Peer Relationship Experiences Of Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Adolescents.
E Terlektsi, J Kreppner, M Mahon and 2 others
PMID 32048717WHAT IT FOUND
Most deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents interviewed felt accepted by peers, but many recalled primary-school bullying and said making new friends was harder when others did not know about their hearing loss.
Key findings
01Participants described feeling accepted when they could ask peers and teachers for help in class.
02Participants distinguished teasing from bullying and said bullying in primary school stopped by secondary school.
03Female participants described more friendship conflicts than male participants, and loss of contact after a friend formed a new relationship was described as painful.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included 30 adolescents, so it gives detailed accounts from a small group. Sign language users were deliberately overrepresented, and the interviewed group had a higher percentage with severe or profound hearing loss than eligible non-participants. There was no hearing comparison group, so the study cannot say whether these experiences are unique to deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents. Family variables were not analysed because subgroups were too small. Interviews were audio only, not video, because participants did not want video recording. The study reports experiences and does not test whether any intervention improved peer relationships.
Declared interests
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust grant 089251. No conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that any specific school training or therapy improves peer relationships. This study reports how 30 adolescents described their experiences, and it did not test an intervention.