What can occupational therapy do, specifically in the classroom, to help

someone who is deaf communicate better with the hearing world?

Northland Community and Technical College
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
Summary of Key Findings
Deaf and hard of hearing children in special education
reported victimization more often than deaf and hard
of hearing children in regular education. Deaf and
hard of hearing children reported fewer invitations to
parties, received more mean comments, and being
more often ignored than hearing children
(Kouwenberg, 2012).
Deaf adolescents have more difficulties to overcome
in developing interpersonal communication skills and
sustaining relationships compared to hearing
students. They stated that social skills training with
peers would be a breakthrough point to provide
interventions for adolescents who are deaf and who
are experiencing great loneliness (Aitao, 2014).
The school is an environment where children develop
social skills, appropriate communication skills, group
participation, coping skills, understanding and
interpreting of values, and learning how to learn on
ones own. The article states that an occupational
therapist would be a good resource for a deaf child
experiencing problems with those skills (Sneed,
1999).
In England and Scotland, approximately 1 in 1,000
children are born with a permanent degree of
deafness. Research has consistently shown that the
prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems is
higher in deaf children than hearing children . Most
deaf children have hearing parents who are usually
unprepared for the arrival of a deaf child and many
struggle to meet their developmental needs in the
first few years of life (Wright, 2012).

Clinical Scenario
Two to three out of every 1,000 children in the
United States are born with a detectable level of
hearing loss in one or both ears (Quick

Statistics 2014).
Although there are deaf schools across the
country, it is important for a developing deaf
student to be exposed to the hearing world, to
learn how to communicate with anyone so they
may hold a job, or simply order at a restaurant.
With that being said, it is also important that the
public schools who have deaf and hard of
hearing students teach ASL because it is the
main form of communication that the deaf culture
uses.

Limitations
5/8 studies were completed in foreign countries such
as Belgium, the Netherlands, China, and Spain. This
can pose as a limitation because the U.S. culture and
school systems may differ from each other.
Four Level V articles were used in the research
process, which is the lowest level.
A large portion of the articles had a small sample size
of their subjects ranging from 34 to 177 participants.
3/8 articles used were 10 years or older

Bottom Line

After reviewing these eight

articles, OT professionals can
benefit deaf students in the
following ways:
Provide education to all involved in
the students life about peer
interactions, health concerns (Smith,
2012).
Work on appropriate communication
and social skills, provide fun
activities that will encourage
interaction between deaf and
hearing students (Li, 2010).
Be a part of sign language classesby making it fun and encouraging,
role play/scenarios for the specific
individual, encourage the group
participation by collaborating with
the student on ideas (Cambra
2002).
Help the student understand and
interpret values within the classroom
Help the deaf student come up with
solutions when encountering
problems in school.