Claudine Storbeck

Claudine Storbeck serves as Professor and Founder of the Centre for Deaf Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She established the Centre which has grown to become a designated Centre of Excellence by the Department of Higher Education, and in 2023 celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

Her research interests focus on Deaf Education, Sign Language linguistics, and bilingual approaches to teaching Deaf learners. She has pioneered significant initiatives including the first professional teacher training programme for Teachers of the Deaf in South Africa, and developed specialized curricula focusing on Deaf Pedagogy, Literacy, SASL, Deaf Culture and Literature.

Her recent publication examines how the official recognition of South African Sign Language as the country's 12th official language will impact Deaf education, analyzing current challenges in Deaf schooling and proposing solutions to improve educational outcomes for Deaf learners.

• Named a world specialist in Deaf Education by the World Federation of the Deaf
• Centre for Deaf Studies named a Centre of Excellence by the Dept of Higher Education

Professor Storbeck has received research funding from the UK-MRC (Medical Research Council) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (UK-MRC/AHRC). She serves as a visiting researcher at the University of Manchester, UK, and has played a central role in national initiatives including the launch of South Africa's first National Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. She founded the continent's first home-based family-centred early intervention programme for families of deaf and hard of hearing infants.

The Centre for Deaf Studies operates as a hub for research, training, and advocacy, developing resources for Deaf education and working to improve literacy outcomes for Deaf learners across South Africa.