Carin Roos

Mentalizing skills of non-native, early signers: : A longitudinal perspective

Using a longitudinal design, the mentalizing skills of a group of deaf children were tested with a wide array of theory of mind tasks over a period of three years. A selection of results from the first two years of testing is reported here. The children were non-native signers, but had been offered a good regime for the development of sign language as soon as their deafness was discovered. A comparison group of hearing children matched for mental age and sex also took part. There was a wide variation in performance between children in the deaf group, both across different tasks and over time, while the hearing group performed more or less at ceiling on all of the tasks included already at the first data collection time, and showed very little variation in performance across tasks. Also, the deaf children, as well as the hearing children, performed 100% correct on a test of non-mental representation, i.e., the false-photo task (Zaitchik, 1990). The present results speak in favour of the crucial importance of early communication using a common language for the typical developmental trajectory of mentalizing skills.

Young Deaf Children's Fingerspelling in Learning to Read and Write: An Ethnographic Study in a Signing Setting

Abstract This paper1 presents a study of childrens use of fingerspelling. It is part of a larger longitudinal ethnographic study of deaf2 children, who were 3–6 years old when the study started. They are early signers using Swedish Sign Language in communication with teachers and peers. The aim of this paper is to examine the different functions which fingerspelling has as a part of literacy learning in the early years and later at school. Six main themes are identified when the children first explore and learn to fingerspell: (i) exploring handshapes, letters, inventing fingerspelling, and later exploring its use and learning to fingerspell in literacy practices; (ii) exploring the direction of writing and fingerspelling; (iii) practising and memorizing words; (iv) decoding words; (v) recalling from memory; and (vi) fingerspelling as a tool for exploring the relationships; between letters, words, signs, mouth movements, and voice. These aspects of childrens fingerspelling and their possible implications are addressed, as are some findings regarding how teachers respond to the childrens attempts at fingerspelling.

A Sociocultural Perspective on Young Deaf Children's Fingerspelling: An Ethnographic Study in a Signing Setting

Abstract This study, which is part of a larger longitudinal ethnographic study of young deaf children, reports on deaf childrens use of fingerspelling. The children observed were early signers using Swedish Sign Language (SSL) in communication with teachers and peers. This study centres on the functions of fingerspelling in the childrens everyday activities from a sociocultural perspective. Two main functions are identified (Theme I) developing the manual alphabet through performing and experimenting with fingerspelling as an integrated part of using Sign Language, and (Theme II) using fingerspelling as an artefact and identity marker in play.

Intersubjective Interaction between Deaf Parents/Deaf Infants during the Infant's First 18 Months.

This study is part of a larger longitudinal project with the aim of focusing early social interaction and development of mentalizing ability in 12 deaf infants, including the interaction between the infants and their deaf parents. The aim of the present paper is to describe early social interaction and moments of intersubjectivity between the deaf infants and their deaf parents during the first 18 months of the infants life. The study is focused on the dyadic interaction rather than on the behaviors of the infant and the caregiver separately. In the analysis, the Intersubjective Developmental Theory Model (Loots, Devisé, & Sermijn, 2003) and the definitions of moments of intersubjectivity (Loots, Devisé, & Jacquet, 2005) were used. The findings show that the participating infants follow a typical developmental trajectory of intersubjectivity, both with regard to developmental stages and age. This development is supported by a visual, simultaneous way of communicating by gaze rather than having constant eye contact. Parents use complex visual communication skills in maintaining joint attention and also expect the infant to grasp the meaning of the interaction by use of gaze contact.

Digital Participation Among Children in Rural Areas

This chapter problematizes the experience of digital participation and growing up in rural areas. The chapter modifies the relatively uniform picture of children as digital natives. It describes how children in different ways use, and refrain from using, digital tools and how these practices relate to inclusion and exclusion in peer relations. The study takes an ethnographic approach by employing observations, interviews and visual methods. Data collection was carried out over 2 years in a school (preschool to grade 6) in a rural area in Sweden. The participants were qualified educators other staff, and their students aged 1–12 and parents. In this chapter we use a sub-corpus of data consisting of 31 interviews with children (aged 7–12) and 2 with parents. The study shows that few of the children can be described as digital natives, while the majority relegated digital tools and the Internet to the periphery across settings. There were important differences between children with high and low social activity. Children with low social activity and few friends outside the family seldom used digital tools or rarely used them for interaction, although they developed alternative means of communication. This finding suggests implications for these children’s chances to develop digital inclusion, learning opportunities and – by extension – their opportunities to be involved in community development. The rural community in which they lived can be described as a subculture in which children can feel safe and be protected from, as the adults expressed it, the digitalized, unsafe world.

The text telephone as an empowering technology in the daily lives of deaf people-A qualitative study.

ABSTRACT Text-telephone technology (TTY) has been used for communication between deaf people since 1964. There is a gap in the scientific knowledge about the influence this may have had especially in relation to effective participation in society as well as the feeling of capability, confidence and collective meaningfulness. The aim of the present paper is, first, to disentangle the different aspects of TTY as an empowering artifact; and, second, to explore the role of TTY in their lives. To provide a framework for the empirical analysis, the paper draws on Empowerment Theory: personal control, a proactive approach to life, and a critical awareness of one’s socio-political environment. Twenty-four people aged 16–64 with Swedish Sign Language (SSL) as their first language were interviewed. The findings indicate that the introduction of the TTY was of great importance for self-esteem, equality and independence. The findings show that feelings of empowerment are closely linked to language use and contextually driven, and it is in interaction between deaf and hearing that such feelings arise (or not). The results indicate the need for further research into Deaf people’s use of other means of interacting, using modern technique for example in social digital media and interactive platforms.