Adjustment to the learning environment among university students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Kayla Percival, Mahanoor Ahmed, Nasim B Khan
PMID 41055176WHAT IT FOUND
Ten deaf or hard of hearing university students described how inconsistent support, lecture pace, and classroom noise blocked their learning.
They found interpreters helpful but often unavailable outside lectures, and felt excluded by peers and lecturers who lacked awareness of Deaf culture.
Key findings
01Students valued interpreters for lectures but found them unavailable for group work and residence meetings, leading to isolation.
02Fast lecture delivery and poor visibility of the speaker's face made lip-reading difficult, with students requesting slower speech and clearer articulation.
03Classroom noise, dim lighting for projectors, and others occupying preferential seating consistently disrupted access to sign language and interpreters.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 10 students from a single university, limiting generalisability to other institutions. Researchers were final-year audiology students, and their background may have influenced interpretation despite reflexivity measures. Sign language interpreters were sourced from participants' personal networks, which may have affected neutrality and the authenticity of responses. Self-reported data is subject to recall bias and social desirability.
Declared interests
No funding sources or conflicts of interest are declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these experiences as evidence that specific interventions like interpreter training or acoustic panels improved outcomes, as this was a qualitative exploration of barriers and not an evaluation of solutions.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →