Once primarily thought of as a medical issue, disability is now more widely recognized as a critical issue of identity, personhood, and social justice. Topics covered include characteristics of disability, disability concepts and theories, historical developments for people with disabilities, prominent individuals, organizations, and agencies, and more.

This new Encyclopedia shifts focus away from the medical model that has viewed deaf individuals as needing to be remedied in order to correct so-called hearing and speaking deficiencies for the sole purpose of assimilation into mainstream society.

The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies in Learning and Cognition focuses exclusively on learning, cognition, and cognitive development from theoretical, psychological, biological, linguistic, social-emotional, and educational perspectives. Each chapter includes state-of-the-art research conducted and reviewed by international experts in the area. Drawing this research together, this volume allows for a synergy of ideas that possesses the potential to move research, theory, and practice forward.