An instructional guide for reducing the stress of hearing parents of hearing-impaired children

The impact of a self-instructional program to reduce stress levels of parents of hearing-impaired children is examined. Fifty parents with hearing-impaired children were randomly assigned to one of two groups: Participating Parents, who received a Self-Instructional Parent Program (SIPP); and Non-participating Parents, who received no such program. Findings indicate that the participating parents did not experience significant decreases in their stress levels or in the perceived incidence of misbehavior in their children in comparison with non-participating parents. Participating parents, however, reported a decrease in their children's misbehavior; non-participating parents noted an increase. Additionally, the findings also associated increasing stress on the part of parents with parental perceptions of burgeoning misbehavior on the part of the child.     

Depth of reading vocabulary in hearing and hearing-impaired children

The main point of our study was to examine the vocabulary knowledge of pupils in grades 3–6, and in particular the relative reading vocabulary disadvantage of hearing-impaired pupils. The achievements of 394 pupils with normal hearing and 106 pupils with a hearing impairment were examined on two vocabulary assessment tasks: a lexical decision task and a use decision task. The target words in both tasks represent the vocabulary children should have at the end of primary school. The results showed that most hearing pupils reached this norm, whereas most hearing-impaired pupils did not. In addition, results showed that hearing-impaired pupils not only knew fewer words, but that they also knew them less well. This lack of deeper knowledge remained even when matching hearing and hearing-impaired children on minimal word knowledge. Additionally, comparison of the two tasks demonstrated the efficacy of the lexical decision task as a measure of lexical semantic knowledge.     

Characteristics of youths with hearing loss admitted to substance abuse treatment

The purpose of this study is to provide a profile of youths with hearing loss admitted to substance abuse treatment facilities. Intake data on 4,167 youths (28% female; 3% reporting a hearing loss) collected via the Global Appraisal of Individual Need-I assessment was used for the analyses. Information on demographics, environmental characteristics, substance use behaviors, and symptoms of co-occurring psychological problems for youths with and without a hearing loss was analyzed via Pearson chi-square tests and effect sizes. The groups reported similar backgrounds and comparable rates of marijuana and alcohol use. However, youths in the hearing loss group reported substance use behaviors indicative of a more severe level of involvement. Across all measures of co-occurring symptoms, youths with hearing loss reported greater levels of distress and were more often victims of abuse. Results of this study will help inform treatment needs of youths with hearing loss and define a baseline for future research.     

Self-concept among hearing Chinese children of deaf parents

This paper discusses a study of Chinese children in Hong Kong that compared the self-concepts of hearing children of deaf parents with the self-concepts of hearing children of hearing parents. The study was based on the responses to a questionnaire given to 42 deaf couples and their 70 hearing children, and 41 hearing couples and their 82 hearing children. It found no differences in the self-concepts of hearing children of deaf parents and hearing children of hearing parents. However, it did find that deaf parents had lower self-concepts than hearing parents.     

Promoting psychosocial adaptation of youths in residential care through animal-assisted psychotherapy

The goal of this study was to examine the influence of animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP) on the psychosocial adaptation of a group of adolescents in residential care who had suffered traumatic childhood experiences and who presented with mental health problems. This study recruited 63 youths (mean age = 15.27, SD = 1.63) who were divided into two groups: a treatment group of 39 youths (19 female and 20 male; mean age = 15.03, SD = 0.51) and a control group of 24 (five female and 19 male; mean age = 15.67, SD = 1.63). The youths who underwent the AAP program had higher school adjustment in comparison to their peers who did not receive treatment. Their hyperactive behavior decreased, and they showed better social skills, more leadership, and fewer attention problems. They also showed a more positive attitude toward their teachers in comparison to controls. No differences were observed in other variables associated with clinical symptoms or personal adjustment. These results suggest that AAP can be effective with teenagers who have suffered childhood traumas and who present with problems of psychosocial adaptation.     

A comparison of the health knowledge of hearing-impaired and hearing high school students

A health knowledge questionnaire was administered to 139 hearing and 66 hearing-impaired high school students from 12 to 18 years of age. The level of health knowledge of the normally-hearing students was found to be superior to that of hearing-impaired students at all ages but appeared not to improve with increasing school grade. In contrast, the health knowledge of the hearing-impaired students increased markedly from Grade 8 to Grade 12, so that by Grade 12 they were achieving only marginally below their hearing grade mates. Some of this apparent increase in health knowledge probably was due to the fact that only academically able hearing-impaired students continue at school in Australia after Grade 10. Deficits in the health knowledge of hearing-impaired students were distributed uniformly over all areas investigated.     

Comparing motor development of deaf children of deaf parents and deaf children of hearing parents

Deaf children of Deaf parents perform better academically (Ritter-Brinton & Stewart, 1992), linguistically (Courtin, 2000; M. Harris, 2001; Vaccari & Marschark, 1997), and socially (Hadadian & Rose, 1991; M. Harris, 2001) than Deaf children of hearing parents. Twenty-nine Deaf children in residential schools were assessed to determine if a significant difference also exists in motor development between Deaf children with Deaf parents and Deaf children with hearing parents. In the locomotor area, 78.6% of Deaf children of Deaf parents and 73.3% of Deaf children of hearing parents reached or surpassed average performance levels. In regard to object control, 92.9% of Deaf children of Deaf parents and 93.3% of Deaf children of hearing parents reached or surpassed average performance levels. The study results show no significant difference between the motor development of Deaf children of Deaf parents and Deaf children of hearing parents.     

Bimodal bilingual language development of hearing children of deaf parents

Adopting a bimodal bilingual language acquisition model, this qualitative case study is the first in Germany to investigate the spoken and sign language development of hearing children of deaf adults (codas). The spoken language competence of six codas within the age range of 3;10 to 6;4 is assessed by a series of standardised tests (SETK 3-5, TROG-D, PDSS). Additionally, a language assessment tool designed specifically for hearing bilingual children named HAVAS 5 is employed to measure both the children’s spoken and sign language abilities. A heterogeneous picture emerges: all codas show abilities equal to those of monomodal monolingual children in their age range with regard to German sentence structure and verb inflection and an extensive receptive vocabulary, but deviations from the age norm are observed for the production of verbs and prepositions. Furthermore, three codas show below average T-values in some grammatical subtests. Overall, the findings suggest that at least some codas may acquire both of their languages (i.e. spoken and signed German) simultaneously. However, our study also indicates that the spoken language development of some codas as well as the acquisition context of this minority group strongly resembles a form of successive language acquisition that is known from children who acquire German as an early second language in a migration background.     

Hearing impairment, social networks, and coping: the need for families with hearing-impaired children to relate to other parents and to hearing-impaired adults

For a report on the stress experiences of parents with hearing-impaired children in Germany, 317 parents completed a survey on how their families communicate and socialize, among other issues. The report focuses on how contacts with other parents and with hearing-impaired adults affect stress experiences, in the context of the child's hearing status and the means of communication. Parents who frequently meet with other parents show evidence of a warm, accepting, trusting relationship with their child. Parents who have many contacts with hearing-impaired adults show evidence of a strong sense of competence in regard to their child's upbringing. The findings confirm the implication found in most reports describing empirical studies. Social support is to be regarded as a cornerstone of psychosocial intervention and has to play as great a role as possible in institutional programs.     

Influence and adaptability in families with deaf parents and hearing children

This study assessed the influence of individual family members in functional families, primarily to determine whether hearing children of deaf parents have more influence than do hearing children of hearing parents. Eight families with deaf parents and a hearing child and eight all hearing families were videotaped while planning a family meal together. It was found that deaf-parented families share many traits with hearing families. However, there were some differences. The hearing children of deaf parents had a greater number and percentage of their ideas accepted than did the hearing children of hearing parents. Differences were also noted between the deaf fathers and the hearing fathers. The deaf-parented families were more adaptable, as measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale. The observed difference in child influence, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad. Deafness of one family member, in an auditory dependent environment, may require a more flexible family power structure. Professionals assessing deaf-parented families should be sensitive to the special adaptive needs required for healthy functioning of the family.     

Reading retardation or linguistic deficit? II: test-answering strategies in hearing and hearing-impaired school children

The reading test performances of 60 hearing and 60 hearing-impaired children of similar measured reading ages on the Southgate reading test were analysed. As in an earlier study using the Brimer Wide-span test it was shown that the performances of the two groups were quite different. Deaf children tackled significantly more test items than the hearing and made significantly more errors in achieving similar reading scores. A detailed examination of both correct and incorrect answers showed that the deaf children were not simply providing answers to questions at random. Even where they produced incorrect responses they tended, as a group, to select the same answer. Unlike the hearing group, who did not converge on the same incorrect solution to difficult test items, the deaf were systematic in their choices, indicating that they were using a consistent strategy. A post hoc examination of individual test items indicated that the deaf children were selecting answers on the basis of word associations in each test item. On some items these produced a correct response, on others the same (incorrect) response. The implications of these findings are discussed to argue that reading tests based on hearing norms are of little value in the assessment of reading abilities and reading problems in hearing-impaired children.     

The play behavior of hearing-impaired kindergarten children

This exploratory study examined the cognitive and social play behaviors of hearing-impaired kindergarten children with regard to classroom instructional mode and communication strategies. Two classes were observed--one using sign communication and the other using an oral-based method of communication. Functional, constructive, dramatic, and social play behaviors were observed and documented. Statistically significant differences were found between the two groups of children with regard to social and dramatic play as well as with regard to levels of aggression. For example, children in the sign-based class demonstrated higher levels of social play behavior and lower levels of aggression than the children in the oral-based class. Guidelines and strategies to help children initiate and sustain play are suggested.     

Undergraduate education for the hearing-handicapped: The programme of research,adaptation and development of the Open University project for hearing-impaired students

Since January 1972, the Open University has been operating a project for the undergraduate education of the growing number of hearing-impaired students. These students face psychological, social and linguistic problems and other difficulties which arise from their isolation in the world, their limited ability to communicate and their educational background.So far, the project has been able to offer support in terms of education (special tutorials, discussions, etc.), communication (special equipment, interpreters, trained personnel) and what may be termed psycho-social therapy (counselling, technical help, general support). In many of the students, this has led to an increase of self-confidence and an improvement in the ability to communicate, as well as in educational achievements. This paper describes the work which has been done, and is being done, by the Open University project, for a very neglected sector of the disabled community.Open University