This study examined the peer social behaviors of 38 deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) and 44 hearing children (preschool through grade 1) during free play in small integrated groups. Videotapes were analyzed for peer interaction, play, peer initiations/child responses, and child initiations/peer responses. D/HH and hearing children showed similar…

This study observed the social/cognitive play of 46 young children who were deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). With D/HH partners, children engaged primarily in constructive play, but in groups that included both D/HH and hearing partners, they engaged most frequently in dramatic play. Results suggest that group play varies according to the hearing…

This article presents ideas to encourage speech and language in infants and toddlers with hearing impairments. Ways to embellish interactions in daily life to make speech/language aspects more salient are suggested, with a 2-minute example of such an interaction between a mother and her 13-month-old hearing-impaired daughter. (DB)

Utilization of two checklists for recording observed student and teacher classroom behaviors is the main topic of this report. The format, sections, procedures, and methods of analysis of the checklists are discussed. These checklists were used with 40 students and 4 teachers in an on-going, two year research project at the Model Secondary School…

A single-subject design utilized three mainstreamed hard-of-hearing students in middle school to evaluate whether cooperative learning was effective in encouraging conversational interaction with hearing peers and teachers. Results indicated that cooperative learning positively influenced the conversational turns, initiations, moves, and mean…

This study compared effects of either a teacher-mediated social skills intervention or an integrated activities intervention on social interaction among young (ages four to six) children with and without hearing impairments. The social skills intervention successfully increased social interactions among deaf and hard-of-hearing children, but…

This study examined the effectiveness of embedding a targeted linguistic structure within an interactive instructional context with 10 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in grades 6 and 7. Comparison with control subjects supported the effectiveness of adopting instructional strategies consistent with a social-interaction perspective on language…