Remedying and Repairing the Causes of Language Deprivation in the Deaf Student Population

• In Event: Interrogating Special Education Policy and Practice

Abstract

Mandatory universal newborn hearing screening in the United States had precipitated in an increase in the urgency on the decisions the families need to make on the language to use with their deaf infant. The families are almost always referred to the medical and education professionals who are audist (hearing-related ableism) in orientation. The information families are provided with often puts the child on the high-risk trajectory of becoming language deprived. The phenomenon of language deprivation in the deaf student population is increasingly recognized as a threat to the child’s long-term academic outcomes. The paper will discuss possible approaches to remedy the unnecessary threat to the child’s linguistic, cognitive, and academic outcomes based on the findings of the families’ experiences.

Authors

• Marlon H. Kuntze, California School for the Deaf

• Elaine Gale, Hunter College - CUNY

• Julie Rems-Smario, California School for the Deaf

• Laura T. Petersen, California School for the Deaf