Deaf Identity Under Pressure: Experiences of Deaf Persons in Iceland.

Over the past decades, changes in technology and policy have made developing and maintaining identity and community increasingly challenging for Deaf individuals. This is particularly obvious in Iceland, where the Deaf community is threatened in its existence. This paper reports on an empirical study that explores how Deaf individuals experience developing and maintaining a positive identity in various areas, including family life, working life, and social life. The study approaches deaf identities as multifaceted and dynamic, and particular emphasis is placed on the role of social interactions in identity-related processes. Qualitative interviews were conducted among members of the Icelandic Deaf community and analyzed using a phenomenological approach. The results indicate that social interactions within the Deaf community are a key factor in developing and maintaining Deaf identity. However, decreasing numbers in the Deaf community make its members explore other opportunities, and they experience being Deaf in Iceland as an insecure identity.

Mothers of Deaf Children in the 21st Century. Dynamic Positioning Between the Medical and Cultural-Linguistic Discourses.

Traditional research examining the communicational choices made by families with deaf children tends to emanate from the premise that families engage with either of the two grand discourses on deafness (i.e., the medical or cultural-linguistic perspective). This study investigated hearing mother's engagement with the educational options for their child from a dynamic, poststructural perspective. Three Flemish mothers were interviewed in-depth at the child's ages of 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. The data were analyzed within a theoretical model that describes the positioning process of the mothers. This method yielded alternative explanations for former findings concerning mothers' decision-making processes, especially the difficulty of learning sign language as a second language in an effort to provide a bilingual-bicultural education, and highlighted the importance of having rich experiences. It further showed that a bilingual-bicultural position was scarcely available and poorly supported for these mothers. These findings are discussed in relation to recent international consensus statements on best practices in early intervention.

Understanding work inclusion: Analysis of the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities on employment in the Icelandic labor market.

BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disabilities experience persistent marginalization in relation to work and employment. The concept of work inclusion provides a way of generating a more specific understanding of the meaning of employment participation. Work inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities focuses not on mere presence, but instead emphasizes relational aspects and potential for meaningful participation. OBJECTIVE: In this paper we report on an empirical study into the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities of employment participation in the Icelandic labor market. We considered their experiences in relation to four key components of work inclusion, placing emphasis on how they perceived opportunities for inclusion related to social relations, belonging, valued contributions and trust. METHODS: This study used a qualitative research design. Data was collected with semi-structured interviews with 9 participants with intellectual disabilities who all had experience of being employed in the Icelandic labor market. RESULTS: Our findings show the role of the work environment in participants' experiences of opportunities for having good relations at work, having a sense of belonging to the organization, being able to make a contribution to the goals of the organization, and receiving trust in one's professional role and responsibility. When participants experienced opportunities in relation to these basic components of work inclusion, they felt more positively about their employment participation. Lack of opportunities was reported as a reason for segregation and withdrawal. CONCLUSION: This study shows the importance for work organizations and other actors in the labor market of paying attention to components of work inclusion and their relation with corporate culture.

First information parents receive after UNHS detection of their baby's hearing loss.

The first information parents receive after referral through Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) has significant consequences for later care-related decisions they take and thus for the future of the child with a hearing loss. In this study, 11 interviews were conducted with a representative sample of Flemish service providers to discover (a) the content of the information provided to parents and (b) the service providers' assumptions and beliefs concerning deafness and care. To do this, we conducted an interpretative phenomenological analysis, followed by a discourse analysis. Results showed that parents receive diverse information, depending on the reference center to which they are referred. Moreover, all service providers used a medical discourse. We suggest that there is value to be gained from closer consideration of the nature of follow-up services provided in response to UNHS in Flanders and from auditing the professional preparation of service providers that are involved in providing information to parents.

Congenitally deaf children's care trajectories in the context of universal neonatal hearing screening: a qualitative study of the parental experiences.

The objective of this study is to examine the early care trajectories of congenitally deaf children from a parental perspective, starting with universal neonatal hearing screenings. The analysis using a three-dimensional care trajectory concept is aimed at developing a basic typology of postscreening care trajectories. Children with severe/profound hearing loss, registered in the Flanders' (Belgium) universal neonatal hearing screening program, born between 1999 and 2001. Thematic content analysis of qualitative data collected retrospectively from participant's parents. Two basic types of care trajectories emerged; based on differences in care-use in the phase of further diagnosis and related parental experiences. Subtypes resulted from events related to cochlear implantation. Five trajectory phases were identified: screening, further diagnosis, care and technology, cochlear implantation, and reduction of care and were characterized by specific parental experiences such as confusion, disbelief, disappointment, and uncertainty. Those experiences relate to care professionals' acts and communication and the child's functional evolution. Early care interventions could benefit from coordinated transition between phases, parent support throughout the care trajectory, and a broad approach to deafness in professionals' communication.

Child and parent perspectives of life quality of children with physical impairments compared with non-disabled peers.

BACKGROUND: Life quality has become a widely used concept within rehabilitation and occupational therapy practice. AIM: This study explored child and parent perspectives of life quality of children with physical impairments compared with a group of non-disabled children. METHOD: Data were collected with the Icelandic self- and proxy-reported versions of the KIDSCREEN-27. For children with physical impairments, reports from 34 children and 40 parents were included in the analyses, and in control group reports from 429 children and 450 parents were included. RESULTS: Children with physical impairments evaluated their life quality within the average range on four out of five life quality dimensions. The lowest scores were within the physical well-being dimension. Self-reported scores of children with physical impairments were higher than those of their parents on all dimensions except autonomy and parent relations. Thus, the parents considered more environmental and personal factors to negatively influence their child's life quality than children did themselves. CONCLUSION: Children with physical impairments experience their life quality similarly to non-disabled children. SIGNIFICANCE: Focus on life quality can help occupational therapists to identify what circumstances positively or negatively influence client well-being and to focus more on contextual factors that contribute to disablement.

Explaining the relation between precarious employment and mental well-being. A qualitative study among temporary agency workers.

BACKGROUND: From an employee-perspective, temporary agency employment can be considered in two ways. According to the first perspective, agency jobs are associated with job characteristics that adversely affect mental well-being: job insecurity, low wages, a lack of benefits, little training, poorer prospects for the future, high working time flexibility, minimal trade union representation and problematic triadic employment relations. The other perspective underlines that flexibility, learning opportunities and freedom in agency employment enable workers to build the career of their choice, which may positively affect mental well-being. OBJECTIVE: This article aims at interpreting and explaining these conflicting perspectives. In particular, we discuss the role of coping resources (control, support, trust and equity) in the stress pathway between characteristics of temporary agency employment and mental well-being. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 12 Belgian temporary agency workers were conducted and analysed from a phenomenological perspective. RESULTS: The results reveal mainly how a lack of coping resources plays a key role in how (precarious) characteristics of temporary agency employment affect employees' mental well-being. CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates the earlier assumed stress pathway between precarious employment and mental well-being, in which coping resources play an intermediary as well as a moderating role.

Deaf parents and pediatric cochlear implantation: an exploration of the decision-making process.

The study examined factors in deaf parents' decision between cochlear implantation (CI) and traditional hearing aids for their child. The subjects were 6 Flemish children ages 5-9 years with severe/profound congenital hearing loss, with at least 1 deaf parent. The researchers, who conducted thematic content analysis of qualitative data collected through parent interviews, found that with the exception of a family with 1 hearing parent, parents gave priority to Deaf identity, sign language, and ethical issues in deciding between CI and hearing aids. Medical risks were also mentioned. The researchers conclude that the decision-making processes of the parents involved factors that have also been found among hearing parents, as well as aspects that have not been reported to play a role in hearing parents' decision making. A further conclusion is that deaf parents' perspective merits attention in professional practice and empirical research.

Pediatric cochlear implantation: a qualitative study of parental decision-making processes in Flanders, Belgium.

Factors contributing to parents' decision when they choose between cochlear implantation (CI) and traditional hearing aids for their child were examined. The subjects were children with severe/profound hearing loss, born 1999-2001, registered in the universal neonatal hearing screening program in the Flanders region of Belgium. Qualitative data collected retrospectively from parents were subjected to thematic content analysis. In their responses to professional advice, parents were segmented into 3 groups: (a) those whose primary considerations were the importance of oral language development and the relative potential of CI and traditional hearing aids; (b) those for whom alternative factors (e.g., medical risks, ethical issues) were paramount, even in the face of professional advocacy of CI; (c) those who followed professional advice against CI. The researchers conclude that care professionals should be sensitive to the impact of their advice and other factors in parental decision making.