Challenges of children who are d/deaf and hard of hearing while learning to read

Deaf and hard of hearing students (d/Dhh) encounter many challenges while learning to read. Unfortunately, students who struggle with literacy are at high risk for school failure overall and also may encounter lifelong problems finding employment. The purpose of this article was to review the greatest impediments d/Dhh children face in learning to read with respect to the five major components of the English language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics and code-related skills, including print concepts, alphabet knowledge, emergent writing, and phonological-awareness skills. The results showed that d/Dhh children are able to learn just as their hearing peers do, but at a slower speed. Further, they achieve smaller incremental results in the learning process and, therefore, require additional services to help them learn to read.