Acceptance of Deaf Children in Mainstream Schools and their Academic Success: A Literature Review

Deaf and hard-of hearing students have been thrown into public schools, in a practice known as “mainstreaming,” in the hope that inclusion will lead to better academic performance. While most people would assume that mainstreaming is beneficial for deaf and hard-of hearing students, little is known about their academic success. Current information claims that when D/HH students are accepted in mainstream schools they have better academic success, while other research claims that acceptance has no effect on the academic success of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This article will identify the problems in the available studies and show why there is yet no clear answer on whether or not acceptance of deaf and hard-of-hearing students by their hearing peers and teachers has any effects on their academic success. The answer is not clear because the existing research is limited in availability and flawed in method.