Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Advance Access published online on September 4, 2009
The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, doi:10.1093/deafed/enp023
Technology-Enhanced Shared Reading With Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: The Role of a Fluent Signing Narrator
University of Texas, El Paso
University of Iowa
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Abstract |
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Early shared reading experiences have been shown to benefit normally hearing children. It has been hypothesized that hearing parents of deaf or hard-of-hearing children may be uncomfortable or may lack adequate skills to engage in shared reading activities. A factor that may contribute to the widely cited reading difficulties seen in the majority of deaf children is a lack of early linguistic and literacy exposure that come from early shared reading experiences with an adult who is competent in the language of the child. A single-subject-design research study is described, which uses technology along with parent training in an attempt to enhance the shared reading experiences in this population of children. The results indicate that our technology-enhanced shared reading led to a greater time spent in shared reading activities and sign vocabulary acquisition. In addition, analysis of the shared reading has identified the specific aspects of the technology and the components of the parent training that were used most often.
Correspondence should be sent to Vannesa Mueller, Speech-Language Pathology Department, University of Texas El Paso, El Paso, TX 79902 (e-mail: vtmueller{at}utep.edu).
Received February 4, 2009; revised August 8, 2009; accepted August 10, 2009