How Deaf Children Learn: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know / Edition 1

by Marc Marschark, Peter C. Hauser

Overview

How can parents and teachers most effectively support the language development and academic success of deaf and hard-of-hearing children? Will using sign language interfere with learning spoken language? Should deaf children be placed in classrooms with hearing children? Are traditional methods of teaching subjects such as reading and math to hearing children appropriate for deaf learners? As many parents and teachers will attest, questions like these have no easy answers, and it can be difficult for caring adults to separate science from politics and fact from opinion in order to make informed decisions about how to help deaf children learn.

In this invaluable guide, renowned authorities Marc Marschark and Peter Hauser highlight important new advances in scientific and educational research that can help parents and teachers of students with significant hearing loss. The authors stress that deaf children have strengths and needs that are sometimes very different from those who can hear. Consequently, if deaf students are to have full academic access and optimal educational outcomes, it is essential that parents and teachers learn to recognize these differences and adjust their teaching methods to them. Marschark and Hauser explain how the fruits of research conducted over the last several years can markedly improve educational practices at home and in the classroom, and they offer innovative strategies that parents and teachers can use to promote learning in their children. The result is a lively, accessible volume that sheds light on what it means to be a deaf learner and that provides a wealth of advice on how we can best support their language development, social skills, and academic success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195389753
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2011
Series:	Perspectives on Deafness Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Marc Marschark is a Professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where he is Director of the Center for Education Research Partnerships. He has written or edited over 20 books and published over 100 articles and chapters. His current research focuses on relations of language and learning by deaf children and adults in formal and informal educational settings.

Peter C. Hauser is an Associate Professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. A deaf clinical neuropsychologist, he is the director of the Deaf Studies Laboratory (DSL) where he supervises deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing students who obtain hands-on experience developing, running, and analyzing experimental psychological studies.

Table of Contents

1. What It's All About
Who Are We and What Are We Doing Here?
Alternative Perspectives on Educating Deaf Students
Using This Book
Notes, Confessions, and Acknowledgments

2. Introduction to Deaf Children
Navigating Issues
Those Who Ignore History...
Terms of Endearment (or Not)
Differences versus Deficiencies
Final Words

3. On Hearing and Not Hearing
Understanding Hearing
Hearing Aids
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Cochlear Implants
Final Words

4. Language and Communication
Understanding Language
From Communication to Language
Signed Languages and Visual Communication Systems
Spoken Communication
Final Words

5. Family and Peers: Foundations of Learning
Education Begins at Home
Social Interactions: Foundations for Learning
Early Intervention
Moving from Home to School
Social-Emotional Growth during the School Years
Last Words

6. Deaf Cognition
Are Deaf Children As Smart As Hearing Children?
Do Deaf Individuals See Better?
Does Sign Language Have an Effect on Cognition?
Cognitive Development and Language
Final Words

7. Learning and Memory
Cognition and Learning: From Darkness to Enlightenment
Learning
Memory
Final Words

8. Problem Solving and Knowledge
Experience and Conceptual Development
Integration and Organization of Knowledge
Final Words

9. Reading
The Challenge of Learning to Read
What Can We Do about Deaf Students' Reading Achievement?
A Few Words about Writing
Final Words

10. Doing Math: Foundations
Understanding Number
Understanding Mathematics during the School Years
Improving Mathematics Performance by Deaf Children
Final Words

11. The Deaf Education Classroom
Options in Deaf Education Programming
Assessment and Classroom Placement
Classroom Diversity
The Classroom
Deaf Education Professionals
Final Words

12. Where Do We Go from Here?
A Journey of 1000 Miles Begins with a Single Step
The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same
There Are Differences and Then There Are Differences
What We Know and What We Need to Know
Final Final Words

Additional Reading

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

"After reading this book, parents who may be feeling inadequate about their parenting skills or fearful about providing a good education for their deaf or hard-of-hearing child should be more at ease, and teachers will gain insight into the complexities involved in deaf education and be better equipped to teach these children." - Library Journal

"Using common terminology and drawing upon years of clinical experience, the authors dispel a number of myths regarding what is "best" or "impractical" for the education of deaf children. Rather, they offer basic guidelines for parents and teachers who live and work with these children on a day-to-day basis.The authors also present specific recommendations for academic instruction in the general classroom for teachers and families of deaf children. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers and professionals." — J. D. Neal, University of Central Missouri

"How Deaf Children Learn represents an excellent beginning step in understanding deaf children, their learning, and most beneficial educational situations. Despite its specificity,
the book can have multiple uses within the psychological community— primarily as an introduction for parents who are a clinician's clients, for students in teacher education programs, for teachers of general education as well as special education, and within special education programs. Quick, eminently readable, and realistic, it is a book from which readers will absorb a great deal of valuable information. As a professional in the field of special education, I wish there were a book like this covering each disability!" — Cynthia C. Siebel, PsycCRITIQUES

From the Publisher

Marschark (Raising and Educating a Deaf Child) and Hauser, both professors at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, walk readers through what is currently known—and unknown—about teaching deaf children. Written primarily for parents and teachers of deaf or hard-of-hearing children, this work covers general information about their education, gives insights into their cognitive development, and provides steps to their school success. The authors also discuss issues such as the value of cochlear implants and the debate over signing vs. speaking, and they highlight similarities and differences in how hearing and deaf students learn, such as the importance of vision to both populations. VERDICT The authors believe the best way to lead deaf children to academic success is by understanding who they are, what they know, and how they think. After reading this book, parents who may be feeling inadequate about their parenting skills or fearful about providing a good education for their deaf or hard-of-hearing child should be more at ease, and teachers will gain insight into the complexities involved in deaf education and be better equipped to teach these children.—Terry Christner, Hutchinson P.L., KS

Library Journal