Resilience in the face of trauma is an important yet elusive construct in human development. While there are prevalent data suggesting high rates of trauma among deaf individuals, valuable insight on how resilience evolves among deaf individuals within the context of trauma has yet to be explored sufficiently. This study explored the concept of resilience through semi-structured interviews with a total of 19 experienced mental health providers. Using an applied thematic analysis approach, the following five themes were identified as crucial protective factors in resilience processes: individual assets, identity development, access to language and communication, access to information, and supportive networks. Findings both confirm previous findings about resilience as well as identify unique protective factors for deaf individuals with trauma. The discussion explores those protective factors and their role as resources for social services professionals and deaf individuals in efforts to support resilience.
Social skills are a vehicle by which individuals negotiate important relationships. The present article presents historical data on how social skills in deaf students were conceptualized and studied empirically during the period 1990-2015. Using a structured literature review approach, the researchers coded 266 articles for theoretical frameworks used and constructs studied. The vast majority of articles did not explicitly align with a specific theoretical framework. Of the 37 that did, most focused on socioemotional and cognitive frameworks, while a minority drew from frameworks focusing on attitudes, developmental theories, or ecological systems theory. In addition, 315 social-skill constructs were coded across the data set; the majority focused on socioemotional functioning. Trends in findings across the past quarter century and implications for research and practice are examined.
The authors assessed the quality of single-case design (SCD) studies that assess the impact of interventions on outcomes for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH). More specifically, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards for SCD research were used to assess design quality and the strength of evidence of peer-reviewed studies available in the peer-reviewed, published literature. The analysis yielded four studies that met the WWC standards for design quality, of which two demonstrated moderate to strong evidence for efficacy of the studied intervention. Results of this review are discussed in light of the benefits and the challenges to applying the WWC design standards to research with DHH individuals and other diverse, low-incidence populations.
Individuals who are deaf have historically faced significant obstacles to equity in employment. This secondary analysis of data from the second National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2) examined (a) intensive vocation-related courses taken by students who are deaf and (b) their impact on long-term employment outcomes. Deaf students in general education schools and special education schools were equally likely to take a four-course sequence of vocational classes. However, students in general education schools were less likely to enroll in at least a year of work-study courses. Propensity score analyses indicate there were no significant effects of enrollment in vocation-related course taking on employment outcomes for deaf students within the study time frame. Implications of these findings are provided both in terms of how the NLTS2 dataset is used to determine significant predictors of longer term outcomes for deaf individuals and potential inferences of nonsignificant results for the field.
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