Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Inclusive Educational Settings: A Literature Review on Interactions With Peers

Abstract

This review is conducted to describe how children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) interact with hearing peers in inclusive settings, illustrate the difficulties and challenges faced by them in interacting with peers, and identify effective interventions that promote their social interaction in inclusive education. A systematic search of databases and journals identified 21 papers that met the inclusion criteria. Two broad themes emerged from an analysis of the literatures, which included processes and outcomes of interactions with peers and intervention programs. The research indicates that children who are D/HH face great difficulties in communicating, initiating/entering, and maintaining interactions with hearing peers in inclusive settings. The co-enrollment and social skills training programs are considered to be effective interventions for their social interaction. Communication abilities and social skills of children who are D/HH, responses of children with normal hearing, and the effect of environment are highlighted as crucial aspects of social interactions. In addition, future research is needed to study the interaction between children who are D/HH and hearing peers in natural settings, at different stages of school life, as well as improving social interaction and establishing an inclusive classroom climate for children who are D/HH.

Academic Performance, Communication, and Psychosocial Development of Prelingual Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants in Mainstream Schools

“…In Korea, students requiring special education are usually placed in mainstream schools rather than in separate special schools and special classes. Previous studies have emphasized the following principal benefits of inclusive education of implanted children: naturalistic access to typical linguistic and behavioral models of hearing peers, and social acceptance by hearing peers [6,23,24]. Children with CIs in mainstream schools reported having friends with mostly normal hearing (Q1 in Table 3).…”

“…Over the past two to three decades, there has been a significant trend towards placing students with special educational needs in mainstream schools rather than in segregated spe-cial schools and special classes [6]. Besides, the proportion of children with CIs in mainstream schools has been steadily increasing [7][8][9].…”

Reading Development of Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Inclusive Education Classrooms

“…The majority of d/Dhh students encounter communication difficulties in the inclusive education classroom [66]. For students who have a profound hearing loss, communication and interaction with hearing students is more challenging than it is for students with mild to moderate or severe hearing loss because the former group often relies on a signed language for communication whereas hard of hearing students often use spoken language [5].…”

Will UN Article 24 lead to the demise of special education or to its re‐affirmation?

“…For example, research into the education of deaf/hard of hearing learners in Northern Ireland and Sweden has shown that these children struggle in oral‐based education systems, and in this instance, the best environment appropriate to their needs is a special class or special school (Doherty, ). However, inclusionists assert that there are benefits of inclusive education for this population, including social interaction and contact with peers with normal hearing, social acceptance by hearing peers, and access to typical behavioural and linguistic models of hearing (Eriks‐Brophy et al, ; Xie et al, ). Nonetheless, it has been found that integrating children who are deaf/hard of hearing into mainstream classrooms has not necessarily facilitated acceptance by peers, aided meaningful social interaction, or given deaf/hard of hearing students a sense of inclusion (Bobzien et al, ; Weisel et al, ; Xie et al, ).…”

“…However, inclusionists assert that there are benefits of inclusive education for this population, including social interaction and contact with peers with normal hearing, social acceptance by hearing peers, and access to typical behavioural and linguistic models of hearing (Eriks‐Brophy et al, ; Xie et al, ). Nonetheless, it has been found that integrating children who are deaf/hard of hearing into mainstream classrooms has not necessarily facilitated acceptance by peers, aided meaningful social interaction, or given deaf/hard of hearing students a sense of inclusion (Bobzien et al, ; Weisel et al, ; Xie et al, ). This has led to some writers arguing that full inclusion in mainstream settings cannot be achieved for deaf learners, due to their specific difficulties with communication and comprehension (Peters, ).…”