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ODYSSEY

New Directions in Deaf Education

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Seeking Submissions for the 2025 Issue of Odyssey

THEME: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students with Disabilities

This issue of Odyssey will focus on how deaf and hard of hearing students with disabilities—physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, social-emotional, and/or developmental—are provided with equitable access to education. Articles will explore how parents and caregivers, teachers, audiologists, administrators, and others ensure these students have the resources, supports, and services necessary to fully participate and succeed in both school and the community from birth to adulthood.

Thirty to 40 percent of deaf and hard of hearing children have some form of disability. These disabilities range from mild to severe. These children, sometimes referred to as “deafdisabled,” “deaf with disability,” or Deaf plus,” have the same rights to education as their nondisabled peers—and they have the same needs as all children. Historically, children with disabilities were too often thought of only in terms of their disability. Today, many practitioners manage the disability, and its accommodation, as they keep focus on student learning and the child’s social-emotional development. No longer are students with disabilities seen simply as students that need “fixing.” Instead, attention is on the dysfunction in the environment that prevents students from accessing the free and appropriate education to which they are entitled.

We would like to learn about your experiences. Please tell us about:

Supports and services: What types of supports (e.g., resources, parent groups, online communities, workshops) are empowering you, as parents and caregivers, to advocate for your children so they receive the appropriate accommodations and services they need to thrive at home and at school?

Workshops and training: What types of workshops and training have you experienced that shifted your attitude, or the attitudes of those around you, and allowed you or others to create initiatives and spur actions that cultivated a sense of belonging, achievement, or increased learning for these students?

Technology: Has a new technology or the new implementation of an older technology been helpful to you and your students? What was it, how was it implemented, and how did the students respond?

Programming: What kinds of programming, activities, tools, and strategies proved especially useful for students? Did you find a change in programming to be necessary? What was successful with these students in your program, school, or camp to promote maximum opportunities for learning and interaction?

Emotional validation: How are you, as educators or other professionals, ensuring these students are validated as members of the learning community, that their experiences and perspectives are welcome, and that they feel like they belong?

Home supports:
What has been your experience with accommodating and supporting deaf and hard of hearing children with disabilities within the home? Are there accommodations that have ensured a more secure situation? How was communication effectively handled? What skills did family members need to learn?

Advocacy: How have you, as a teacher or parent/caregiver, advocated for your deaf or hard of hearing child with disabilities? How did the school or program respond? What were the results of this advocacy? How were you able to make changes in the child’s environment?

Please e-mail your ideas to us. We will begin accepting submissions on September 1, 2024, and continue until December 31, 2024, or until the magazine reaches capacity. Contact us at any time with questions or to discuss your ideas.