Various educational reforms in Sweden have resulted in a formally equivalent educational system for deaf and hearing pupils. Has this resulted in equal levels of educational attainment? This article compares 2,144 people born between 1941 and 1980 who attended a special education program for the deaf and 100,000 randomly chosen individuals from the total population born between 1941 and 1980. Data consist of registered information about the individuals in the year 2005. Results demonstrate that the deaf population has a lower level of educational attainment than the reference population. Women have a higher level of educational attainment than men, and younger people have a higher level than older people in each population. Neither sex, age category, nor immigrant background accounts for the variance in the level of educational attainment between the populations. The educational reforms have not been sufficient to reduce the unequal level of educational attainment between deaf and hearing people.

Objective: This study explored the psychological process from avoidance to acceptance in adults with acquired hearing impairment. Study design: A descriptive qualitative interview study was conducted in Sweden in 2010. Participants were 18 adults with an acquired sensorineural hearing impairment aged 50–70 years, who had recently obtained hearing aids at the Audiology Clinic of the Örebro University Hospital. The sample included both first-time hearing aid users (n = 10) and experienced hearing aid users (n = 8). Each participant took part in one semi-structured interview. Qualitative content analysis was performed on the manifest content of the interview transcripts. Results: Participants described the process from avoidance to acceptance as a slow and gradual process rooted in the awareness of the frequency and severity of hearing disability and of its psychological consequences. Facilitators included adaptive coping mechanisms, other people's comments and positive experiences, accessibility of help-seeking and routine health assessments. In contrast, barriers included maladaptive coping mechanisms and stigma. Conclusions: Participants described the process of acceptance as a personal process that involved, to some extent, their social network of family, friends and colleagues. It was also a trade-off between the consequences of untreated hearing impairment and the threat to normal identity that, through stigma, hearing impairment carries. Further studies are needed to fully investigate the role of access to information on hearing impairment acceptance. How professionals and society can facilitate the process of acceptance should also be a focus of future research efforts.

This study aims to describe and analyze the characteristics of deaf people in employment and their workplaces in Sweden. A population of 2144 people born 1941Á80 who attended a school for the deaf was compared to 100,000 randomly chosen individuals from the total Swedish population born 1941Á80. Data on these persons consisted of registered information from the year 2005. Results showed that there are differences between the workplaces of people in the deaf and the reference population. For instance, deaf people were more commonly employed in the public sector. People in employment showed similar findings in both populations concerning sex, age and level of educational attainment: the higher the level of educational attainment, the higher the employment rate. However, deaf people more often had a higher level of educational attainment than was required for their occupation, which is an indication of discrimination in the labour market.