1st Edition

Working with Deaf Children and Young People A Guide for Practitioners

By Sarah Beazley, Judy Halden Copyright 2025
352 Pages 38 B/W Illustrations
by Speechmark

352 Pages 38 B/W Illustrations
by Speechmark

352 Pages 38 B/W Illustrations
by Speechmark

This book highlights the wide impact of deafness on many aspects of communication for deaf children and young people, and those around them. It explores input, semantics, grammar, and speech, and how you as a practitioner can apply this knowledge in different contexts, including for early years support. Each chapter considers the impact of deafness on key communication components and provides... Read more

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Input

Chapter 3: Auditory access to sound

Chapter 4: Conversational skills: discourse and pragmatics

Chapter 5: Linking grammar and semantics to communicative independence

Chapter 6: Intelligibility: listeners, watchers, and phonetics

Chapter 7: Some final words

Chapter 8: Resources

Index

Biography

Sarah Beazley is a specialist speech and language therapist (SLT) who has worked with deaf people since 1983 and as a lecturer on undergraduate and postgraduate professional courses. She has written several publications in the area of deafness and disability and is a visiting scholar at the University of Edinburgh.

Judy Halden was dual qualified as an SLT and a teacher for deaf children. She worked with deaf people from 1978, setting up and running specialist speech and language services for deaf children and for both deaf and deafened adults. She was an adviser, lecturer, and supervisor on the Hertfordshire University course for teachers of deaf children, as well as an honorary research associate and lecturer at University College London’s Department of Psychology and Language Sciences.

“This expertly crafted practitioner guide draws on extensive experience, knowledge, and research offering both practical and theoretical insights into working with deaf children and young people. Judy and Sarah’s expertise informs every chapter, reinforcing core principles while introducing fresh perspectives that will enhance and strengthen your professional practice.”

Ruth Merritt, Highly Specialist speech and language therapist with deaf people, Independent practitioner

“This book is an accessible and in-depth resource for speech and language therapists and teachers of deaf children. It takes a broad approach to the development of languages, which is necessary given the widely divergent experiences of deaf babies, children and young people. The flexibility and creativity in the approaches will provide practitioners with confidence in their work. I highly recommend it.”

Rachel O’Neill, Senior Lecturer in deaf education, University of Edinburgh