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DEAF ADULTS have long struggled to secure and retain competitive employment in the United States. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and, most notably, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 are key pieces of federal legislation mandating accommodations in workplaces, educational institutions, and public settings. While often considered members of a larger disabled population due to an inability to hear, people who are culturally Deaf consider deafness to be a natural, normal characteristic (Padden & Humphries, 1988) and assert that the only thing rendering them "disabled" is the difficulty of interaction in a predominantly hearing society. Though the promotion of Deaf culture (denoted with a capital "D") as separate from disability has enhanced the esteem and identity of Deaf people, employment challenges and accommodations closely mirror those of Americans with disabilities.
According to the 2015 American Community Survey, nearly 3.9 million noninstitutionalized Americans over the age of 21 years report a hearing disability (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2015). The Gallaudet Research Institute (2014), however, has estimated that only 552,000 Americans cannot hear or understand speech, and while reports vary, research indicates that fewer than 500,000 use American Sign Language (ASL) as their native and primary language. A portion of these individuals identify culturally as Deaf. By virtue of being members of a small minority, few Deaf adults work in contexts where managers themselves are Deaf and/or use ASL. Most work in settings where they are a minority amid a hearing majority (Backenroth, 1997; Foster & MacLeod, 2003). Limits in the workplace reflect the larger problem of Deaf employment rates in general. As of 2015, only 51.8% of Deaf adults in the United States were employed; by comparison, 78.3% of hearing adults were employed (American Community Survey, 2015).
While the focus of policy change and research is on Deaf individuals themselves, hearing people who manage Deaf workers are not always included in the research. Reasonable accommodation is mandated, yet there is little formal guidance on what forms accommodation should take. Social integration is even more complex—nuanced attempts at effective interpersonal blending of Deaf and hearing workers are not easily understood.
Increased knowledge about the lived experiences of hearing managers of Deaf workers related to accommodation and social integration is the first step in the development...