This study investigated whether dialogue journal writing between hearing and hearing-impaired writers is an effective way of developing social relations between school peers. The project involved 37 teachers of the hearing-impaired and 127 completed journals written by students, aged 10 to 18 years, with at least a third grade reading level. Completed journals were coded using a discourse analysis approach. The coding system identified the initiation or maintenance of topics, the type of topics written about, and the degree of interpersonal involvement of the correspondents. Results showed that hearing writers exhibited greater use of self-expressive responses and hearing-impaired writers showed greater use of observations. Neither group showed a preference for initiating an interest in the other. As the relationship progressed over time, the writers became more interested in each other. It is concluded that the social and emotional benefits of journal exchanges between hearing and hearing-impaired school-aged writers are substantial to both sides of the exchange. (11 references) (JDD)