Is reading different for deaf individuals? Reexamining the role of phonology

Quarter century ago, Hanson (1989) asked, "Is reading different for deaf individuals?" (p. 85). Appealing to evidence available at the time, she argued that skilled deaf readers, like their hearing counterparts, relied on their knowledge of English structure, including phonological information. This perspective on the role phonology plays in the reading process for deaf learners continues to generate much debate in the field, and little consensus exists on whether it is a necessary aspect of learning to read for this population. The present article revisits this question in terms of what is known about phonology and reading in typically developing learners, and in light of two reviews of the research from the field of deafness. The authors conclude that there is stronger empirical evidence for the argument for a relationship between phonology and reading in the population of deaf readers than for the counter-argument.