Schuman, Sari, Peter Hauser, and Jessica Contreras. "Deaf and Hearing Adults' Visual Processing Speed." NTID Student Research Fair. Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester, NY. 25 Apr. 2025. Conference Presentation.
There is a common belief that deaf children are not as aware of environmental factors as hearing people are due to not being able to hear what is happening. This concern is seen in many pamphlets and brochures for assistive hearing devices, such as from John Hopkins Medicine. Conversely, some people believe that when there is a lack of one sense, other senses become more advanced in order to compensate. We want to further investigate these notions by measuring and comparing the visual abilities of deaf, hearing, and hard-of-hearing people. These subjects (n=30) will be RIT students 18 years of age or older who have good vision. Data will be gathered through the use of Qualtrics and the Sway Medical App. Sway is often used for athletes to measure concussions. Due to this, it has the means to measure visual reaction time, impulse control, and inspection time. These areas will give us insight into the visual acuity of people with various hearing levels. The study aims to evaluate the relationship between hearing level and visual acuity.