Deaf patients who communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) experience communication challenges leading to medical errors, treatment delays, and health disparities. Research on Deaf patient communication preferences is sparse. Researchers conducted focus groups based on the Health Belief Model with culturally Deaf patients and interpreters. The…

Language barriers negatively affect access to social services, particularly for D/deaf populations who use Sign Language. "D/deaf" is used to encompass both the cultural conception of capital-D Deafness and the medical conception of lowercase-d deafness. Language translation/interpretation is a common need among practitioners of social,…

The educational inclusion of deaf students in England is usually interpreted as placement in mainstream settings alongside hearing students, creating unintended pressure for assimilation to the communicative needs of hearing people. In this context, it is deaf students and their communication support staff who are left to deal with communicative…

Presents a consumer's viewpoint of problems inherent in the use of interpretation to get deaf class members into the stream of vocally expressed communication, focusing on the kinds of misunderstandings that can arise when one language is expressed in the three dimensions of space and the other has only the dimensions of speech. (38 references)…

Observation study of a profoundly deaf person led to the conclusion that finger spelling and universal sign language could link deaf and hearing cultures. The complex and rewarding modality of finger spelling warrants further research as a cross-cultural communication medium. (SK)

Presents an overview of the basic issues to be considered in counseling hearing-impaired clients. Summarizes basic information about deafness and considers several common misconceptions about hearing-impaired people. Discusses communication barriers between the counselor and the client and the experiential deficits of hearing-impaired people.…