Voices of Young Deaf Adults: Supporting Adolescent Social Capital Development

Abstract

For most young people, social capital plays an important role in transitioning to postsecondary education and employment. For youth who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), social capital can mitigate negative effects of challenges they will likely encounter after high school. In phase 2 of a two-phase qualitative study in Australia, we investigated DHH young adults’ perspectives on how DHH adolescents could best be supported to develop and use social capital to benefit their postschool transition. Nine university students whose primary communication mode was spoken language participated in semistructured interviews, discussing practical ways educators and families could assist DHH high school students. We close by recommending ways schools and families can facilitate social capital development of DHH adolescents in preparation for postsecondary education and employment. Importantly, this research gives voice to young DHH adults with the objective of improving DHH adolescents’ outcomes.