Biography

The goal of my overall research program is to maximize the developmental potential of all deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children through theoretical and applied research. My research priorities are informed by and aligned with those of the National Association of the Deaf and the World Federation of the Deaf, which continue to emphasize that the Deaf community’s greatest wish is not better and earlier access to hearing but better and earlier access to language. The present proposal’s focus on gaining clarity around language outcomes, language deprivation, and Language Deprivation Syndrome is directly aligned with both the goals of the NOSI on Tackling Acquisition in Kids (TALK) initiative and the priorities of the Deaf communities in the US and around the world.

I will serve as Principal Investigator for the proposed project. I am trained primarily as a cognitive and developmental psychologist using behavioral methods, with content expertise in language acquisition (including the consequences of language deprivation across the lifespan) and sign language emergence, acquisition, and psycholinguistic processing. As theoretical clarity has developed around delayed/incomplete first language acquisition (rather than deafness) being the primary source of DHH people’s challenges, my research program has increasingly focused on strategies for preventing language deprivation.

The work proposed in Aim 1 advances this goal by providing urgently-needed guidance to all 59 US states and territories, which must develop plans for measuring language outcomes in DHH children. More robust and transparent data on language outcomes will help families make better-informed decisions. The work proposed in Aims 2 and 3 advances this goal by formally defining the terms “language deprivation” and “Language Deprivation Syndrome”, which have previously been used to cover such a wide range of meanings that measurement has been impossible. Until a phenomenon can be measured, it is impossible to determine its incidence and prevalence (critical for informed decision-making) or understand its causes (critical for both prevention and treatment). The present work is therefore a necessary foundation for subsequent research that will develop valid and reliable measures of these constructs, and investigate their causes and consequences.

Education

• PhD, Cognitive Psychology, University of California, San Diego
• MA, Cognitive Psychology, University of California, San Diego
• BA, Brain & Cognitive Sciences and American Sign Language, University of Rochester