Reading Habits of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults

Few studies exist on the reading habits of the deaf population, and most of those that do were published more than 20 years ago. Hence, changes in reading habits due to the availability to the deaf population of online reading material and portable electronic devices have likely occurred. Additionally, in the hearing population, confinement causes changes in reading habits. We used an online questionnaire to compare the reading habits of 102 deaf and hard of hearing adult residents of Spain both before and during COVID-19 confinement. In general, more reading occurred during confinement, although not all participants showed this pattern: Regular readers read more during lockdown. Motivations for reading were largely unaffected by confinement. Furthermore, the time spent reading was not related to the availability of books at home: More was read in digital format during confinement.

"We Speak Visually": User-Generated Icons for Better Video-Mediated Mixed-Group Communications Between Deaf and Hearing Participants

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, videoconferencing technology has been widely adopted as a convenient, powerful, and fundamental tool that has simplified many day-to-day tasks. However, video communication is dependent on audible conversation and can be strenuous for those who are Hard of Hearing. Communication methods used by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community differ significantly from those used by the hearing community, and a distinct language gap is evident in workspaces that accommodate workers from both groups. Therefore, we integrated users in both groups to explore ways to alleviate obstacles in mixed-group videoconferencing by implementing user-generated icons. A participatory design methodology was employed to investigate how the users overcome language differences. We observed that individuals utilized icons within video-mediated meetings as a universal language to reinforce comprehension. Herein, we present design implications from these findings, along with recommendations for future icon systems to enhance and support mixed-group conversations. © 2023 ACM.

Knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of COVID-19 among deaf persons in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, studies continue to investigate the KAP of COVID-19 among diverse groups. We examined the KAP of COVID-19 among deaf persons living in the Ayawaso North Municipality in Accra. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for this study. Our sample comprised deaf persons registered with the Municipal Directorate. In all, 144 deaf persons were interviewed using an adapted KAP COVID-19 questionnaire. RESULTS: Regarding knowledge, majority of the deaf persons (> 50%) were not in the know of 8 out of 12 items of the knowledge subscale. For attitude, deaf persons (> 50%) showed optimistic attitude in all 6 items of the attitude subscale. Deaf persons "always" practised 5 items and "sometimes" practised 4 items in the preventive practices to COVID-19. A positive moderate and significant correlation existed between the subscales. Regression analysis showed that, a one-unit increase in knowledge will result in a 1.033-unit increase in preventive practices while a one-unit increase in knowledge will result in a 0.587-unit increase in attitude. CONCLUSIONS: Campaigns about COVID-19 should emphasize the teaching of the science of the virus and the disease and not just the preventive practices, paying special attention to deaf persons.

Oppression by omission: An analysis of the #WhereIsTheInterpreter hashtag campaign around COVID-19 on Twitter

Critical to managing a crisis such as COVID-19 is the propagation of information to all vulnerable populations. Despite guidelines regarding communicating with people with differing accessibility needs during crises, some often find their needs unmet. Following a lack of assisted communications for d/Deaf people during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Twitter hashtag campaign, #WhereIsTheInterpreter, was launched in the UK, protesting the lack of accessibility during official press briefings around the epidemic. The campaign received support from across the globe. This study analyzes the discourse around the campaign in tweets published from March 1st, 2020 and September 30th, 2021 (N = 27,021) and analyzed the corpus using the Analysis of Topic Model Network (ANTMN) approach. We identified four major themes of discourse: discrimination, accessibility challenges, communication gaps and barriers, and Deaf rights. We analyze the discourse through the perspective of Critical Disability Theory (CDT) and hashtag activism, and discuss practical and theoretical implications. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Media, Culture & Society is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Role of information channels for information accessibility to the deaf during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia

Information is a human need, including of deaf individuals. Information accessibility for deaf individuals is much greater when compared to the hearing community, as the deaf need special services to fulfil their information needs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for information for the deaf became much more significant. The present study aimed to explore the impact of various information accessibility channels such as social media, educational channel, international institutions, and government agencies on the information accessibility of the deaf community in the city of Banjarmasin, Indonesia. This study followed the quantitative methods of data collection, utilizing closed-ended questionnaires. Smart-PLS was used for data analysis. The results showed that information accessibility channels such as social media, educational channels, international institutions, and government agencies have a positive linkage with the information accessibility of the deaf community in the city of Banjarmasin, Indonesia. This study would guide the policymakers to design new strategies of information accessibility for the deaf in the country. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Inaccessible media during the COVID-19 crisis intersects with the language deprivation crisis for young deaf children in the U.S

The article briefs about the language deprivation crisis for young deaf children in the U.S. With so much online and at home during the pandemic, real digital access for all children is a necessity. The legacy of U.S. media encouraging or requiring certain types of translation, while discouraging or ruling out others, matters for ideas about what does, or does not, constitute "access" to community and media for deaf children. Programming that is provided or translated into visual, fully accessible ASL and other signed languages is a key step. Rather than transcribing English into captions, it's worth looking past technologies of translation and to other countries' examples before and during COVID-19, as well as ongoing grassroots deaf organizing, to ensure that this crisis does not amplify the language deprivation crisis for deaf children in the U.S. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Teachers Perspectives on Transition to Online Teaching Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study

Education has faced various challenges due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. These challenges were even more dramatic for deaf and hard-of-hearing students as they transitioned to the online setting. This paper aims to explore the teachers' perspectives on transitioning to educating computer science deaf students at a technical college in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Therefore, the paper presents the results of 10 surveys and 5 interviews with faculty to identify the main obstacles that teachers have faced during the transition. This study outcomes reveal several challenges related to poor accessibility of learning tools, issues with the online availability of materials, no updates on the teaching pedagogy to accommodate the new settings and communication problems between teachers and students. Our study outlines important takeaways to provide deaf and hard-of-hearing students with a better learning experience. © 2023 ACM.

Equitable Access to Telehealth and Other Services for Deaf People During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL) with low self-perceived ability to understand spoken information face inequitable access to health care due to systemic barriers. Methods: We conducted interviews with 266 deaf ASL users at baseline (May-Aug 2020) and 244 deaf ASL users at follow-up (3 months). Questions addressed (1) access to interpretation during in-person visits; (2) whether they visited clinics (3) or emergency departments (EDs); and (4) telehealth use. Analyses involved univariate and multivariable logistic regressions across levels of perceived ability to understand spoken language. Results: Less than a third were aged >65 (22.8%); Black, Indigenous, People of Color (28.6%), or LGBTQ+ (31.1%); and had no college degree (30.6%). More respondents reported outpatient visits at follow-up (63.9%) than at baseline (42.3%). Ten more respondents reported going to urgent care or an ED at follow-up than at baseline. At follow-up interviews, 57% of deaf ASL respondents with high perceived ability to understand spoken language reported receiving interpretation at clinic visits compared to 32% of ASL respondents with low perceived ability to understand spoken language (p<0.01). Telehealth and ED visits showed no between-group differences for low versus high perceived ability to understand spoken language. Discussion: Our study is the first to explore deaf ASL users' access to telehealth and outpatient encounters over time during the pandemic. The U.S. health care system is designed for people who have high perceived ability to understand spoken information. Systemic access to health care, including telehealth and clinics, must be made consistently equitable for deaf people who require accessible communication.

Accessing hearing-health services for deaf and hard-of-hearing children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Parent and child perspectives.

To describe hearing-health service use, especially use of telehealth, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in deaf/hard-of-hearing children. In 2020, the Victorian Childhood Hearing Longitudinal Databank surveyed 497 (61.6%) families of deaf/hard-of-hearing children aged 0.4-19.6 years, with 449 (90.3%) providing quantitative data and 336 (67.6%) providing free-text comments about COVID-19's impact on service use and access. We summarised quantitative data using descriptive statistics and analysed free-text responses using inductive and deductive reasoning. Of the 1152 services families used during the pandemic, 711 (62%) were accessed via telehealth. Parents reported several challenges and facilitators of service access during the pandemic, particularly regarding telehealth. Parents reported that their child found telehealth appointments more difficult (347/665, 52.1%) and of worse quality (363/649, 55.9%) compared to in-person. These difficulties were more evident in pre-school than school-age children. Consideration of these factors when implementing telehealth practice beyond the pandemic would improve family experiences, ensuring quality of care.

Pandemic effects on the reading trajectories of deaf and hard of hearing students: a pilot analysis.

It is important to understand the nature of the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had upon student learning, especially those at risk such as deaf students. The limited communication that many deaf students have at home may mean less support is available for learning remotely. Reading may be one of the areas where progress was diminished. We collected Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores in reading from deaf students in a residential school for the deaf in grades 3 to 12 every fall and spring from 2016 to 2021. A cohort-sequential approach yielded growth data (2570 observations), with 546 students measured up to 10 times each. As is typical of MAP reading achievement in grades 3 to 12, growth was steep in early grades, slowing in later grades. Students in the Alternative Curriculum performed lower and grew slower. Cohorts differed, with more recent cohorts typically having higher performance than older cohorts. Tenure had a substantial effect, suggesting that students who had been in the school for the deaf longer had higher performance compared to students who joined the school as older students. The pandemic appeared to have a strong, but diminishing effect in each semester, but this effect differed widely across demographic groups. This suggests that effects of the pandemic are neither clear nor simple for deaf students even within the same school. These findings have implications for understanding how the impact of pandemic may vary as a function of deaf students' educational experiences and other demographic factors.

Perception of the Impact of COVID-19 on a Sample of Spaniards with Hearing Disabilities.

This paper describes an empirical study carried out with 40 Spanish deaf people, users of sign language, between 19 and 45 years of age, which gathers their perceptions of aspects related to the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions. During the pandemic, people with hearing disabilities, among other groups, were forgotten. They suffered from accessibility problems to the information issued by the authorities, violating their right to be informed and exposing their health to COVID-19. In this work, we identify the problems they suffered and what effects COVID-19 had on their lives. This will help to take the appropriate measures to restore their rights and design policies and strategies to deal with any new future health emergency. For this, an ad hoc questionnaire was designed, adapted to easy reading and sign language. This was publicized via email and WhatsApp through the Association of Deaf People of Granada and Province (Spain) and was responded to online and by video call with the collaboration of sign language interpreters using the LimeSurvey platform. The results discover (1) the difficulties of communication barriers in the relationship with health professionals and institutions, as well as in the spheres of work and education, (2) similarities with the rest of the population in the negative effects of confinement, and (3) presence of positive effects, such as the development of positive activities and emotions. The study highlights the need to increase economic and institutional support aimed at improving coping resources, access to information, and the reduction of social and institutional barriers that would allow people with hearing disabilities to successfully face future health problems of a global nature such as that experienced with COVID-19.

Technology challenges among deaf and hard of hearing elders in China during COVID-19 pandemic emergency isolation: A qualitative study.

Digital technology can be an effective tool to facilitate emergency assistance in a pandemic, but many deaf and hard-of-hearing elders may experience challenges in using and adopting these technologies. In the context of the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, this study employs a qualitative research method based on in-depth interviews to explore technology challenges among deaf and hard-of-hearing elders in China. The results showed that this group's technology challenges arose mainly from barriers to the mastery of digital technology tools, among which barriers to the use of smartphones, to the accessibility of online medical consultations, and to the presentation of health codes, were most noteworthy. For the informants, these barriers led to social isolation and technology avoidance. What's more, the expectation of individuals to adopt certain types of digital intelligence technologies can inadvertently create inequities for disadvantaged groups and exacerbate the "digital divide." This study highlights the need for emergency management systems to be inclusive of elders with hearing loss in times of public health crises, by providing effective technology support and training to facilitate individuals' access to services and to safeguard their health, interests, and livelihood.

Shifting to D-learning during crises: Optimal experiences based on Saudi teachers of Deaf students' viewpoint

Within weeks COVID-19 compromised months of planning and transformed in-class learning to a distance learning environment to which most students and teachers were not accustomed. This resulted in the circulation of an expectations-performance gap with regards to what could be realistically implemented to further support the learning of Deaf students. This qualitative study aims to determine the reality of using distance learning to teach Deaf students throughout the crises period in Saudi Arabia and attempts to examine the optimal distance learning practices for Deaf students. 30 hearing and Deaf teachers, chosen through a stratified random sample, participated. A developed semi-structured interview was used for data collection. The collected data was analyzed through the application of content analysis. The findings revealed that despite the benefits of distance learning in developing teachers' technology skills, they encountered numerous obstacles including administrative, technical, teaching, family and personal challenges. Several educational strategies and tools were suggested to help educators facilitate Deaf learning during the crises. The study reveals the required support from the Saudi Ministry of Education to make distance learning accessible for Deaf learners. © 2023 by authors;licensee OJCMT by Bastas, CY.

Psychological Stress and Perceived School Success During COVID-19 Among Parents of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

This study mainly explored psychological stress due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and how it related to parents' views of school success in mainland China. The Psychological Stress Questionnaire and Views of Social and Academic Success were administered to 213 parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Results showed that parents' and children's characteristics were related to psychological stress due to COVID-19, which significantly negatively predicted parents' views of school success. The contributions, limitations, and implications of the present research are discussed.

Online Learning Platform for Students with Disabilities: Possible Path to Progress

Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational system, students cannot go to school as usual. Therefore, Ministry of Education cooperates with Distance Learning Foundation Under the Royal Patronage and Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication (NBTC) to organize distance learning through the digital distance learning television. During the COVID-19 situations, schools increasingly adapt themselves to distance learning. However, schools for disabilities, Suksasongkhro Schools, and Special Education Centers cannot organize distance learning media through Distance Learning Television (DLTV) due to limitations of the students with disabilities to use the distance learning system. For example, blind students cannot access visual contents of the video media through the distance learning system so they need audio description for what they cannot see. In addition, deaf students cannot access audio contents through the distance learning, and they need sign/hand language. Thai sign language is the first language of deaf people for communicating with other people. Therefore, in this study we aim to integrate Thai sign language, closed captions, and audio description into the video soundtrack. © 2022 IEEE.

Ableism, Human Rights, and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Healthcare-Related Barriers Experienced by Deaf People in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected global healthcare access and exacerbated pre-pandemic structural barriers. Literature on disabled people's experiences accessing healthcare is limited, with even less framing healthcare access as a human rights issue. This study documents and critically analyses Deaf people's healthcare access experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven self-identified Deaf individuals participated in semi-structured videoconferencing interviews. Discourse analysis was applied to participant narratives with discourses juxtaposed against a human rights analysis. Barriers influencing healthcare access included: (1) the inability of healthcare providers to communicate appropriately, including a rigid adherence to face mask use; (2) cultural insensitivity and limited awareness of Deaf people's unique needs; and (3) the impact of ableist assumptions and healthcare delaying care. Barriers to healthcare access represent consecutive breaches of rights guaranteed under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Such breaches delay appropriate healthcare access and risk creating future compounding effects. Action is required to address identified breaches: (1) The CRPD should also underpin all health policy and practice development, inclusive of pandemic and disaster management responsiveness. (2) Health professionals and support staff should be trained, and demonstrate competency, in Deaf cultural awareness and sensitivity.

The Role of Existing Technology Text to Speech in the Deaf Disabled Communities Due to Brain Inflammation

Individuals, particularly those within the lower middle class, are battling to outlive in progressively troublesome financial conditions, particularly with the COVID-19 widespread. Of course, this influences numerous individuals, one of them is individuals with disabilities. Prior to the widespread, individuals with disabilities had experienced challenges. Be that as it may, due to the widespread, the lives of individuals with incapacities are indeed more difficult. Information can be stunted and hard to get. That is why it is important to sign and improve the technology that is possibly used for people with disabilities. In this paper, we are going to talk further more about text to speech technology that are used by many people with disabilities and especially in this case, the Deaf community. The methods we use to help us answer our question is with quantitative methods to measure the relevanceness in the Deaf communities. This study has a purpose to make sure the technologies that are used are easy to access and cheap. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

SUCCESSES & CHALLENGES OF SUPPORTING PRODUCT DESIGN EDUCATION FOR DEAF & HARD OF HEARING LEARNERS DURING A PANDEMIC: A CASE STUDY

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Higher Education has been considerable, none more so for practical/vocational subjects such as Product Design. However, consider being deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HOH) whilst being forced to study predominantly online, with reduced practical in-person teaching opportunities, being socially distanced, and having to contend with face coverings limiting your ability to hear and lip read. The everyday challenges for D/HOH students in higher education is constantly demanding, but the global pandemic exacerbated this, presenting significant educational challenges. This paper presents a case study focused on the 2020/21 academic year whereby we examine the challenges and successes of supporting a product design student with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) and permanent bilateral severe-profound hearing loss. The scope of this paper presents the learner arrangements for their product design education and highlights methods of managing the blended learning/teaching environment in combination with the use of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters, electronic/handwritten notetakers and accompanying technologies. Numerous challenges were presented ranging from, managing rapidly developing online learning tools, adapting personal protective equipment to facilitate lip reading, managing multiple recording technologies to facilitate captioning/transcription, amongst others. The perspectives of the learner are presented, with reflections on how different session types, timetabling, delivery methods, etc., affected their day-to-day learning. Recommendations are made for improved collaboration with student support staff (i.e., BSL interpreters and electronic/handwritten note takers) and the need to implement digital technologies to facilitate the optimal blended learning and socially distanced teaching environment. © Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Disrupt, Innovate, Regenerate and Transform, E and PDE 2022. All rights reserved.

Hybrid teaching in deaf education during the pandemic: training challenges

The year of 2020 was very important to (re)think Education in Brazil, since it was the year when the educational community had to resignify itself in the face of the new challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, requiring training to train teachers in the so-called "new" teaching modality. In this sense, this work aims to make a cut of what happened and is happening in the academic environment after the pandemic was decreed. The research in question investigates, under the bias of qualitative analysis, using questionnaires, the main difficulties encountered by teachers from inclusive high school classrooms and professionals from multifunctional resource classrooms, in the learning process of deaf students, with the use of technologies and the real need to train these teachers in terms of hybrid teaching. The theoretical bases guiding this textual construct were: Giroto (2012), Moran (2015), Moreira (2020), and Quadros (2003). The results point to efforts in the context of teaching deaf students, as changes in educational paradigms have re-signified and are resignifying agents, modes/means, instruments, and educational purposes, in addition to pointing out the need for innovations in educational practices.