
By: Mahshie

Chapter 1:
“A Closer Look: Developing Literacy”
This chapter focuses on how children develop literacy and how important and successful it can be to allow them to learn at their own pace, in their own style, and about things that matter to them.

Chapter 2:
“Let Deaf Children Be Children”
This chapter discusses the importance of relying on intuition and the child’s own methods and processes for language learning, and stresses Deaf children’s need to be just that: children.

Chapter 3:
“Let the Parents Be Parents”
This chapter recognizes the parents’ role as important and deserving of trust. It also states that Deaf children have the right to a normal upbringing, which includes regular exposure to other Deaf children and adults. It also addresses some of the different emotional and psychological stages parents go through when they find out that they have a deaf child and some of their differing needs. It also discusses first language acquisition in some detail, as well as touching on placement decisions for deaf and hard of hearing children.

Chapter 4:
“Let the Teachers Be Teachers”
Building upon the “Let the ----- be -----“ approach, this chapter deals with allowing teachers to do their job, not just of addressing the child in an understandable language, but of teaching them about the world in which they live.

Chapter 5:
“Change the System, Not the Children”
This chapter emphasizes the importance of accepting the idea that it is not deaf children, but the system that educates them, that needs remediation.  It also addresses many “yes, but…” concerns about changing the educational system for the deaf here in the United States. This final chapter makes a powerful call to action, urging a reform of the system to make it more successful in educating deaf and hard of hearing children.

 

Language and the Brain
File 9.1

• Linguistics analyze the structure of language and propose models
• The brain:
• L & R hemispheres
• Corpus Callosum: nerve fibers that connect L & R
• Cortex: ¼ inch thick cover on brain (allows for higher cognitive function)
• Gyri: bumps on surface
• Fissures: depressions on surface
• Sylvian Fissure: separates temporal lobe from frontal lobe
• Auditory cortex
• Visual cortex
• Motor cortex
• Language Centers: in left hemisphere (90% of L & R handed people)
• Broca’s area: organization of articulatory patterns of language
• Wernicke’s area: comprehension and selection of words
• Angular gyrus: visual<--> auditory conversion
• Lateralization vs. contralateralization (split-brain patients)
• Disorders:
• Aphasia
• Broca’s: production problems; choppy speech
• Wernicke’s: comprehention issues; meaningless speech
• Conduction: like Wernicke’s but can understand more
• Alexia: inability to read and comprehend written words
• Agraphia: inability to write words

 

The Hispanic Perspective
Robin, Audrey, Lizzie, & Tara T’s Presentation

“Multimedia Stories for Deaf Children”
By: Jean F. Andrews & Donald L. Jordan

• Mexican-American Deaf are the fastest growing minority of Deaf in TX
• Project: to develop stories centered on Mexican-American themes at different levels – elementary, jr. high, and high school – with added translations in ASL
• 4 Phases: setting up the multimedia lab, developing stories, training teachers, and assessing the children’s progress
• Multiple languages: ASL, English, Spanish, contact sign
• English is hard to learn for children in Spanish speaking homes (cultural and linguistic differences)
• No strong language base
• Can personalize the program (books)
• Bought books on Mexican-American culture, traditions, history, food, etc.
• Important: training teachers; two week workshop
• Classroom research: literacy portfolio; increased vocabulary
  

 

Deaf Asian-Americans
Jenica, Susie, & Nicole’s Presentation

“Asian, American, and Deaf: A Framework for Professionals”
By: Cheryl Wu & Nancy Grant

• Asians are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the USA
• ~4% of Deaf population identify as Asian/Pacific Islanders
• Underrepresented
• California Unified School District Deaf High School program, San Francisco: 60% are Deaf Asian-American
• Four systems of culture and language: language and culture of their family, ASL and the American Deaf community, English and U.S. culture, and the sign language and culture of the Deaf community in their home area.
• Building bridges is important
• Steps: (1) examine our own beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and responses to that group; (2) become informed (education, training, etc.); (3) be aware of the political and power issues inherent in our work
• Ecological Model: (1) stresses as a result of cultural difference, (2) the child’s characteristics or problems, (3) the home environment, (4) school environment, (5) lack of fit between the child’s or family’s needs and corresponding resources, and (6) native culture and background.
• Interpreters should be highly skilled

 

Deaf Native Americans
Risa, Erica, & Sadie’s Presentation

“Intertribal Deaf Council [IDC]”

• IDC’s Mission is to provide education, information and referral, and training about American Indians, Alaska Natives, and First Nations Indians in order to create a place to socialize with each other. 
• Established in 1994 to ensure that this minority had a place to gather and socialize
• Became a non-profit organization in 2005

 

Deaf Immigrants in the U.S.
Crystal & Laura’s Presentation

Deaf Plus: A Multicultural Perspective
By: Kathee Christensen

Chapter 5
“Immigrant and Refugee Children Who Are Deaf: Crisis Equals Danger Plus Opportunity”

• “…Deaf children must feel socially and academically competent if they are to become productive members of society” (Benard, 1993).
• “…disrupted lives, inadequate health care resulting in disease and malnutrition, social, emotional, and physical deprivation, significant losses, and educational gaps” (Ajdukovic and Ajdukovic, 1993).  These can cause serious cognitive and emotional implications.
• Personal, familial, and cultural views on deafness effect their acquisition.
• Ethnic pride and good mental health are key for overall adaptation and development.
• ~1/2 world’s children are refugees
• School is where kids learn not only academics, but also acculturation, adaptation, remediation, and mental health provision.  “Schools are the most significant change agent at the societal and individual level” (Christensen, 2000, p. 98).
• Schooling in their home country might not have been available
• Generally, they enter school without a language
• Migration can be emotionally unsettling
• “ASL appears to have a critical period similar to that of English, and therefore we can expect that children who arrive without a first signed language will be disadvantaged in ways similar to hearing children who have not acquired a solid first language (Fischer, 1994, 1997; Mayberry & Eichen, 1991).
• Literacy must be achieved in the first language before it can be achieved in English
• Parents should be encouraged to work closely with the school.
• ASL classes that are taught in English are harder for 2nd and 3rd language learners
• Assessment needs to be based on the individual to outline strengths and weaknesses in order to progress (realistic goals); assessments are a legislated requirement and are valued by teachers and parents alike.
• “Parents may not realize that special education services are available in North America or understand their rights and responsibilities regarding getting appropriate educational services for their children” (Christensen, 2000, p. 110); advocacy.
• Multidisciplinary consultation teams

 

Deaf and Autistic
Trae, Courtney, Bethany, and Brandon’s Presentation

“Autism”
Content provided by Healthwise

• Autism: brain disorder where the different parts of the brain do not work together; hard to communicate and relate to others.
• Causes: heredity; scientists are unsure of which genes; surroundings, vaccines? (studies don’t back this up)
• Symptoms: known before 3 years of age; act different than other children his/her age; delay in language/not talking at all; body rocking, obsessive-compulsive behaviors (attachment to objects); no eye contact; below normal intelligence or above normal intelligence (depending); depression and anxiety.
• Treatment: behavioral training, speech and/or physical therapy
• Family: training – how to deal