The methodology used in this research paper was Qualitative research. Data was collected through various academic sites such as California State University Northridge Oviatt Library One Search. Some other resources were through the Journals of Deaf Studies and Education through the Oxford Academic website. Statistical data was collected through research on various sites as listed in the references. By reading and analyzing these articles, peer reviews and statistics I was able to find articles related to the subject and conduct a research paper.

According to the Statistics Portal, there are 22.2 million undergraduates in the United States as of the 2017/18 school year. How many of those students are Deaf? Research is limited but according to an outdated National Center of Education Statistics done back in 1994, there are more than 20,000 Deaf students enrolled in undergraduate programs in the United States. Only one in four deaf students will graduate college (Lang 2002). There are a variety of reasons for these statistics. Starting from birth a majority of the Deaf will go through challenges due to guidelines set predominantly by their hearing counterparts such challenges include language acquisition, social theory of mind, in which feeds into social stigma of being Deaf as well as social learning that present challenges for the Deaf to be fully prepared to enter and graduate a college or University. There are different attributes that play out in a person’s early life that contribute to the success of their later life. In this paper we will look at how social theory and language acquisition and what role this plays in the deaf persons’ early years then will look at the challenges they face to get to College/University and graduate.