"This comprehensive text provides guidance on current evidence-based approaches to the promotion of speech and language development in children birth through school age who are deaf or hard of hearing. Due to advanced screening and intervention options (e.g., cochlear implants), this population's needs and abilities are constantly changing and require flexibility and individualization of treatment, with a continued focus on families' preferences. This edited volume in the Communication and Language Intervention (CLI) series consists of 15 chapters, addressing a range of topics including audiological interventions, sign language and other visual modalities, auditory-verbal therapy, supporting and coaching families, phonological and pre-literacy interventions, technology, and interventions to support literacy, writing, and speech. The book also includes a DVD with video clips demonstrating the strategies covered in the intervention chapters (chapters 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11)"--

While most children learn to read fairly well, there remain many young Americans whose futures are imperiled because they do not read well enough to meet the demands of our competitive, technology-driven society. This book explores the problem within the context of social, historical, cultural, and biological factors. Recommendations address the identification of groups of children at risk, effective instruction for the preschool and early grades, effective approaches to dialects and bilingualism, the importance of these findings for the professional development of teachers, and gaps that remain in our understanding of how children learn to read. Implications for parents, teachers, schools, communities, the media, and government at all levels are discussed. The book examines the epidemiology of reading problems and introduces the concepts used by experts in the field. In a clear and readable narrative, word identification, comprehension, and other processes in normal reading development are discussed. Against the background of normal progress, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children examines factors that put children at risk of poor reading. It explores in detail how literacy can be fostered from birth through kindergarten and the primary grades, including evaluation of philosophies, systems, and materials commonly used to teach reading.

Fifteen principles outlined as a guide for parents and teachers who want to share the pleasure of reading with deaf children.

This comprehensive text provides guidance on current evidence-based approaches to the promotion of speech and language development in children birth through school age who are deaf and/or hard of hearing.

Debates about methods of supporting language development and academic skills of deaf or hard-of-hearing children have waxed and waned for more than 100 years: Will using sign language interfere with learning to use spoken language or does it offer optimal access to communication for deaf children? Does placement in classrooms with mostly hearing children enhance or impede academic and social-emotional development? Will cochlear implants or other assistive listening devices provide deaf children with sufficient input for age-appropriate reading abilities? Are traditional methods of classroom teaching effective for deaf and hard-of-hearing students? Although there is a wealth of evidence with regard to each of these issues, too often, decisions on how to best support deaf and hard-of-hearing children in developing language and academic skills are made based on incorrect or incomplete information. No matter how well-intentioned, decisions grounded in opinions, beliefs, or value judgments are insufficient to guide practice. Instead, we need to take advantage of relevant, emerging research concerning best practices and outcomes in educating deaf and hard-of-hearing learners. In this critical evaluation of what we know and what we do not know about educating deaf and hard-of-hearing students, the authors examine a wide range of educational settings and research methods that have guided deaf education in recent years--or should. The book provides a focus for future educational and research efforts, and aims to promote optimal support for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners of all ages. Co-authored by two of the most respected leaders in the field, this book summarizes and evaluates research findings across multiple disciplines pertaining to the raising and educating of deaf children, providing a comprehensive but concise record of the successes, failures, and unanswered questions in deaf education. A readily accessible and invaluable source for teachers, university students, and other professionals, Evidence-Based Practice in Educating Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students encourages readers to reconsider assumptions and delve more deeply into what we really know about deaf and hard-of-hearing children, their patterns of development, and their lifelong learning.

Reading development is supported by strong language skills, not least in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. The work in the present thesis investigates reading development in DHH children who use sign language, attend Regional Special Needs Schools (RSNS) in Sweden and are learning to read. The primary aim of the present work was to investigate whether the reading skills of these children can be improved via computerized sign language based literacy training. Another aim was to investigate concurrent and longitudinal associations between skills in reading, sign language, and cognition in this population. The results suggest that sign language based literacy training may support development of word reading. In addition, awareness and manipulation of the sub-lexical structure of sign language seem to assist word reading, and imitation of familiar signs (i.e., vocabulary) may be associated with developing reading comprehension. The associations revealed between sign language skills and reading development support the notion that sign language skills provide a foundation for emerging reading skills in DHH signing children. In addition, the results also suggest that working memory and Theory of Mind (ToM) are related to reading comprehension in this population. Furthermore, the results indicate that sign language experience enhances the establishment of representations of manual gestures, and that progression in ToM seems to be typical, although delayed, in RSNS pupils. Working memory has a central role in integrating environmental stimuli and language-mediated representations, and thereby provides a platform for cross-modal language processing and multimodal language development.

Little Bridget is acting strangely and no one seems to notice-except her older sister. She notices everything. When the rest of her family finally realizes that Bridget has been ignoring the world around her and inventing weird words, it leads to a startling diagnosis no one saw coming. In this touching story, narrated by the attentive, yet incredulous, older sister, we are led through a mystery and into the real-life emotional process family members often experience when a young child is unexpectedly diagnosed with hearing loss.

This book will move the field of pediatric cochlear implantation forward by educating clinicians in the field as to current and emerging best practices and inspiring research in new areas of importance, including the relationship between cognitive processing and pediatric cochlear implant outcomes. The book discusses communication practices, including sign language for deaf children with cochlear implants and the role of augmentative/alternative communication for children with multiple disabilities. Focusing exclusively on cochlear implantation as it applies to the pediatric population, this book also discusses music therapy, minimizing the risk of meningitis in pediatric implant recipients, recognizing device malfunction and failure in children, perioperative anesthesia and analgesia considerations in children, and much more. Cochlear Implants in Children is aimed at clinicians, including neurotologists, pediatric otolaryngologists, audiologists and speech-language pathologists, as well as clinical scientists and educators of the deaf. The book is also appropriate for pre-and postdoctoral students, including otolaryngology residents and fellows in Neurotology and Pediatric Otolaryngology.

This volume explores the reading development of native speakers of sign language, as well as their early pre-literacy language development. For deafness and sign language scholars, as well as linguists and reading specialists.

Most students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) struggle with acquiring literacy skills, some as a direct result of their hearing loss, some because they are receiving insufficient modifications to access the general education curriculum, and some because they have additional learning challenges necessitating significant program modifications. This second edition of Literacy Instruction for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing updates previous findings and describes current, evidence-based practices in teaching literacy to DHH learners. Beal, Dostal, and Easterbrooks provide educators and parents with a process for determining which literacy and language assessments are appropriate for individual DHH learners and whether an instructional practice is supported by evidence or causal factors. They describe the literacy process with an overview of related learning theories, language and literacy assessments, and evidence-based instructional strategies across the National Reading Panel's five areas of literacy instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The volume includes evidence-based writing strategies and case vignettes that highlight application of assessments and instructional strategies within each of these literacy areas. Crucially, it reviews the remaining challenges related to literacy instruction for DHH learners. Educators and parents who provide literacy instruction to DHH learners will benefit from the breadth and depth of literacy content provided in this concise literacy textbook.