Play behavior of hearing impaired children: integrated and segregated settings

The free-play behavior of young hearing impaired children in integrated and segregated settings was compared using a multielement baseline design. Two children, aged 3 and 5, were observed using momentary time sampling of their play as they alternated from one setting to the other. Data were collected in ech setting for various categories of play behavior. The categories were derived from the classic play categories of Parten and Smilansky. Results indicate that the children engaged in more socially advanced play in the integrated setting.     

Balancing between deaf and hearing worlds: reflections of mainstreamed college students on relationships and social interaction

This qualitative study of the social aspects of mainstreaming from the perspective of deaf college students indicates that for some students, social adjustment to college is complicated by experiences of separation and alienation from both deaf and hearing peers. Data were collected through open-ended interviews with deaf students who had little or no previous experience with or exposure to deaf culture or language before their arrival at a mainstream college environment. Feelings of isolation, loneliness, and resentment were most intense during orientation and first year, when alienation from the deaf student community appeared to be caused by lack of sign language skills, unfamiliarity with norms and values of deaf culture, and perceived hostility from deaf peers. Simultaneous experiences of separation from hearing peers appeared to be caused by physical barriers inherent in the classroom, residence hall, and cafeteria environments, as well as by discrimination from hearing peers, who tended to stereotype deaf students. Findings suggest that those involved in the administration and delivery of postsecondary programs for the deaf should investigate the experiences of students who arrive on campus without knowledge of sign language or familiarity with deaf culture and evaluate currently existing programs and services designed to meet these students' needs.     

The social adaptation of mainstreamed mildly retarded children

The purpose of the present study was to assess the social adaptation of mainstreamed mildly retarded children, comparing them to a matched sample of regular education students. Results indicated that mildly retarded children were quite rejected by their peers, and, compared to nonretarded classmates, they reported significantly more dissatisfaction and anxiety about their peer relations. With respect to behavioral style, there were no group differences in peer- or teacher-reported aggressiveness or disruptiveness. However, retarded children were perceived as more shy and avoidant, as less cooperative, and as less likely to exhibit leadership skills. Further analysis of the behavioral assessment data, via cluster analysis, revealed 2 subtypes of rejected retarded children: an internalizing group perceived as displaying high levels of shy/avoidant behavior and an externalizing group perceived as high in aggressive and/or disruptive behavior. In addition, the internalizing group reported higher social anxiety than did the externalizing group. Implications for school-based intervention research with mildly retarded children are discussed.     

The feeling of knowing in deaf adolescents

Forty prelingually deaf high school students were asked to define words from the 1981 Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). The students then ranked the words they had missed in terms of the difficulty they would expect to have in picking out a picture of the word; that is, they were asked to judge their "feeling of knowing" for the missed words. The PPVT was then given to the students and served as a measure of accuracy for their rank-order judgments. Two comparison groups were established: one was a group of hearing adolescents of the same age as the deaf students, and the second was a group of hearing students of the same reading level as the deaf students. The deaf students were unable to judge their feeling of knowing, but both hearing groups were able to do so.     

Correlates of psychosocial adjustment in deaf adolescents with and without cochlear implants: a preliminary investigation

The number of children who have received cochlear implants (CIs) has increased dramatically in the past two decades. In view of potential concerns about their psychosocial adjustment, our aim was to assess the effect of implants on the adolescents' psychosocial functioning among a group of 57 deaf adolescents with and without CIs, using published and validated measures completed by the adolescents themselves, their parents, and teachers. Adolescents with CI tended to be more hearing acculturated, whereas those without CI tended to be more Deaf acculturated. Despite some differences in background characteristics between the two groups, there were no differences between them on the psychosocial variables assessed in this study, regardless of the reporting sources. Rather than having a direct effect on the psychosocial outcomes assessed in this study, it is through the mediating effect of acculturation and school setting that CI status exerts an influence over many of this study's outcomes. Recommendations for future research are made in light of our findings.     

Program quality characteristics in segregated and inclusive early childhood settings

Program quality characteristics in 58 community-based early childhood settings which were currently serving at least one child with disabilities were examined. Observations of the environment and classrooms practices were conducted in the classrooms and teachers completed questionnaires related to beliefs in and implementation of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP). Results indicated that segregated and inclusive settings were generally similar across measures of program quality and levels of quality were moderately good in both types of settings. Teacher demographic variables were not related to the selected program quality indicators. The similarity in selected quality characteristics may reflect ongoing convergence in practice and quality in early childhood and early childhood special education settings.     

Social integration of deaf children in inclusive settings

This article examines social integration of deaf children in inclusive settings in The Netherlands. Eighteen Grade 1-5 deaf children and their 344 hearing classmates completed 2 sociometric tasks, peer ratings and peer nomination, to measure peer acceptance, social competence, and friendship relations. Deaf and hearing children were found to be similar in their peer acceptance and friendship relations, but differences occurred in social competence. Deaf children scored lower than hearing children on prosocial behavior and higher on socially withdrawn behavior. Structural equation modeling showed peer acceptance, social competence, and friendship relations to be stable over time, and the structure of interrelations between variables at 2 measurements were found to be the same for deaf and hearing participants.     

Considerations in educating deaf and hard-of-hearing students in inclusive settings

This article provides an overview of key issues pertinent to an inclusive approach to the education of deaf students in order to establish a context for interpreting and integrating the articles in this issue. It discusses definitions of inclusion, integration, and mainstreaming from placement-related, philosophical, and pragmatic perspectives. The article provides demographic information pertinent to an inclusive approach. It also compares perspectives on inclusion in the general field of special education with those in the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. It considers the challenges of using an inclusive approach to achieve academic and social integration of students, as based on research on the learning and adjustment of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in regular classes. The article concludes with an overview of the topics addressed in the issue.     

Social interaction of intellectually handicapped children in integrated and segregated preschools

The social participation during free play activities of intellectually handicapped children in regular preschools was compared with that of their non‐handicapped age‐mates in the same preschools, and with that of intellectually handicapped children in a special preschool. While both groups of intellectually handicapped children showed, significantly lower levels of social participation than the non‐handicapped children, the intellectually handicapped children attending the special preschool were significantly lower in terms of social participation than those attending the regular preschools. The results were discussed in terms of the probable advantages of regular preschools as social learning environments for intellectually handicapped children.     

Successful students who are deaf in general education settings

The study identified successful students who were deaf and were receiving most of their educational services in general education settings, in order to examine factors contributing to their success. Teachers in a western state were asked to nominate students who were deaf who were in the upper elementary through high school grades and were receiving most of their educational services in general education classrooms. Qualitative procedures were used to gather information on 20 successful students who were deaf. Inquiry focused on observation of the students in general education settings and interviews to gather perceptions of (a) the successful students themselves, (b) deaf education teachers, educational interpreters, and paraprofessional note takers serving these students, (c) general education teachers working with these students, and (d) parents. The students' primary communication modes were closely divided between sign language and spoken English; communication mode did not seem to be a salient factor in success. Results of the interviews with each group, a summary of observations, and themes that emerged across groups are provided.     

A longitudinal investigation of personality and social adjustment among Chinese American and European American adolescents

A 2-wave longitudinal study of personality in adolescence was conducted with data obtained at ages 12 and 17 years from approximately 60 European American and 60 second-generation Chinese American youth. At Time 1 they completed the Children's Personality Questionnaire and at Time 2 they completed the High School Personality Questionnaire and self-report measures of high school grades, depression, and self-esteem. Chinese American and European American adolescents became more similar to each other over time through developmental and acculturative processes. Adolescents of both ethnicities increased in Extraversion and Independence. Despite this general trend, the Chinese American youth continued to report lower levels of Extraversion than European American youth. Extraversion and Anxiety predicted school grades for European Americans and psychological adjustment for Chinese Americans.     

The written language of deaf adolescents: patterns of performance

A study was conducted of the written language skills of a representative sample of 69 adolescents with severe and profound hearing losses, using both a standardized language sample (TOWL-2) and a letter. The overall results confirmed the generally low levels of performance typically found in this population and the existence of a developmental plateau. Nevertheless, performance levels were not uniformly low. The sample scored relatively high on measures of orthographic conventions and on semantics, but considerably lower on use of grammar. While females scored higher than males, and students in Auditory/Oral (A/O) programs scored higher than those in Total Communication (TC) programs, the profile of scores did not vary by group. In general, the letter elicited higher levels of performance than the standardized sample, although the latter elicited more grammatically complex writing. Factor analysis indicated that the various measures derived from the two samples were associated more strongly by genre than by levels of language form.     

The social and educational adjustment of abused children

Thirteen 6-year-old children who had been physically abused by their parents were assessed in school for language development, educational attainments and social adjustment, and compared with children from some of the same school classes who served as a comparison group. All the abused children had attended the Family Centre of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Manchester before starting school, and they and their parents had received social work support and supervision from the special unit team. Ten of the 13 abused children had made measurable progress in reading. There were no significant differences between the groups in language development or number skills, but the abused group did contain more high (maladjusted) scores on the Bristol Social Adjustment Guide. Monitoring educational progress and social adjustment in school would seem to be a useful method of following the progress of such children. Most of the children in this group are so far making progress within the ordinary school system despite the disturbances which have affected their home life.     

The relationship between social behavior and self-concept in school settings

The relationship between social behavior, as measured by the School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS), and self-concept, as measured by the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC), was studied. Subjects included 41 public school students in Grades 5 and 6. These subjects were rated on the SSBS by their classroom teachers and also completed the SPPC as a self-report measure. A number of significant positive relationships were found between the Social Competence scores of the SSBS and the SPPC self-concept scores. Relationships between the Problem Behavior scores of the SSBS and the SPPC scores were extremely weak, and none of the obtained coefficients was statistically significant. The pattern of associations identified through this investigation provides support for the criterion-related validity of both the SSBS and SPPC, and raises some interesting questions regarding the relationship between social behavior and self-concept in children.