Children who are d/Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing (d/DHH) have difficulty accessing oral language. For d/DHH students in mainstream (hearing) school settings, curriculum-based assessment and instruction are essential to support these students in reaching their full learning potential. Using a co-design approach and collaborating with teachers of the d/DHH, we have developed a curriculum-based assessment tool for oral language with four main components: vocabulary, morphological awareness, sentential syntax, and discourse. The assessment tool was developed with teachers of the d/DHH in Ontario and is adaptable for use with other language curricula. The assessment tool will be freely available for use and may be adapted to suit the needs of a wide range of d/DHH students.
Rachel Benninger is a PhD student in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Western Ontario. She has completed education and training in the areas of Developmental Psychology (University of Waterloo) and Speech-Language Pathology (University of Western Ontario). Her doctoral research focuses on the co-development of a curriculum-based spoken language assessment tool for use by teachers of the d/Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing.
