Individuals with deafness or hearing impairments fall along a continuum from having residual hearing abilities that allow them, with use of a hearing aid, to comprehend other's speech and oral communication, to individuals who do not perceive useful sounds from the environment with or without hearing aids. The federal definition in The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states that deafness is a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification. Depending on when a hearing loss occurred, individuals may develop oral communication skills, communicate through the use of manual communication (sign language), or use a combination of both manual communication and oral language. The following resources will help you explore this topic.

Books Published by Houghton Mifflin Company

• Hunt, N., & Marshall, K. (1999). Exceptional Children and Youth (2^nd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company - Chapter 8.
• Kirk, S.A., Gallagher, J.J. & Anastasiow, N.J. (2000). Educating Exceptional Children (9^th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company - Chapter 9.
• Moores, D.F. (2001). Educating deaf: Psychology, principles, and practices (5^th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin (in print).
• Ysseldyke, J.E., Algozzine, B., & Thurlow, M.L. (2000) Critical issues in special education (3^rd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 71.

Books Published by Other Companies

• Manshie, S.N. (1995). Educating deaf children bilingually. Washington DC: Gallaudet University.
• Marschark, M. (1997). Raising and educating a deaf child. New York: Oxford University Press.
• McAnally, P.L., Rose, S. & Quigley,S.P. (1994). Language learning practices with deaf children. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
• Marschark, M. (1993). Psychological development of deaf children. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Nussbaum, D. (1997). There's a hearing impaired child in my class (2^nd ed.). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
• Schwartz, S. (Ed.). (1996) Choices in deafness: A parent's guide to communication options. Rockville, MD: Woodbine House.
• Shirmer, B.R. (2000). Language and literacy development in children who are deaf. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
• Stone, R. (1997). Let's learn about deafness. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press
• Woolsey, M.L. (1998). Target practice: A teacher's resource for ASL games and activities. Hillsboro, OR: Butte Publications.

Journals

• American Athletic Association of the Deaf Bulletin
• American Annals of the Deaf
• The Deaf American Monograph Series
• Deaf Life
• Deaf USA
• Gallaudet Today
• Hearing Loss: The Journal of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People
• HIP Magazine
• Journal of American Deafness and Rehabilitiation Association
• Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education
• Perspectives in Education and Deafness
• The Communicator
• The Endeavor
• Volta Review

Fact Sheets

• General information about deafness and hearing loss -- http://www.kidsource.com/NICHCY/deafness.all.dis.3.html
• National Information Center on Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY) Fact Sheet -- http://nichcy.org/pubs/factshe/fs3txt.htm

Web site Resources

• Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, Inc. -- http://www.agbell.org
• American Speech-Language Hearing Association -- http://www.asha.org
• Deafness Links (Health Care Information Resources) -- http://www-hsl.mcmaster.ca/tomflem/deaf.html
• Deaf Source -- http://home.earthlink.net/~drblood/index.html
• ERIC Clearinghouse on disabilities and gifted education -- http://ericec.org
• The Federal Resource Center for Special Education -- http://www.dssc.org/frc/index.htm
• Gallaudette University -- http://www.gallaudet.edu
• National Association for the Deaf -- http://www.nad.org
• National Information Center on Deafness -- http://www.gallaudet.edu/~nicd/pub6.html
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Clearinghouse -- http://www.nih.gov/nidcd/

Popular Movies

• Children of a lesser God (1986). Paramount Pictures
• See no evil, hear no evil (1989). Tri-Star Pictures
• Mr. Holland's Opus (1996). Hollywood Pictures Home Video

Videos

• See What I'm Saying (Sign Language) -- http://www.fanlight.com/catalog/subject/disable.htm#hearing
• A Sign of the Times (Sign Language) -- http://www.fanlight.com/catalog/subject/disable.htm#hearing

Online Resource Documents

• About the Cochlear Implant -- http://deafness.about.com/health/deafness/gi/
  dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.wog.com/cochlear.html
• Causes of deafness --
• Cochlear Implants -- http://deafness.about.com/health/deafness/gi/dynamic
  /offsite.htm?site=http://www.voice%2Dcenter.com/cochlear%5Flimplants.html
• Educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Additional learning problems -- http://ericec.org/digests/e548.html
• Educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Assessment -- http://ericec.org/digests/e550.html
• Educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Cochlear implants -- http://ericec.org/digests/e554.html
• Educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Inclusion -- http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed414675.html
• Educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Overview -- http://ericec.org/digests/e549.html
• Educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing: Residential life, ASL, and deaf culture -- http://ericec.org/digests/e558.html
• Selected internet resources for deafness/hard of hearing -- http://ericec.org/faq/deaf-x.html
• Sign language dictionary online -- http://dww.deafworldweb.org/asl/sign.html