Date of Award:

5-1993

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Education (MEd)

Department:

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education

Committee Chair(s)

K. Munoz

Committee

K. Munoz

Abstract

Many advocates of the deaf fear that a whole generation of deaf children will be lost emotionally, socially, and educationally, this fear stems from the fact that many children who are deaf are not having their linguistic, sociocultural. and communicative needs met at home or at school (King, 1993). Their needs are not met primarily for three reasons. First. the hearing culture is often inaccessible to them because they do not understand most of the spoken language around them. When children lack the communicative abilities to interact with the hearing culture, they can not be expected to be knowledgeable of that culture, to participate in that culture, or to establish an identity as a part of that culture. Secondly, Deaf culture is unknown to many children who are deaf. Ninety percent of children who are deaf are born into hearing families who are unaware of Deaf culture (Moores, 1987). Most children who are deaf and hard of hearing do not know about Deaf culture until they become involved in it through a residential school for the deaf or the Deaf community (Padden & Humphries. 1988). Thirdly. Deaf culture. history. heritage. and American Sign Language are not taught as part of the curriculum in most schools nor in the mainstreamed or self-contained classrooms (Gannon. 1990).

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