Deaf Accessibility in a Three-Day Instructional Skills Workshop: An Explorative Study

Abstract

This study focused on the learning experience of a culturally Deaf person in a workshop milieu where training is short and intensive. The researcher is a culturally Deaf person who signs fluently and was raised in a Deaf family. The research examined and evaluated the Instructional Skills Workshop through a CDS orientation to identify possible barriers and sites of potential accommodation for Deaf learners, specifically American Sign Language instructors. The researcher participated in a three-day Instructional Skills Workshop and maintained a journal of his experiences. The research journal and the workshop manuals constituted the data sets. Data analysis involved a) selecting salient episodes from the researcher’ journal and applying Galloway et al’s Ethic of Accommodation to the episodes and b) applying a SWOT analysis to the overall experience including the manuals. Findings indicate that well-meaning people who assisted in accommodations soon became focused on the ISW process, and that the ISW 3-day structure format, the intensity of the schedule and quick exposure to the foundational premises may not fit a Deaf approach to this short, intensive professional development. Further study should be conducted in a pilot of a Deaf-friendly ISW using the recommendation of a 4-day format.