Mervyn Bruce Hyde

Coming to a Decision About Cochlear Implantation: Parents Making Choices for their Deaf Children

This study combined quantitative and qualitative methods in a sequential approach to investigate the experiences of parents making decisions about cochlear implants for their deaf children. Quantitative findings from a survey instrument completed by 247 parents were extended and elaborated by qualitative findings from in-depth interviews with 27 of the survey respondents. Although parents used a variety of information sources when considering an implant, cochlear implant centers and doctors comprised their major source of information. Most parents found the decision-making process difficult and stressful, but a proportion reported finding the decision easy, believing that there was no other option for their child, and were keen for implantation to proceed as soon as possible. Implications for professionals working with families are discussed.

Children with Cochlear Implants in Australia: Educational Settings, Supports, and Outcomes.

This Australian study examined the communication, academic, and social outcomes of pediatric cochlear implantation from the perspectives of teachers working with children with cochlear implants. The children were aged from 1 to 18 years and attended a range of educational settings in early intervention, primary, and secondary schooling. One hundred and fifty-one teachers completed a survey on one child with a cochlear implant and 15 of these teachers were interviewed. Teachers reported their perceptions of childrens functional outcomes in a range of communication, academic, social, independence, and identity areas. Reported achievements in literacy, numeracy, and social development were below class levels. Implications for educational authorities and professionals working with children with cochlear implants are discussed.

The experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland University: 1985–2005

This article reports on the experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland university, which offers an extensive deaf student support program. Seventy‐two current students and graduates since the program’s inception twenty years ago completed a survey about their experiences, highlights, challenges and use of communication tools and support services at university. Findings indicate, both quantitatively and qualitatively, that students valued the specialised support services they received, although challenges in accessing the academic curriculum remained for many students. In the important area of social factors, many students reported enjoying satisfying friendships and a sense of belonging with other deaf people, often for the first time, while others experienced feelings of social isolation in a largely hearing peer group. Overall, deaf and hard of hearing students who had attended Griffith over the 20 years had a high rate of graduation, comparing favourably with other university students.

Great Expectations: Perspectives on Cochlear Implantation of Deaf Children in Norway.

The Authors Describe the use of cochlear implants with deaf children in Norway and examine how this intervention has raised new expectations and some tensions concerning the future of education for deaf students. They report on two studies of communication within school learning environments of young children with implants in Norwegian preschools and primary/elementary schools. These studies involved observations of classroom discourse and teaching activity and interviews with teachers, administrators, parents, and pupils. Results suggested varied patterns of use of Norwegian and of Norwegian Sign Language and several modes of communication, including speech alone, sign alone, and speech with sign. Conclusions are drawn regarding the reasons for the observed variations and the future impact of cochlear implantation on educational policies and services for deaf children and their families in Norway.

Multisensory and Unisensory Approaches to Communicating with Deaf Children.

The history of and current controversy in education of the hearing impaired between advocates of unisensory (audition only) and multisensory (audition, vision and touch) approaches to communication for learning and socialisation for hearing-impaired children is described. Arguments from developmental and perceptual theory, information processing, early intervention pedagogy and an examination of the evidence claimed to support the superiority of unisensory approaches is presented from which the authors conclude that the superiority of multisensory approaches is well established and these should be the methods of choice in communicating with hearing-impaired children.RésuméLes auteurs examinent les approches passées et actuelles de la prise d’information monosensorielle (uniquement par la vision) pour les enfants sourds, les pratiques liées à ces approaches et leurs fondements empiriques et théoriques. Il leur apparaît que les résultats des recherches ne plaident en faveur des bénéfices de prises d’informations uniquement monosensorielles, et que d’autres recherches sur le traitement auditif et visuel de l’information et le développement auditif des enfants sourds, démontrent la supériorité de combinaisons entre communication visuelle et auditive sur les approches utilisant de façon dominante la vision seulement.

Factors predicting functional outcomes of cochlear implants in children

Abstract This article reports the relationships between a large number of child- and family-related factors and childrens functional outcomes, according to parental report, in the domains of spoken language communication, social skills and participation, academic achievement, and independence and identity, through a series of stepwise regression analyses. Parents of 247 children who had received cochlear implants in three eastern states of Australia completed a survey on their expectations and experiences of their childrens outcomes with cochlear implants. A number of the independent variables were found to be associated, either positively or negatively, with childrens outcomes. Implications for cochlear implant professionals, early intervention programmes, and educational authorities are discussed.

Language, Arithmetic Word Problems, and Deaf Students: Linguistic Strategies Used To Solve Tasks.

There has been limited examination of the intersection between language and arithmetic in the performance of deaf students, although some previous research has shown that deaf and hearing-impaired1 students are delayed in both their language acquisition and arithmetic performance. This paper examines the performance of deaf and hearing-impaired students in South-East Queensland, Australia, in solving arithmetic word problems. It was found that the subjects’ solutions of word problems confirmed trends for hearing students, but that their performance was delayed in comparison. The results confirm other studies where deaf and hearing-impaired students are delayed in their language acquisition and this impacts on their capacity to successfully undertake the resolution of word problems.

A PILOT STUDY OF THE AUSTRALASIAN READWELL PROGRAM

Abstract The “Readwell” program is an Australian‐designed approach to remediation of childrens reading difficulties. Although used in most Australian states, the program has not been evaluated. This quasi‐experimental pilot study reports on a first phase of an evaluation of the program. It involves a preliminary examination of the program with a group of 18 grade six and seven students with significant reading delays. It was conducted over a ten‐week period during which students received 45‐minute group instruction with the Readwell program each day. In addition, interviews with the students and their teachers were conducted to examine perceived outcomes of the program. Surveys with selected parents of students who had completed the program 12 months previously were also conducted to gauge the endurance of students’ gains in reading competence. Some comparisons with the literature reporting on Reading Recovery programs are also included and some initial conclusions are draw in relation to the place of the Readwell program in remediation practices for students with a reading difficulty.