The purpose of this qualitative study is to pave the way for the establishment of healthy interpersonal relations by facilitating an understanding of the impacts of Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence as perceived by adolescents and teachers who took part in it. Lions Quest has become recognized as an evidence-based program for preventing alcohol and drug use through the development of social skills and the promotion of meaningful engagement in the school community (Lions Clubs International, Overview of Skills for Adolescence 2013). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7th and 8th grade Francophone and Anglophone adolescents from three schools in Eastern Ontario who had participated in Lions Quest. Deductive and inductive analysis of interview transcripts clearly underscored that the positive perceptions of those early adolescents on the quality of their relationships with friends outweigh the negative impression that can be created by peer pressures at this age. It is through such a filter that these adolescents came to appreciate the impact of Lions Quest. Their need to be part of a circle of friends also comes to the fore as a crucial component of a sense of school belonging (Faircloth and Hamm (2005) J Youth Adolesc 34:293–309), highlighting the need to incorporate more of this form of positive social norm into interventions and prevention geared toward early adolescents. The data also underline the complementary importance attributed to having positive relationships with supportive adults.

Many studies have investigated why learning to read is so problematic for deaf individuals. However, we still know very little about how to teach reading to signing students. In this article, we report on an exploratory qualitative study of deaf LSQ (Langue des signes québécoise) signers learning to read with two teachers, in an effort to better understand what strategies might be most useful in constructing the meaning of a text. By videotaping reading sessions between each teacher and student, then conducting recall interviews, we found that both students and teachers used a number of strategies to construct meaning. The list of strategies observed was categorized as word attack or global meaning types. Developing readers showed different patterns of strategy use, with more global meaning strategies being used by the more independent reader. We also found that the deaf teacher and hearing teacher had different patterns of strategy use, although both favored global meaning types. Finally, our findings indicate that both teachers adapted their strategy use to the needs of the students, but with a different focus. Namely, the deaf teacher used more global meaning strategies with the weaker reader and less with the more independent reader, whereas the hearing teacher showed the opposite pattern.

A theoretical model incorporating Tumbling Togethers concepts is a first step in evaluating its efficacy. Although the concepts involved are not novel, their unique combination forms a promising intervention approach for this population.

Despite years of research on the reading problems of deaf students, we still do not know how deaf signers who read well actually crack the code of print. How connections are made between sign language and written language is still an open question. In this article, we show how the Noldus Observer XT software can be used to conduct an in-depth analysis of the online behavior of deaf readers. First, we examine factors that may have an impact on reading behavior. Then, we describe how we videotaped teachers with their deaf student signers of langue des signes québécoise during a reading task, how we conducted a recall activity to better understand the students' reading behavior, and how we used this innovative software to analyze the taped footage. Finally, we discuss the contribution this type of research can have on the future reading behavior of deaf students.

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