ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses theories of student development and point out their applications to activities that are intended to promote overall development of deaf college students. To accomplish this goal, historical perspectives of student development are traced, followed by a presentation of developmental tasks. The chapter examines the unique experiences encountered by deaf students, each of the six developmental tasks identified. Student development requires a unified approach encompassing the systematic integration of experiences that produce the most effective development of students. This approach supports the concept of the development of the 'whole person'–intellectually, emotionally, physically, and socially. Following the national trend, student development practices were adopted in the 1970s by postsecondary institutions serving deaf students. Both Gallaudet University and Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf began to apply theoretical perspectives of student development in their administrative structure and programmatic efforts.
