Deafness and dyslexia

Content

The development of standardised tests for dyslexia has paved the way for the identification of dyslexia in hearing children and stimulated research into effective interventions. However, there are no such tests or interventions for deaf children, some of whom may also be dyslexic.

This talk explored reading profiles in deaf children and discussed challenges surrounding the identification of dyslexia in this group. Research using measures developed for hearing children and others specifically for deaf children was described. Recommendations for supporting deaf children with reading difficulties were discussed.

Target Audience

Qualified Teacher of deaf children, speech and language therapists, support staff, class teachers, education psychologists.

Presenter

Ros Herman, Professor of Child Language and Deafness, City, University of London. Her research interests include language and literacy development, assessment and interventions in deaf individuals.

Ros is a qualified Speech and Language Therapist and Director of the Sign Language and Reading Assessment Clinic, an outreach clinical service at City, where she offers assessments of deaf children and adults' BSL and literacy skills. Ros recently completed a European Erasmus+ project with Dr Joanna Hoskin to develop online training for Deaf Language Specialists in three spoken and signed languages. Ros is a research associate at the Deafness, Cognition and Language (DCAL) research centre at University College London and is currently collaborating with Dr Fiona Kyle on a funded longitudinal investigation into early predictors of literacy difficulties in deaf and hearing children.

• Ros Herman, Profile