**4. Shifting focus: A strength-based understanding**

292 Learning Disabilities

developed strong social skills necessary for effective workplace relationships before entering

Unemployment and living alone have been found to be significant indicators of mental distress in deaf adults (de Graff & Bijl, 2002). Social isolation or unsatisfactory social participation has been linked with loneliness, exhaustion, lethargy, anxiety, apathy, despondence, social dissatisfaction, and severe self-doubting (Backenroth-Ohsako, Wennberg, & af Klinteberg, 2003; Heydebrand et al., 2005; Steinberg, Sullivan, & Montoya, 1999; Wheeler-Scruggs, 2002). Cited problems include communication difficulties in group situations, understanding conversational nuances, and learned helplessness (Heydebrand et al., 2005; Hyde, Punch, & Komesaroff, 2010). Studies have also reported higher levels of mental distress, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, phobic anxiety, substance abuse, and hostility in deaf individuals compared with population norms (Brunnberg, Boström, & Berglund, 2007; de Graaf & Bijl, 2002; Fellinger et al., 2007; Jones, E.G., Ouellette, & Kang, 2006; Monzani et al., 2008). Irritability, feelings of inferiority, and phobias can create a mutually impacting cycle of social rejection and psychological dejection, and deliberate selfseclusion from social and professional activities (Heydebrand et al., 2005). Kvam, Loeb, and Tambs (2007) further found that negative childhood experiences (e.g., parental abuse, bullying, and sexual abuse) increased the probability of mental health problems in deaf adults. Hearing spouses of people with acquired deafness have additionally reported comparatively poorer psychological, physical, and social wellbeing when measured with population norms (Fellinger et al., 2005; Hogan et al., 2001; Hogan, O'Loughlin, Davis, A., &

The aforementioned studies mostly had small sample sizes and were conducted in Western nations. Larger studies by Hintermair (2008) and Hogan et al. (2009b) suggested that many themes in the smaller studies are prevalent across the broader population of deaf people. When interacting with hearing peers, deaf individuals are often required to make sense of and to concurrently act upon - the social situation with less-than-ideal hearing. Another important finding is that stress and anxiety tends to occur when the environmental demands exceed a deaf individual's resources for coping with events (Hogan et al., 2009b; Jones, E.G., et al., 2006). As such, it is not deafness per se that contributes to psychiatric problems. Rather, maladaptive communication and coping strategies appear to be the chief problems for deaf individuals in their quest to gain and sustain social and workplace participation and a healthy mental well-being (Fellinger, Holzinger, Sattel et al., 2009; Hintermair, 2008; Monzani et al., 2008; van Gent et al., 2007). Ineffective communicative abilities can also retard the development of emotional and social skills vital to social

It is speculated that the deafness-related difficulties are associated with 1) an individual being a member of a minority that can encounter considerable and consistent ostracism – whether subtle or overt (Hogan, 2001); 2) the cognitive demands deriving from learning and executing deafness-specific proactive psychosocial skills, and; 3) difficulties deriving from real-time interaction with less-than-ideal hearing. Deaf individuals therefore appear to encounter more psychosocial challenges than do nondisabled individuals (Kvam et al., 2007; Lukomski, 2007). These extra and unique psychosocial difficulties for deaf individuals – or disability-related psychological, social, and professional challenges - may negatively impact on their mental health (Jones, E.G., Ouellette, & Kang, 2006). In addition, these challenges

the workforce (Rosengreen et al., 2009).

Kendig, 2009b).

participation (Leigh et al., 1996).

The previous survey of the literature runs the risk of portraying a dire picture of living life with deafness. However, when viewed from another angle, positives also appear. For example, studies show that a majority of deaf participants are achieving workplace participation and a healthy mental well-being. An additional finding is that the attainment of tertiary qualifications is an indicator of deaf people achieving near identical incomes to similarly qualified hearing peers (Jones, D.D., 2004). But what are these deaf people actually doing in their daily lives to maximize their social and professional potential? This question may be best answered by a focus shift.

According to Hintermair (2006), there is a need for a "capabilities-resources" perspective of understanding deaf people. This focuses on 'what works' as opposed to describing the dimensions of deafness-related problems. In 1998, the then president of the American Psychological Association Martin Seligman stressed the need for substantial strength-based research into psychosocial attributes and tactics for coping with day-to-day life (Hintermair, 2006). Seligman also argued that research focusing on personal weaknesses has contributed to mental health professionals being ill-equipped to conduct or devise effective interventions (Hintermair, 2006). Similarly, describing the dimensions of deaf people's social isolation, employment disadvantages, and mental health problems may not actually benefit deaf people, their peers, or family. This is a deficit mode of thinking because it focuses on what deaf people cannot do, or have difficulties with. Descriptions of problems can have little or no practical value for everyday living. Oppositely, strength-based research seeking to understand what deaf people can do – or how their healthy personalities are operationalized – can uncover knowledge of their capabilities and utilization of resources. This practical knowledge also has a prescriptive value. The specialized tactics gleaned from the research can thereafter be used to inform educational or intervention practices designed to assist deaf people who, in turn, will use these skills. That is not to dismiss that challenges do and will continue to exist – or underestimate the importance of research identifying these challenges - but to emphasize a shift in focus toward deaf people's strengths and capabilities (Hintermair, 2006).

Three examples of studies seeking to understand strength-based psychosocial attributes in deaf participants are as follows. Powers (2011) studied factors influencing the success of high achieving English deaf adolescents. Interviews were conducted with the deaf students themselves (n = 27), their parents (n = 27), teachers of the deaf (n = 27), and professionals other than teachers of the deaf (n = 21). The methodology was similar to Luckner and Muir's (2001) American study and also produced remarkably similar findings. In both studies, each of the participant groups attributed success to 1) the child's own personal attributes and character over other factors in order of importance: 2) the influence of parents, 3) the support of teachers of the deaf and teaching assistants, and 4) skills in language, communication, and reading. In addition to the crucial finding that attributes and character are key aspects to success in deaf people, studies by Powers and Luckner and Muir also

Deafness-Specific Tactic Knowledge:

operationalized on a daily basis?

Sternberg, 1986).

and associated practices necessary for expert performance.

A New Understanding of Mental Health, and Social and Professional Participation 295

can make astute diagnoses of errors and provide corrective feedback when necessary. Training and monitoring of expert performance also involves the administering of appropriate tasks according to the individual's skill level. Individualized instruction is generally recognized as superior to training by curricula or in groups. After tuition, a high performer can operate alone to accumulate and refine knowledge of the effective methods

However, Ericsson et al.'s (2006) investigated foci are located in the diverse professions within which extraordinary individuals have maximized or are maximizing their potential. Examples are sport, art, science, and medicine - but professions nonetheless. Taking nothing away from this exemplary research, expert performance also appears to have an association with the mental health, and the social and professional participation for people with disabilities. Here is where deaf individuals, or individuals with a LD, can offer contemporary science a greater understanding of human potential. Instead of using expert knowledge for a profession alone, successful individuals with a disability are likely using additional specialized skills to maximize their professional, social, and romantic potential. Explicitly: psychosocial skills specific to dealing with disability-related challenges. This expert knowledge may, in turn, be instrumental to the individual maintaining and sustaining their healthy mental well-being over time. But how is this potential

Everyday psychosocial skills specific to identifying, circumventing, or mastering disabilityrelated challenges appear to be a specialized form of tactic knowledge. Also known as practical intelligence, tactic knowledge defines an individual's competence in everyday realworld settings (Sternberg, 1985, 1988). According to Wagner and Sternberg (1986), tactic knowledge is "(1) practical rather than academic, (2) informal rather than formal, and (3) usually not directly taught" (p. 54). Tactic knowledge also regards managing the self, managing others, and career management. Management of the self connotes knowledge of conducting daily tasks efficiently and how to maximize one's own productivity through self-initiative (Wagner & Sternberg, 1986). Management of others refers to tactic knowledge which tailors and assigns tasks that utilizes the strengths and minimizes the weakness of others, and also how to cooperate with others generally (Wagner & Sternberg, 1986). Management of career includes tactic knowledge of what is valued in the workplace, how to convince others of your work's value, and how to sustain a good reputation (Wagner &

Individuals with high practical intelligence are skilled at absorbing tacit information and then utilizing that information in every day contexts (Sternberg, 2003). Practical intelligence is also used by individuals to shape to their environment and to also adapt to the needs of others. Experience plays a crucial role in the acquisition of, and effective use of, practical intelligence (Sternberg, 2003). Through the use of creative or synthetic intelligence, an individual undertakes a challenge – or a new type of problem – by incorporating the new knowledge with their pre-existing knowledge (Sternberg, 1985). They will then sift purposeirrelevant from purpose-relevant information, synchronize this selected information into a plausible whole, and then act on this evaluation. It is by successfully dealing with what Sternberg (2003) calls 'relative novelty' that an individual becomes skilled to the point of 'relative familiarity.' Having acquired the experience through practice, an individual will likely become so familiar with a process of a task that their actions will be automatic. When

revealed specific cognitive attributes (e.g., hard work and high expectations). In another strength-based study, Bain et al. (2004) sought to understand the connection between coping strategies and socialization in deaf adult participants (n = 38) raised using spoken language. The majority of participants had developed psychosocial strategies to negotiate deafnessrelated social difficulties. Strategies included initiating modifications of the environment to ensure communication ease, adapting to the needs of others, participating in activities, and maintaining a lifestyle with hearing peers. Participants in Bain et al.'s study also expressed self-confidence, little social anxiety, and pride in their strategic adaptive skills.

Given the unique psychology required to contend with inordinate challenges, a deaf individual who is achieving social and professional participation, and who sustains a healthy mental wellbeing, can be considered a remarkable example of human performance. Strength-based studies by Bain et al. (2004), Luckner and Muir (2001), and Powers (2011) emphasized the importance of the deaf individual's own attributes and character, and also alluded to proactive psychosocial strategies. Despite this, Bain et al. and Powers both opined that there is scarce research of how deaf children become successful adults regarding their professions, relationships, mental health, and overall quality of life. Should such future research be undertaken, much could be gained from understanding how deaf individuals operationalize their success in their daily interactions. This focus may become sharper when viewed from the perspective of expert performance.
