SignWriting List
April 5, 2002
Hi Hillary -
One thing that struck me when I read this...There are many born-deaf
signing adults who would be wonderful for your study, but they do not
necessarily know enough English to read your consent form below. They
are intelligent people with a beautiful and full language, namely a
Sign Language, but they are not neccessarily on computers.
Of course, if your consent form was written in American Sign
Language, in SignWriting, with English captions, that might be great,
but you would still have to go to Deaf people one on one and
interview them in American Sign Language in person. Will you be
interviewing Deaf people in person? If your signing skills are not
good enough, you can hire an interpreter, or go with a signing
friend...
The intelligent Deaf people who were failed by our school systems,
and graduated with little or no skills in reading spoken languages -
those are the deaf people you need to interview...
The ones who use computers and write fluent English apparently made
it through our school system somehow, while simultaneously other deaf
people were let down by our system...so there is not equal education
for all deaf people in our schools...and I guess that is the purpose
of your survey!
Val ;-)
-------------------------
>>>Hillary Hittner wrote: If you know of anyone else who would be
>>>interested in participating please forward this survey on. You
>>>can either respond to this email or send it to me via postal mail
>>>at
230 oak grove street apt. # 122
minneapolis, MN 55403
regards,
Hillary
CONSENT FORM
Deaf Literacy: What Works?
You are invited to be in a research study of perspectives on
literacy. You were selected as a possible participant because you are
Deaf or hard of hearing. We ask that you read this form and ask any
questions you may have before agreeing to be in the study.
The research study titled, "Deaf Literacy: What Works" is a senior
project conducted by Hillary Hittner and The University of Minnesota.
Ms. Hittner is an undergraduate who is graduating in May 2002 with a
Bachelors of Arts in Honors Psychology and a Bachelors of
Individualized Studies in Deaf Studies, Biological Psychology and
Drug and Alcohol Studies.
Background Information:
There is an abundance of research concerning literacy development and
the education of children who are Deaf/hard of hearing. Researchers
have made many attempts to answer the question: What is better-speech
or signing. However, the findings remain inconclusive since so many
factors influence literacy development such as family support,
communication, diversity in the classroom, the use of technology etc.
Additionally, most of the research fails to ask Deaf/hard of hearing
individuals directly what influences their ability to learn literacy
skills. Thus, the purpose of this study is to obtain perspectives on
English literacy from Deaf/hard of hearing individuals.
Procedures:
If you agree to be in this study, we would ask you to do the following things:
Participants are asked to fill out a forty-five question survey that
is designed to take no more than ten minutes to complete. The survey
is broken down into four domains that influence perceptions on
English literacy; parental, educational, communication, and self.
Risks and Benefits of Being in the Study:
There are no direct benefits nor risks to participating in this survey.
Confidentiality:
The records of this study will be kept private. In any sort of report
we might publish, we will not include any information that will make
it possible to identify a subject. Research records will be kept in a
locked file; only researchers will have access to the records for
educational purposes.
Voluntary Nature of the Study:
Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your
current or future relations with the University of Minnesota. If you
decide to participate, you are free to withdraw at any time without
affecting those relationships.
New Information:
If during the course of this research study, there are significant
new findings discovered which might influence your willingness to
continue, the researchers will inform you of those developments.
Contacts and Questions:
The researcher conducting this study is Hillary Grace Hittner. You
may ask any questions you have now. If you have questions later, you
may contact her at ; Phone: (612) 840-8898 or Randy
Fletcher (advisor) ,
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the study and would
like to talk to someone other than the researcher(s), contact
Research Subjects' Advocate line, D528 Mayo, 420 Delaware Street
S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455; telephone (612) 625-1650.
Upon request, you will be given a copy of this form to keep for your records.
Statement of Consent:
I have read the above information. I have asked questions and have
received answers. I consent to participate in the study.
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