The general behaviouralcharacteristics of hearing impaired children include the following
Intelligence: Intellectual developmentfor people with hearing impairment is more a function of language development than cognitive ability. Difficulties in performance appear to be closely associated with speaking, reading and writing the language but not related to level of intelligence.
Speech and Language: For children who are born deaf, speech and language skills are affected severely.
These children have a very difficult time learning to use speech.
Sounds produced by them are difficult to understand.
Deaf children exhibit significant articulation, voice quality, and tone discrimination problems.
They babble less than their hearing peers.
Social Development:
They have less language interaction during play and prefer small groups (2) than larger group.
Spend less time in cooperative play, though they are interested and initiate the interaction.
When they grow up their social and emotional growth is hindered due to their language impairment.
They are low in maturity, awareness of social mores and attitudes and social interactions.
Educational Achievement:
Deaf child’s educational achievement is significantly delayed when compared to normal children.
They have considerable difficulty succeeding in normal educational system which depends mostly on spoken language.
They are 3-4 years below their age appropriate grade levels.
16-18 year old child’s reading level will be at 3rd grade level and mathematics achievement was approximately 7th grade.(Allen 1986).
Participants