Often compared to Laurent Clerc, Thomas Gallaudet, and Alexander Graham Bell, Dr. Andrew Foster was a deaf African American who founded 32 schools for the deaf in 13 African nations. The 60th anniversary of his arrival in Liberia and Ghana and the 30th anniversary of his tragic death in a Rwanda airplane accident both occur in 2017. Renewed…

Access to health care without barriers is a clearly defined right of people with disabilities as stated by the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The present study reviews literature from 2000 to 2015 on access to health care for deaf people and reveals significant challenges in communication with health providers and gaps in…

A literature review was conducted to describe important concepts involved in functional analysis of verbal behavior as well as to evaluate empirical research findings on acquisition of picture exchange-based vs. signed mands to suggest instructional implications for teachers and therapists to teach functional communication skills to children with…

This article presents an analysis of the relationship between sign structure and iconicity in American Sign Language. Historically, linguists have been pressured to downplay the role of form-meaning relationships (iconicity) in signed languages. However, recent inquiries into the role of traditional phonological parameters of signs (handshape,…

The population of students who are deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) that have additional disabilities remains at over 40 per cent. One population of particular concern is the group of D/HH students with a comorbid diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The prevalence of ASD in the D/HH population is 1 in 59 (Szymanski et al., 2012. "Deaf…

In a variety of contexts, deaf individuals often must navigate multiple societal, psychological, and physical barriers. It is frequently proposed that role models meet an important need for successful navigation in such contexts. The present article, a research synthesis, explores available literature on role models for deaf individuals, drawing…

Background: Internationally there is an increasing commitment and investment to support the provision of youth work services and ongoing debate on youth worker effectiveness. However, the evidence of the impact of youth work is currently limited and disjointed. Objective: This article reports on and critically considers the results of a systematic…

The development of proficient communication skills in infants and toddlers is an important component to child development. A popular trend gaining national media attention is teaching sign language to babies with normal hearing whose parents also have normal hearing. Thirty-three websites were identified that advocate sign language for hearing…

Baby sign language is advocated to improve children's communication development. However, the evidence to support the advantages of baby sign has been inconclusive. A systematic review was undertaken to summarize and appraise the research related to the effectiveness of symbolic gestures for typically developing, hearing infants with hearing…

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the factors affecting the language, speech intelligibility, speech production, and lexical tone development of children with hearing loss who use spoken languages other than English. Relevant studies of children with hearing loss published between 2000 and 2011 were reviewed with reference to…

Strong correlations exist between signed and/or spoken English and the literacy skills of deaf and hard of hearing students. Assessments that are both valid and reliable are key for researchers and practitioners investigating the signed and/or spoken English skills of signing populations. The authors conducted a literature review to explore which…

A report analyzing how accommodated tests, and students with disabilities and the assessments they take, are addressed in state test security policies -- a subject about which little is known. This analysis was conducted to partially fill this gap. The report provides a snapshot of how accommodated tests for students with disabilities, alternate…

The author examines the theory and research relevant to educating d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Multilingual Learners (DMLs). There is minimal research on this population, yet a synthesis of related theory, research, and practice on spoken-language bilinguals can be used to add to the body of knowledge on these learners. Specifically, the author…

The authors conducted an integrative review of the research literature on the writing development, writing instruction, and writing assessment of young deaf children ages 3 to 8 years (or preschool through third grade) published between 1990 and 2012. A total of 17 studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. The analysis examined research…

This article contains a literature review of evidence of large prosodic domains that correspond to syntactic units such as a clause or a sentence. In particular, different phonetic nonmanual cues that may relate to clause or sentence boundaries are discussed in detail. On the basis of various ideas and views in the literature, we also describe two…