Tangible design for inclusive conversations with deaf or hard-of-hearing children

Abstract

Recent research in the area of deafness stresses that communication difficulties may severely impact the social and emotional development of deaf or hard-of-hearing learners. Education researchers voice the need of an integrated intervention for social and emotional learning at school, which considers deaf or hard-of-hearing learners’ communication requirements. In particular supporting conversation with peers can enhance their engagement in school activities, which can positively impact on their academic achievements in turn. This paper presents the design of Compass, a tangible interactive object, enhanced with embedded micro- electronics components, for supporting group conversation in presence of deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing children. The design choices are motivated in light of the requirement analysis. The paper concludes with an outlook on future work concerning Compass for enhancing conversation among deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing children.